Riley County Commission mtg 11-15-12

Mr. Lewis was absent, attending the meeting of Kansas Association of Counties (KAC).

Pat Collins, Emergency Management Director, discussed the advantages of contracting out for the training of County firemen. The 26 new recruits are eager to have training; old hands not so eager, wanting only minimal refreshers. The company Mr. Collins is considering has training available partially on-line. This would serve the needs of all the firemen. He has money available in next year's budget. He stated that he would like for every fireman in the County to be certified "Firefighter I," eventually, though it is not a requirement for certification of the department. The Commission reconvened itself as "Fire Board" and approved his request, then reconvened as "County Commission."

Amy Manges, Deputy Register of Deeds, reported on revenue for her department. All numbers are up except the copy fund. They have taken in $315,778 more than anticipated. Their new employee began work on Oct. 29. The indexing of back files is almost complete.

Clancy Holeman, Counselor/Director of Administration, presented a draft of an agenda for the Riley County Legislative Conference to be held on Thursday, Dec. 6, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. As of now, all of the County's Legislators are intending to attend. Subjects to be discussed include 1) machinery and equipment tax exemption (which RC and KAC are opposed to, as, at worst, it would bankrupt several counties, and at best it would present severe difficulties to all counties); 2)TABOR legislation, which RC opposes on grounds it simply complicates County procedures, which are already transparent and publicly clear; 3) H.B. 2427, which exempts certain employment categories from revelation of personal information, such as home address; 4) State financial support of counties, including loss of revenues through sales and property tax exemptions, impact of state income tax reductions, and unfunded mandates. Commissioners made some suggestions, which Mr. Holeman will incorporate.

Rich Vargo, County Clerk, and Jolene Keck, Election Officer, conducted a presentation of results from the Nov. 6 election. Ms. Cindy Volante was appointed to fill the third Commission seat in Mr Lewis's absence, for the canvass only. Ms. Keck read results from each precinct in the County, including total number of voters, number of provisional ballots, number accepted, number rejected, and the reason for rejection. All of the rejections except 8 were because the voter was not registered in Riley County. One envelope had no signature. Another had an obviously suspicious and faked signature that did not in any way match. Three voters had no ID, and failed to come to the Clerk's office with ID before the deadline. Three voters insisted on receiving a paper ballot AFTER they had already voted on the IVO machine. None of these 8 ballots were counted. A certain number of provisional ballots were accepted for partial counting (by hand) because the voters voted in the wrong precinct. No races were changed by the counting of the provisional ballots. Commissioners accepted the results and validated the election 3-0. Adjourned.

Submitted by Lyndal Nyberg.