Thursday, March 28, 2013

Riley county Comission March 28, 2013




Joan Strickler, observer
 

All Commissioners present, Lewis presiding.
Commissioner Lewis reported the same individual who had verbally attacked a City Commissioner in a restaurant recently was verbally abusive over the phone to a County employee.

Commissioners expressed concerns about the effort in the current legislative session to eliminate property tax liability for private for profit health fitness clubs.

Information Technology/GIS Director Robert Nall described the heating and cooling requirements for the room which houses the main computer system for the County. It would be better to have a space built to meet the needs of the equipment.  Problems also arise in that the IT and GIS staff are located in different places.  There was some brief discussion of County space use needs.  When asked about using cloud technology Nall said he would not advise it.  If and when the cloud system goes down, everything goes down.  The current GIS technology being used by the County is out of date.  This means equipment is unsupported so, if and when it should break down, vendor support is unlikely.  Access to GIS on the County website is the most popular and often in demand.

County Counselor Clancy Holeman reviewed a proposed lease for the County with the KSU Child Development Center for space at the Health Department’s facility formerly known as Wharton Manor.  Retiring Director of the Department, Suzie Kufahl, gave a history of the arrangement.  Some concern was expressed about space that might be utilized by County personnel.  The lease will be discussed further at the next meeting.

Holeman reported it appeared the “fixtures” bill, HB 2285, appears not to be holding support but will continue to be monitored for the potential negative impact on the counties’ finances.  SB 109 no longer contains the heavy restrictions on local officials lobbying State Legislators but has extensive and annoying reporting requirements.

Vern Henricks, CEO of the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation, asked for County support for the Kansas Health Foundation Grant.  Budget Director Johnette Shepek noted such funds were not in the budget.  The issue will be discussed at the next meeting.

County Clerk Rich Vargo talked about the County’s Intangibles Tax.  It was initiated in 1986 and currently is set at .530 mils.  The tax is controversial.  It was never adequately monitored by the State and a lot of people simply don’t pay it.  There appears to be no penalty for not paying.  Only 29 counties in Kansas have the Intangibles Tax.  The issue will be discussed further in July.

 

 

 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Riley County Commission March 25, 2013



Joan Strickler, obsrver


Riley County Commission March 25, 2013

Commissioners Ron Wells, Robert Boyd and Dave Lewis present, Lewis presiding.

County Clerk Rich Vargo responded to a criticism brought to the Manhattan Mercury about his hiring of his son to work for the County.  Vargo explained the job involved a one time, approximately 4 hour responsibility of gathering voting results from precincts and delivering them to the elections office.  He said it is not unusual for someone in his position to have a member of the family or a trusted friend handle the job.  It is important to know the person and have absolute trust in their integrity.  The Commissioners agreed to the decision and asked for more information on the County’s conflict of interest policies.

County Treasurer Eileen King presented a request to eliminate an “as needed” position on her staff and create a new full time position.  She spoke of increased workloads on present staff due to the State’s new vehicle and license registration system.  Commissioner Wells moved to approve the position and Commissioner Lewis supported the motion.  Commissioner Boyd voted against.  Motion passed.

Dawn Shoffner spoke of a new Community Voice Survey listed on the County website.  It has been developed to solicit public opinion.

Johnette Shepek reviewed the 2014 Budget Calendar for the County.  Letters will be sent out in April to entities wishing to make their budget requests.  This would include such agencies as Big Lakes Developmental Center, Pawnee Mental Health Center, the Chamber of Commerce etc.  Budget request presentations will be heard in June.  Commissioners will hold work sessions on the budget from June 24 to July 11.  The budget is scheduled to be finalized by July 15, with final adoption in August.

Advance voting is in process and will end at noon Monday April 1.  Voting at the polls will be held April 2.

Presentations concerning the establishment of Public Building Commissions were made by Greg Vahrenberg, Piper Jaffray & Co., and Mary Carson, Triplett & Wolfe.  PBC’s may be created to finance buildings or facilities maintained and operated by counties or cities through the issuance of bonds.  The Commissioners agreed to study the matter and consider creating their own Public Building Commission.

 

Riley County Commission March 21, 2012

County Commission meeting March 21, 2013
All Present
Leon Hobson, , Public Works, announced the public auction of surplus property. 
There are about 30 items from various departments.  Proceeds will go back into an auction fund that can then be placed in the  general or CIP funds.  The full list will be on the Riley County Website before the auction.

Debbie Register, Register of Deeds presented the 2012 Year-to-Date Revenue figures.  The categories are: Total Mortgage Amount (Indebtedness),and fees -  Mortgage Registration Tax, Recording Fees, Tech fund, and Copy Fees.  Year to date in  2012 the total revenue from these items was $186,402.  In 2013,  so far it is $273,846.

Estimated total 2013 Revenue from Mortgage Registration tax = $750,000,
Recording fees = $95,000, Copy Fees = $10,000, for a total of $855,000.
 The Technology Fund = $55,100.

Register said that of three large mortgages filed in the first few months of this year, two were over $10 million. 

During a discussion of the county health Dept and the search for a new director, it was decided that any personnel issues that arise will be resolved outside the department itself by County Clerk Rich Vargo and Cindy Volanti, Human Resourse Manager.

Julie Merklin, Observer

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Riley County Commission 3/18/12

BOCC March 18, 2012
All Commissioners
 present
An amendment was made to section 18 Nonconfornmities of the Riley Countyy Zoning Regulations which allows the repair or rebuilding of houses on 20 acre parcels of land.  It has the effect of maintaing crop land while still allowing dwellings which were lived in recently to be restored when necessary

Kristi Ingalls announced the AmericanRed Cross Blood Drive.  She emphasized that each pint of blood has the potential to help 3 people, as it can be broken down into red cells, platelets and plasma.  Blood can be donated by a person every 56 days.

Cindy Volanti announced that the deadline for applications for Health Adeministrator is March 31.  Applications may be made online.

Rich Vargo said that early voting for school board and city commission will begin in person at the county office on March 25.

Linda Glasgow from the Riley County Museum announced the closing of Wolf House Museum on Feb 18 and said that it will re-open upon completion of the restoration work being done in the Ease Bedroom.  This project  includes removal of the modern bathroom addition, plumbing and electrical fixtures no longer needed and old wall paper.  All work will be documented along with historical clues that are found allong the way.

There was some discussion of bills in the Kansas legislature including one about concealed carry in public buildings.  One proposal would require stringent security arrangements including metal detectors and/or guards at all entrances.  The BOCC expressed concern about what that would cost. 

Julie Merklin, observer

Sunday, March 17, 2013

USD 383 Board of Education

March 6, 2013
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Dr. Bob Seymour, Assoc. Superintendent, reported on the results of the "second military count date," which refers to the process that allows districts impacted by military bases to receive additional funding for students with a military connection who move to the district after the fall count date.  Enrollment had increased by 82 military-connected students.

The board discussed time and schedule recommendations for the elementary level.  Board members expressed support for the option (Plan A) that would have provided the most minutes of individual planning time and collaboration time but were concerned about budgetary unknowns, especially in regards to state funding.  The board approved Plan B, which was similar to Plan A with the exception of not providing weekly collaboration time, and the motion included the goal of working toward implementing Plan A for the 2014-15 school year.  The vote was 5-1, with Walt Pesaresi dissenting because he wanted to see Plan A implemented for 2013-14.  The addition to planning time will involve needing to hire additional teachers, and the board did not decide how the additional teachers would be paid for.

The board also approved for the high school level plans to use professional learning time for collaboration among teachers in the same academic areas and to explore a modified block schedule.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

USD 383 Board of Education

Feb. 20, 2013
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Board members discussed the elementary school schedule and the possibility of providing teachers with more time for collaboration.  In order to provide additional collaboration time, technology teachers would be hired, with an estimated cost of $352,000, which is about 0.7 mills.  Leah Fliter said she thought the estimated cost wasn't too much to pay to provide teachers with adequate planning time.  Other board members agreed that it was important to provide teachers with planning time but expressed concerns about how to pay for it and whether the district would be able to sustain it long term.  Walt Pesaresi commented that "sometimes you have to bite the bullet" and raise the mill levy.

The board also discussed the high school schedule.  The options considered including keeping the current 7-hour class schedule and also a modified block schedule, which includes some late start mornings.  Doug Messer, Director of Transportation, said it would be a challenge to manage busing for late start mornings in addition to early release days planned for additional elementary planning time, but the transportation department would make it work.  Darell Edie and Mr. Pesaresi expressed concerns about small class sizes at MHS and the financial problems of having smaller classes.  Curt Herrman and Beth Tatarko were in favor of keeping the current 7-hour class schedule because it seems to be working, teachers support it, and the timing might not be right to make a change while also hiring a new high school principal.