Riley County
Commission March 25, 2015
All
Commissioners present, Wells presiding.
Commissioner
Wells said he would like to see regional participation in cost sharing for building
the new firing range to train law enforcement personnel.
Greg Lund, parks
manager reported Randolph is requesting support for a new bathroom in its
recreation area. The current facility
was built 50 years ago and is so badly in need of repair it would make no sense
in trying to upgrade it. A new facility
would be ADA accessible. They are
requesting $12,000 from Parks funds but will need an additional $62,000 to
complete the project. They are looking
into the possibility of grant support.
The Riley
pool needs a new security system. People
are getting into the pool after hours.
The
Commissioners refused a request from the Veterans Administration Home Loan
Center to put their link on the County website.
There were concerns about opening the option to a multitude of requests.
Johnette
Shepek, budget and finance officer, reviewed the extensive schedule for
gathering and reviewing information to help in developing the 2016 budget which
is due in August.
The portion
of the review process dealing with holding executive sessions with department
heads was questioned by Commissioner Wells.
He expressed the opinion that Commissioners were getting into
micromanaging the staff. Commissioner
Boyd disagreed saying the Commission has a responsibility to provide such leadership. Commissioner Wells said he felt it led to a
waste of time for Commissioners and staff.
A vote to reduce the sessions to two, one in July and the other at the
end of the year passed. The discussion,
however, was renewed at the close of the meeting as the two debated the role of
commissioners in terms of providing good leadership vs. micro managing.
Human
Resource manager Cindy Volanti reported on her participation in a meeting with
State officials on KPERS and deferred comp benefits. There are many concerns about changes that
may occur to the KPERS program as a result of actions by the Kansas
Legislature.
Emergency
Management Director Pat Collins thanked the local media for their coverage
given to the need for additional fire crew volunteers. Apparently five new volunteers have been
recruited as a result of the attention.
Collins also reported on an investigation he was involved in the night
of the party at Britts which occurred during Fake St. Patty’s Day
activities. At the time he was there a
possible problem with overcrowding was handled.
More concerning problems involving firearms occurred later.
