Riley County Commission October 25, 2012

Joan Strickler, observer

Commissioners Johnson and Lewis present, Johnson presiding.

County Attorney Barry Wilkinson reported his office will handle a murder case next week.  Homicides tend to take a long time to run through the legal system.  The judges have requested that the County offer a new wireless network, the Westlaw system, to accommodate   attorneys since the judges plan to discontinue the use and support of a law library.  The judges are willing to pay the monthly cost for the internet services required (approximately $80 a month).   The judges would also like to use iPads to expedite warrant requests.  One judge lives in Clay Center which makes distance even more a factor in obtaining timely approval.  Wilkinson said they are reviewing security issues since any such system must meet federal requirements.  The judges have agreed to pay for the iPad service as well (approximately $40 a month).

Information Technology/GIS Director Robert Nall referred also to the issues involving the requests from the judges and will be working with Wilkinson and the court personnel.  Nall said the combining of Information Technology and GIS is resulting in greater efficiency.  Nall expressed some concern that his office will run over salary costs in the amount of $40,000 due to absorbing the IT staff at the Health Department.  The fact that this would occur was recognized by the Commissioners at the time the decision was made to move the responsibility to the County.  Nall asked for permission to go over budget in consideration of the situation.  The Commissioners agreed to that request.

Nall said the voting satellite at the K-State Union is working well.  According to County Clerk Rich Vargo, however, voting there is running slower than last year.

County Extension Director Jennifer Wilson said elections will be held for positions on the extension council beginning October 29 and ending on November 2.  Voting will take place in the County Extension Office from 8 am to 5 pm each day. 

 

 

 

 

Riley County Commission October 22, 2012

Riley County Commission October 22, 2012

Joan Strickler, observer

 

Commissioners Johnson and McCulloh present, Johnson presiding.  Commissioner Lewis was attending a meeting in Washington D.C. and joined in by conference call for the section of the meeting devoted to employee health plan options.

Emergency Management Director Pat Collins said narrow banding radios now are used by most responders in the County.  He recommends, however, that the emergency sirens not be upgraded to narrow banding since they are simply receivers and can work quite well without the upgrade.  Collins suggests that the County’s public works employees move to the same system due to efficiency and dependability. A Med Zip system was used for years specifically by ambulance and hospital personnel, but seems unnecessary today with the availability of cell phones and radios.  He recommends the County cease using the Med Zip system which will save 12 to 13 thousand dollars a year.

Susie Kufahl, Director of the Riley County Health Department, said her department has started on its community health assessment with the help of Envisage Consulting.  The assessment is a necessary evaluation as the RCHD prepares for an upcoming review for accreditation.  The Health Department is continuing to hold flu clinics.  A recent clinic in which free pumpkins were given brought in more than 100 children and adults.  Kufahl also discussed 2012 revised budget estimates.

Tim Hegarty, with the Riley County Police Department, cautioned drivers to avoid driving too close to other vehicles, particularly in construction areas. 

Pawnee Mental Health Director Robbin Cole updated Commissioners on KANCARE, the State’s move toward a new managed care system for recipients of Medicaid health services.  The system is supposed to be in effect as of January l, 2013.  Yet, to date, only one of the three designated managed care organizations chosen by the State to serve clients has its provider manual completed.  Pawnee has signed a contract for one service from one provider, but does   not feel comfortable in signing any other contracts until provider manuals are complete.  The different providers may have different standards for what mental health services will be authorized and for billing procedures to be met.   For instance, all three may have different screening requirements prior to authorizing admission to a hospital.   As of the first of the year, clients needing mental health services will automatically be assigned one of the providers if they have not previously selected one—a difficult decision without completed manuals specifying service options.

The KANCARE system is predicted by State officials to save $1 billion in health care costs over the next five years.  An estimated 375,000 Kansans are affected by the changes.

Scott Cooper, with the Riley County Fire Department, cautioned people to get their chimneys swept prior to using wood burning fire places.

County Clerk Rich Vargo said in person advance voting begins tomorrow, October 23, both at the Courthouse and at the K-State Union.  The K-State voting option is available, not only to students and faculty, but to all Riley County residents.

Cindy Volanti, Human Resource Manager, conducted a discussion of the State Health Insurance Plan C.

 

BOCC Oct 18, 2012

BOCC 10/18/12

 

All commissioners present, Johnson presiding

During the Business Meeting contracts were signed with five attorneys who will be on the Indigent Defense Panel.

The Commission went into executive session until 9:45. At 9:50 bids were opened for the Walnut Creek bridge replacement.

Then there was a break until 10:15

Brad Schoen, RCPD Director discussed the recent outbreak of bicycle thefts. The number and value of the bikes suggests these are not random thefts but perhaps more organized.

He also mentioned the RCPD's social media site on Twitter which has quite a number of followers.

MontyWedel, Planning/Special Projects Director presented the new zoning amendments for billboard signs. These changes were developed by the Urban Area Planning Board and the county's billboard advisory board.. They will only affect the county . These changes are to bring the rules into conformity with state regulations.

Digital signs along county highways will be illegal and the rules for size and spacing of billboards have been changed. Existing billboards will be "grandfathered" in. New laws also prohibit doubledecker billboards. The proposed changes were accepted by the Commission.

 

Julie Merklin, Observer

County Commission 10/15/12

County Commission did not meet as scheduled for lack of a quorum. 
Julie Merklin

BOCC Oct. 11, 2012

Commissioners McCulloh and Lewis present.

Outside of the usual business – minutes, tax roll corrections, etc. the only activity of note was Eileen Kings’s presentation of the Monthly financial reports from the Treasurer’s office.

She reported that the sales tax revenues have been ahead of the previous year by $20,000 to $30,000 except for July when they were only $3,500 higher. Two factors may have caused this. First, the car show which is usually held in July at Bramlage Coliseum did not occur. This has, in the past, brought thousands of dollars into the county. The other factor may have been the triple digit temperatures which lessened activities in general. Reporting on vehicle taxes, King said that 91.07% of motor vehicle taxes have already been collected- higher than either of the last two years.


Julie Merklin, observer

USD 383 Board of Education

Oct. 3, 2012
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

Dr. Robert Seymour, Associate Superintendent, reported that the district's enrollment numbers on Sept. 20th showed an increase of 93 students, 30 of which were preschool students.

The board held a public hearing to provide citizens with the opportunity to comment on whether MHS should continue to have "open" lunch, meaning students are allowed to leave campus over lunch, or whether lunch should be "closed," and students would have to stay on campus.  Prior to the public hearing, parents, students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to complete an online survey as to their preferences.  Lunch is currently "closed" at MHS East Campus, and the majority of respondents preferred to keep it that way.  Fifty-seven percent of parents and 99% of students favored continuing to have "open" lunch at MHS West Campus.  Reasons for continuing to have "open" lunch included it develops student responsibility, food options are better outside of school, "open" lunch provides stress relief, there's not enough cafeteria space to seat all students, and some suggested modifications, like only allowing juniors and seniors to leave campus.

Reasons provided by survey respondents for having "closed" lunch included it's safer at school, negative behaviors occur when students are away from campus, school cafeteria food is healthier, and concerns about students driving over lunch.

MHS Principal Terry McCarty said he supported continuing to have "open" lunch because it teaches students time and fiscal management.  Doug Messer, Director of Transportation, favored going to "closed" lunch because he felt allowing students to leave campus creates a safety issue for the district.  He also suggested that maybe 10th grade students should not be allowed to leave campus and possibly only juniors and seniors should have the privilege.  Kari Quiton, Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coordinator, expressed concerns about substance abuse occurring while students are away from campus during lunch.  Gordon Thornton, special education teacher, favored "open" lunch because he was concerned about the cafeteria's capacity to hold all of the students if they were not allowed to leave.  If lunch were "closed," he thought there might need to be three lunch periods instead of the current two.  He also wondered how allowing only juniors and seniors to leave campus would be enforced.  Parents who spoke supported continuing to have "open" lunch, and high school students who addressed the board all expressed the opinion that "open" lunch helps students to learn responsibility and develop time management skills.

The board plans to make a decision about open/closed lunch at its Oct. 17th meeting.

Riley County Commission September 27, 2012

Joan Strickler, observer 

All Commissioners present, Johnson presiding.

A favorable 2011 financial audit report was presented indicating no exceptions were found and nothing was out of compliance.

A public hearing was held to discuss the creation of the Lakeside Heights Sewer District.  All property owners except one signed the agreement to develop the district.  The dissenting property owner said his one room property could not be lived in full time and is only used occasionally on trips to the lake.  No one spends the night there.  Commissioners voted to approve the formation of the district with the exception of the one property.

Susie Kufahl, Riley County Health Department Director, asked for permission to restructure a staffing arrangement by boosting the authority level of one position at a cost of approximately $1500.  Permission was granted.  She also asked for approval of a software upgrade required by regulatory authorities to meet the standards of accreditation of a medical facility.  Commissioners voted to approve the purchase.

County Counselor Clancy Holeman reported the County has had one request from an individual to have the person’s personal information withheld from public records in accordance with the passage last year of HB 2427.  Apparently Johnson County has had six such requests. Holeman stressed the importance of pursuing efforts to have the law overturned in the next legislative session.  He said it is a costly mandate in that, to comply, software would require extensive retooling to handle the changes.  He said decisions in Topeka can have heavy impacts fiscally on local governments.

A public hearing was held on shifting the definition of the Sanitarian’s position location to the Health Department in compliance with the law.  There were no questions or disagreements.

Anne Smith, director of the aTa Bus, asked the Commission to extend the timeline for payment of the promissory note pertaining to the building of the transportation facility.  The time period for the note needs to be extended due to delays in getting construction underway.  Federal funds to reimburse the costs will not be received until the construction is completed.  The Commissioners voted to approve the request.  According to Smith the busses are well used and she expects some 100,000 passengers will have received services  by the end of the year.  New requests come in daily.

Community Corrections Director Shelly Williams spoke of her concerns about future funding of the Community Corrections programs.  Her office has been asked to submit a budget proposal reduced by 10% from that of the current year.  Since most of the budget pertains to staff, such reductions could result in dropping seriously, chronic violent offenders currently supervised in the community.  Services to juveniles would be extensively cut.  The loss of State funds also could possibly reduce access to some federal funds.  The passage in last year’s Legislative session of extensive tax cuts to business firms is expected to greatly reduce State revenues.  Such reductions could result in property tax increases at the local level to pick up the loss of State support.

Riley County Commission September 24, 2012

Riley County Commission September 24, 2012

Joan Strickler, observer

 

Commissioners Lewis and McCulloh present, Lewis presiding.

The Commission is in the process of meeting with Manhattan Public Library personnel about moving the County Law Library into the public library.

Plans tentatively were made to hold a ceremony to celebrate the naming of the Law Enforcement Center in honor of Alvan Johnson sometime during the first week of December.

A motion to pay for acquisition of property in Fairmont Park out of CIP funds was approved.

Commissioner McCulloh expressed concerns about potential cuts in funding for community corrections programs. She said without community corrections alternatives more people are likely to be  incarcerated and kept so for longer periods.  She asked that the issue be placed on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting.

County Counselor Clancy Holeman announced an agreement has been reached with the Indigent Defense Panel to accept a cola increase in compensation this coming year.  A conference will be held with local legislators on December 6, at noon, in the Commission chambers.  Of major concern is last year’s passage of legislation allowing individuals to restrict access to their personal information in public records.   

Tim Hegarty, with the Riley County Police Department, said the Department’s twitter account has more than 2000 followers.  This is a higher percentage than that of law enforcement offices  in Wichita and Kansas City.  He says, through twitter, the RCPD is able to reach out to a population it needs to have positive relations with.  Crimes have been solved through twitter contacts.  Crime Stoppers also has been effective.  Through it persons may report crime information by phoning, sending emails or texting.  When appropriate, police have been closing off Moro for about one half hour around 1:00 a.m. The action is taken to avoid accidents after people have been drinking heavily.

Apparently the ballot for this November’s general election will include a Constitutional amendment question involving the taxation of watercraft in Kansas.  Currently watercraft are valued and taxed as personal property.  The ballot question asks voters to choose whether or not to allow the Kansas Legislature the option of changing this.  The ballot question does not prescribe any particular or specific changes to the current ad valorem method of property taxes for watercraft.  Any potential changes would have to be enacted by the Legislature if the constitutional measure passes.  A similar ballot question failed narrowly in the 2000 general election.  The wording of the question will be lengthy and is expected to be very confusing to voters.

Jerry Haug, with the Kansas Department of Transportation, said there will be lots of changes in traffic on Highway 18 over the next several months.  Airport access will be worked on.  He warns drivers to be very careful and watch the signs.  The estimated completion date for the entire project is fall of 2013.

USD 383 Board of Education

Sept. 19, 2012
Kathy Dzewaltowski, observer

The board was presented with information about plans for private fundraising for an artificial turf field at Bishop Stadium.  The field is estimated to cost $800,000.  The MHS Booster Club has been working on fundraising and has been striving to secure three corporate sponsors who will each contribute $200,000.  The Booster Club wanted to know whether the corporate sponsors will be able to have their logos displayed on the field.  Walt Pesaresi wanted to know how large the logos would be before giving approval, and the Booster Club representatives said they would be in communication with administration as the efforts progress to make sure the board is satisfied.  The district's share of the costs could be financed with a transfer from the supplemental general fund to the capital outlay fund.  The grass field costs $30,000 annually to maintain, and the district's director of business services suggested setting aside the $30,000 each year for the next 10 years to provide the financing for when the surface will need to be replaced.  The board approved 7-0 the fundraising plans.

Board members discussed a proposal for an advisory period at MHS, which will be held on Wednesdays for 21 minutes.  The advisory period will focus on students' academic progress, career opportunities, and anti-bullying activities.  Pete Paukstelis and Pesaresi felt the board needed to be provided with more information.  Paukstelis wanted the program to be evaluated every year and to be able to put the time to better use if nothing is being accomplished.  Despite concerns, the board approved 7-0 to implement the program.

The board held a public hearing to provide citizens the opportunity to comment on the proposal to swap the high school's starting/ending times with the times for elementary schools.  Several parents of elementary students spoke against making the change, citing concerns about additional time after school spent in child care, waiting in the dark at bus stops in the morning, elementary students also need sleep, and a decrease in family time.  The opinions of parents of secondary students varied, with some favoring going to a later start time so students would be more alert at the start of the school day and others expressing concerns about how the late ending time would affect homework time and after school activities.  The board plans to make a decision about start/end times at the Oct. 10th meeting.

Riley County Commission mtg 9-20-12

All Commissioners present. Commissioners discussed variations in figures given to them for use in the presentations on the 1/2-cent sales tax renewal proposal. County Treasurer's figures differed from those given by Public Works. Johnette Shepek, Budget officer, will gather data and reconcile the figures. The figures are estimates, based on various data.

Debbie Regester, Register of Deeds, reported on year-to-date revenue. There have been four mortgages of over $1 million during the past month. The registration processes produce revenue for the County. The remote access has had 6,926 log-ins, 6,107 of them during working hours. These save staff time, and also bring in copy fees. Subscriptions to remote access are $100 per year. The revenue for the period is $11,642, which includes subscriptions and copying fees.

Clancy Holeman, Administration and Counsel, yielded time to Monty Wedel for Commissioners to discuss which map of boundaries and cost sharing they prefer for the Manhattan Area Planning Organization. They chose "map 4a," (by consensus )which includes Ogden with Manhattan, but not Fort Riley. Other entities are Junction City, Pottawttomie County, Riley County, and Geary County.

Mr Holeman said the trustees of the Law Library will be meeting with trustees of Manhattan Public Library to make final arrangements for moving the Law Library to the Public Library. It is expected to take about 6 months to complete the move. The Public Library will receive $5000 to assist in the move. Mr Holeman said they hope to have a contract signed by Oct 1. Commissioners emphasized the need for public access to the Law Library.

Ginny Barnard, Extension, discussed the summer nutrition program in Ogden. They had planned to have sessions for adults for 4 weeks and for children for 2 weeks, but found that parents remained for their children's sessions, and brought the children along for their own sessions. So they all worked effectively together. They emphasized such things as cooking skills, food safety, resource managements, physical activity, and family sharing of meals. Kristin Garcia, Extension, said that National 4-H week is Octobr 7-13. They have 11 local clubs, and about 350 youths participating. The project kick-off is Oct 20, 1-4:00 p.m. at Pottorff. Their fund-raising garage sale is this Friday from 6-8:00 and Saturday 8-10:30 a.m. at Pottorff. Items will be priced from 25 cents, bags $4.

Brad Schoen, Director of RCPD, updated Commissioners. They are going to start advertising for two additional positions (already budgeted): one Public Information officer and one Crime Scene Tech. The PIO will need to be skilled in modern communication methods such as Twitter. They have had interactions with other Police Departments as far away as Australia. Mr. Schoen said they should be prepared for a rise in Workers Compensation rates and higher deductibles on insurance. It may cost them $30,000 more next year for insurance. Mr Schoen will look into the possiblity that recent changes at the State level may make it possible for the RCPD to become eligible for the State Pool. In the matter of the renaming of the Law Enforcement Center in honor of retiring County Commissioner Al Johnson, they will discuss dates for the ceremony on Monday.

Bob Isaac, Planner, presented a request for replat of property in northern Riley County, owned by Robert and Marian Brandenburg. They asked for erasure of property line between two lots, to make only one lot. Study by Planning board on Sept 10 found no reason to deny. They recommended approval of the change, as did County staff. Approved 3-0.

Mr Isaac presented a request by Monte Poersch for Residential Designator Lot ("extraneous farmstead") for his property. Planning Board had approved the change; staff recommended approval. Approved 3-0.

Leon Hobson, Public Works Director/County Engineer, requested permission to fill a position of Administrative Clerk I, which has been vacant since April 2011. He said his present staff is overworked (one present worker will soon go on extended maternity leave, adding to the burden) with all the necessary paper work, and he needs the position filled as soon as possible. Ms McCulloh said she felt they should have McGrath (consultant) come in to evaluate the need and help them to attain greater efficiency with present staff. Mr Hobson said they have already improved efficiency in several ways, and McGrath could not have the expertise to evaluate their particular situation. Ms McCullogh reminded all present that if the sales tax renewal does not pass, there will be cut-backs in all departments, and they should plan for the future. Mr. Lewis said he disagrees on the refusal of the position, because it might compromise the service provided by Mr Hobson's department. Mr Johnson moved that they approve filling the position. Mr. Lewis seconded. Passed 2-1, with Ms McCulloh dissenting.

Motion to Adjourn after City/County/County meeting this afternoon. Passed 3-0. Submitted by Lyndal Nyberg