Following two executive sessions, each for the duration of 10-minutes, Greenwood County Commissioners approved moving Allen Greenwood, who had been serving as department Foreman, to the position of Road and Bridge Supervisor, during their weekly meeting on Monday of this week. Action was taken following a 10-minute executive session for employee performance with Greenwood in attendance and a 10-minute executive session for discussion of personnel evaluation. Greenwood will begin serving in the position at a rate of $25.68 per hour. John Schouten, who has been officially serving in the role since November of 2023 (and had stepped into the position at an interim capacity earlier that fall), was approved to serve as Heavy Equipment Operator at $19.92 an hour.
Courthouse Maintenance Supervisor Greg Rawlings presented quotes for the needed boiler replacement. Information was provided to commissioners pertaining to this, to be discussed next week. Two companies out of seven contacted, provided quotes and options included high efficiency and low efficiency bids which ranged from roughly 79-97% efficiency – the previous unit being 65% low-efficiency.
Rawlings was also asked to provide a recommendation at the next meeting. Bids all include removal of the old boiler – which weighs nearly 16 thousand pounds.
Emergency Management Director Levi Vinson referenced stop/curb signs at a Quincy RS (Rural Secondary) Road and explained that they needed to look at moving signage to mark the correct route. As discussion continued, Legal Counsel Paul Dean noted that he would research this item further.
During his last report serving as department head for Road and Bridge, Schouten provided the closed bid received for the township dinner. The only bid received was from TNT Catering for $16 per plate. Commissioners approved the bid. Schouten next provided his regular overview of operations, sharing that work for this week would include tin horn installations. Approval was sought for purchase of a new air compressor to replace the current unit which had failed. A bid of $3,685 for a 10-horse machine was approved. Schouten reported that State Street bridge has another hole in it and the department would need to look into filling this. As this was discussed, it was noted that the hole is on the upstream side of the bridge. After further consideration as to the condition of the bridge, officials discussed cutting the hole and filling it, with work performed in-house. If time permits it, Schouten shared plans for staff attendance of training offered in Howard for street and gravel road maintenance, presented by the KU Transportation Center.
Commissioner Paul Hodge questioned about looking to get M50 Road north of the new bridge chip and sealed, asking if this were a possibility. Fellow commissioners noted the issue is getting someone to perform the work and noted this may be something the county has to consider doing themselves.
Ballard posed a question in regards to a minimum maintenance road. He explained that truckers follow their GPS and get stuck on the road located within the Madison Township. After sharing this, Ballard asked if minimum maintenance signs could be installed on the road. Dean questioned if it had been officially declared a minimum maintenance road and added that this would need to be done before signs can be installed. This was later referenced as 320th Street.
Questions were posed in regards to the Symphony in the Flint Hills event slated for Saturday, June 8, at the Red Ranch in rural Greenwood County. After noting that this was going to be a large event, Vinson noted county resources that would aid towards making this a safe and successful symphony including support from the Sheriff’s Office, EMS and Emergency Management. Vinson commented that the key piece was going to be communications. After discussion was held in regards to event communications, Vinson reported that parking for the event would be approximately half a mile walk from where the event stage will be located. There will be transportation options for those who are handicapped. The symphony organization will be responsible for putting in needed entrances for the parking lot and is currently working on event preparation.
County Clerk Kathy Robison shared on Monday morning that EMC Life Insurance would no longer be offering coverage to the county beginning March 1. Robison noted that EMC recently notified the county that they were canceling their insurance and Insurance Planning Center is looking for an alternative provider.
An executive session for legal executive discussion, for the duration of 10-minutes, was held and included Clerk Robison. Following the session, no decisions were made.
Payables in the amount of $225,476.17 were approved.
Special Payables in the amount of $8,449.21, primarily for Atmos Energy and AT&T, were approved.
Payroll for the amount of $146,679.59 was approved.
Joy Howell returned following a previous request presented for monetary support towards the annual Field Trial event. Commissioner Preston Evenson, who had reached out to the City of Eureka to discuss the subject, shared that the city’s contribution was anticipate to be similar to that allocated to last year. As discussion continued, Howell reported that the new banner needed for the event, which had previously been estimated at $700, was now expected to fall within the $2,000 range. Commissioners approved contributing $2,000, the same dollar amount allocated for the previous year’s event.
In discussion of old business, Vinson shared that traffic counts were expected to conclude soon and he was looking to hold a work session with commissioners, in hopes of having this finished before the upcoming Township meeting slated for Wednesday, March 27. This work session is scheduled to follow the March 11 meeting.
Minutes of the Feb. 16 regular meeting and minutes of the Feb. 28 special meeting were approved as written.
A five-minute executive session was held for the subject of personnel evaluation with Schouten. Following the session, no action was taken.
The January 2024 fee report and the February Treasurer’s report were reviewed.
The next meeting of the Greenwood County Commissioners will be held on Monday, March 11 at 9 a.m.
