A brief weekly meeting by the Greenwood County Commission was held on Monday, Oct. 7, where the commission heard an update from Road and Bridge Supervisor Allen Greenwood, Joy Howell with the Field Trials and Clerk of the District Court Erin Meador.
During his weekly report, Greenwood shared that the grader would cost approximately $13,500 to $15,500 to repair. With knowing the 2013 grader is approximately 200 hours shy of reaching the 10,000-hour mark and would have to be repaired to be operational, Greenwood gathered other options from CAT. He shared that CAT has a 2013 all-wheel drive grader that has 4,685 hours and a 2012 two-wheel drive grader with 3,026 hours that are both in good condition. CAT is asking $92,000 for the 2012 option and $95,000 for the 2013, with the prices including tradein value for the county’s current grader. After asking about next year’s equipment budget, the commission asked Greenwood to review both models and share an update with the commission at their next meeting.
Greenwood also noted he would be meeting with FEMA representatives later this week and will begin gathering needed documents to submit for FEMA funding. They will have 60 days to submit documentation following the meeting with the representative.
Commissioner Paul Hodge asked about a county employee using a personal truck to check on roads while the grader was down. A short discussion ensued with Commissioner Preston Evenson stating he wasn’t in favor of any employee using a personal vehicle to handle county business but noted that sometimes employees use their own vehicles to attend meetings and get reimbursed for mileage for doing so. Greenwood noted that county vehicles have been available for use at the barn, but it had previously been agreed to have the employee use the personal vehicle to avoid driving to Eureka twice a day to switch vehicles. It was noted that moving forward, employees should use the county vehicles. Commissioners also told Greenwood to use discretion with allowing employees to drive county vehicles to their residences, in the event they had all needed materials for work in a specific part of the county that would take continued work. It was noted that county vehicles shouldn’t be used for personal use, either.
Commissioner Hodge also asked Greenwood to spray where they previously excavated a tree row, on 70th Street, as he believed sprouts were coming up.
A five-minute executive session was held for personnel, with the commission, Greenwood and County Counselor Paul Dean. After returning to open session, the commission approved to move Tim Dimick to interim director of Noxious Weed for $17.50/ hour. Howell invited each commissioner to the kickoff dinner for the 37th annual Field Trials at Bechtel Ranch on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 6:30 p.m. She also expressed appreciation for the donation they gave previously. Howell also expressed appreciation to Commissioner Mac Obourn who provided contact information for a new banner that should be up soon over Main Street. Howell also noted that the commission, as well as the public, are welcome to attend the braces throughout the trials. See related article.
Clerk of the District Court Meador shared that the commission previously approved their budget; however, the Office of Judicial Administration requires a signed copy to be filed. The commission signed the budget for filing. Meador also noted that staff has switched to a mobile filing system and has numerous excess file cabinets as well as office chairs, printer tables and other items that they would like to part with. After a short discussion, the commission asked to offer the items to other departments first and then reach out to county schools, cities and townships to see if they have an interest in the items. If the items are still available, the county will look into having a surplus sale.
A five-minute executive session was held for personnel matters with the commission, Dean, Greenwood, Sheriff Heath Samuels and Emergency Management Director Levi Vinson. No action was taken.
Commissioners traveled to B Road and A50 Road for a road viewing after the meeting on Monday.
The Sept. 30 meeting minutes and special payables, tot a l ing $17,561.40, were approved as presented.
The next Greenwood County Commission meeting is Monday, Oct. 14, at 9 a.m.
