A routine end-of-year meeting was held by the Greenwood County Commissioners on Monday, Dec. 31.
Following two executive sessions for employee evaluations, the commission approved a 3% Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) raise, as well as a 2% merit increase for all salaried department heads, as follows: (An *denotes an increase of more than 2%) Attorney Jill Gillett, $69,830.97; Clerk Deann McCaffree, $52,563.14; Commissioners (1-5), $16,813.57; Register of Deeds Marsha Ramsey, $55,155.93; Sheriff Heath Samuels, $76,000*; Treasurer Donna Olson, $53,849.15; Election, $12,512.73; Ambulance Director Brian Mongeau, $60,000*; Appraiser Shawna Griffitts, $63,035.94; Emergency Management Director Levi Vinson, $63,035.94; Fire Glen Collinge, $25,000*; Health Vicki Lindsey, $75,524.36; Courthouse Maintenance, $55,000*; Undersheriff Jason Myers, $57,867.28. The commission also approved employee 3% COLA and merit increases as presented by department heads.
Ten resolutions were approved, allowing various departments to transfer funds to other accounts. This included the following department transfers to their specific equipment reserve funds: Sheriff’s Office, $65,000; Emergency Preparedness, $15,000; County Clerk, $20,000; Election Department, $10,000; County Attorney, $19,000; Register of Deeds, $16,500; Fire District, $40,000; County Appraiser, $10,000; Ambulance, $25,000; as well as a $200,000 transfer to health claims from the following claims accounts: Commission, $20,000; Sheriff, $40,000; Juvenile Detention, $40,000; Appraiser, $25,000 and Health, $75,000.
Greenwood County Counselor Paul Dean shared an update on a Greenwood/Elk County road issue, where a resident on the Greenwood County side had built a fence into the right-of-way. With Elk County maintaining the road, they do not want to close the road or decrease the road width, therefore, the commission approved a motion to afford Dean to send the fence builder a notice, advising them to remove the fence from the right-of-way, to be within compliance.
Regarding the Madison Fire Department (MFD) rescue truck, the commission remained in favor of supporting the MFD with the purchase. However, they would like to do so through training. Emergency Management Director Vinson stated that the University of Kansas offers training and will come to the area for various trainings. The fees for the training vary on the level of training requested.
The commission held a 10-minute executive session for legal matters with County Counselor Dean, Emergency Management Director Vinson, Road and Bridge Supervisor Allen Greenwood and Interim Noxious Weed Director Tim Dimick. No decisions were made.
Vinson later shared an update regarding a billing issue with noxious weed that was corrected during the meeting. (The issue was a clerical issue where a bill was paid out of the wrong account).
The Dec. 23 meeting minutes were approved as presented. The commissioners signed the Solid Waste report as presented by the Road and Bridge Department.
Cereal Malt Beverage (CMB) licenses were approved for Pete’s of Erie, Hamptons 2.0 and Troll King LLC.
The county held the annual year-end dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
The commission also met on Monday, Jan. 6. However, due to publication deadlines, information will be shared in next week’s edition. Their next meeting is Monday, Jan. 13, at 9 a.m.
