MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS - Monday, April 22, 2024

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their weekly meeting at the Courthouse Monday morning, April 22. All Commissioners and the County Clerk were present.
With the assistance of the County Clerk the Commissioners canvassed the votes from the recent mail-in vote on the bond issue for improvements at the high school, elementary school and at the Trojan Field athletic complex.
County Clerk Heather Weston reported that 3,220 ballots were mailed out. Of that number, 2,312 were returned for a 71% percentage of possible votes cast.
On question #1, 823 YES votes were cast and 1425 NO votes were cast. That question failed.
On question #2, 644 YES votes were cast and 1587 NO votes were cast. That question failed.
Weston presented 59 provisional ballot for the Commissioners to consider. Of that total, 31 ballots were accepted and 28 were rejected. Situations such as a person getting married and not changing their name, change of address within the County, and two ballots (husband and wife) in one envelope were accepted. Situations such as no signature on envelopes, residing in a nursing home and being unable to cast a valid ballot, and being dead were not accepted.
The Commissioners asked Weston if the Unified School District would pay for the mail-in election. She said the USD was responsible for the cost of the election. When asked about the cost, Weston replied, "Well over $5,000."
David Dohe, Emergency Management Director, reported he attended the recent Fire Chiefs' meeting. Their guest speaker was the Director of the North Central Kansas Fire Chiefs Association. One item of mention in his presentation concerned people providing assistance at dangerous traffic situations. In order for First Responders to legally work in such situations, they must be able to provide evidence that they have completed the mandatory four-hour training for this situation if asked.
Fire District #3 has completed the updates and renovations on a truck they received from the Forestry Service. This is a LMTV (Light-Medium Traffic Vehicle) that is larger than a farm truck. This should increase their response ability quite bit.
Dohe also cautioned everyone in Mitchell County regarding outside burning. While people may call in to the County Dispatch and receive permission (or not) to conduct burning, current conditions are very hazardous for outside burning. The drought conditions continued to worsen, and the high winds persist daily. He advises against burning.
The Commissioners approved two memorandums of understanding with the Fair Board. One approved the Fair Grounds' corrals to be used to contain livestock in case of an emergency. The other was to approve the new building at the Fair Grounds to shelter people in case of an emergency.
Superintendent of Public Works Marty Hernandez requested permission to solicit bids for a new 15' mower. The Commissioners approved that action.
The Commissioners approved a letter of support for the proposed new Senior Center to be built just north of the police station at the North Campus.
Commissioner Tom Claussen reported that he attended the last SVED meeting. He said Emily Benedict told about a new low-income senior citizen housing complex to be built in the area just south of the Little Red Schoolhouse. She said the proposal included nine three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes with a garage and a safe room. They would not have basements. The homes would be for sale at a price of no more than $230,000.
Having addressed all the items on the printed agenda, the meeting was adjourned.

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