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MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING TUESDAY SEPT 2ND

 

Mitchell County Commissioners

September 2, 2014

by Terry Bailey

 

 

The regular weekly business meeting of the Mitchell County Commissioners was held on Tuesday morning this week because of Monday being a National Holiday observing Labor Day. The meeting was called to order promptly at eight-thirty a.m. with all Commissioners being present.

 

They took time to appraise the damage done by the hailstorm and heavy rain that fell on Beloit Sunday afternoon. It appeared that all of city received significant damage with the storm being centered on the city of Beloit and not far beyond the city limits.

Each of the Commissioners noted that there were a great number of volunteers from beyond the city limits who came to town to help friends, relatives and generally anyone who needed assistance. The County Landfill was opened on Sunday afternoon from one to four p.m. enabling debris removal from the damaged areas in the city to the Landfill. There was general agreement that this is one of the strengths of a small rural community. Folks didn’t wait for someone to clean up the storm damage. Everyone got to work and helped one another.

Larry Emerson informed the Commissioners that the furnace in the main shop area has a burned out firebox and will need to be replaced. It was purchased in the year two thousand and is the type of furnace that operates on used motor oil. Emerson noted that such a furnace has helped eliminate the need to treat used motor oil from the County vehicles and machinery as toxic waste. It is simply burned in the furnace. This has reduced the need for natural gas for heating and has reduced that cost. He believes the fourteen year old furnace was a wise investment. He said the cost of a replacement furnace is a little over eleven thousand dollars with the company giving the county two thousand dollars trade in on the old furnace.

The recent heavy rain and hail has reversed his crew’s efforts to stabilize the river bank south of Asherville that is endangering the roadway. Emerson believes it may be necessary to rent a self propelled “sheep foot” earth compactor to achieve the proper compaction of soil on their stabilization project. There is not room to operate a sheep-foot that is pulled by a tractor because they are working on a very steep slope on the river bank. He estimated such a machine would cost seven hundred dollars a day to rent.

The Commissioners thanked Emerson for the speedy opening of the County Landfill so that debris from the storms could be disposed of.

Ed Debesis, EMS Director, asked for a ten minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel. When the regular meeting resumed, it was announced that no action was taken.

Kyle Peterson, Director of the Mitchell County Museum, reported that the bad weather had a negative effect on the Risin’ River Music Festival that took place last Saturday and Sunday. Outdoor festivals do not fare well when dangerous weather is forecasted or actually occurs. Peterson estimated that about one-half of the expected revenue was lost due to the bad weather leaving the program one thousand five hundred dollars short of the break even mark.

Peterson said he had made about fifty calls soliciting donations to help eliminate the shortfall. He has had mixed success. He asked the Commissioners if there would be some way they could offer some financial assistance in this revenue shortfall. The consensus of the Commissioners was that when Peterson had worked on private donations to the point that they had “dried up,” he should come back and everyone could talk about what could be done.

County Clerk Chris Treaster, said she had received a call from an associate knowledgeable in storm damage fraud. She urged Beloit residents to careful of free lance, out-of-town contractors offering to do unsolicited roof repair. Contractors are required to register with the State and become credentialed. They should be able to produce a license as a Registered Roofing Contractor.

Commissioner Tom Claussen urged all voters to become knowledgeable on the issues in the upcoming election. He has heard from several sources that this election could be “pivotal.”

Having conducted all of the business of the County, they adjourned the meeting.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA