TUESDAY FEB 17TH MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING

Mitchell County Commissioners

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their weekly business meeting on Tuesday this week rather than Monday because of President’s Day. All Commissioners were in attendance as well as the County Clerk.

Becky Schaeffer, Director of Communications, was first on the agenda. She reported that recently three things had happened with the communication system. Two of the three situations turned out to be inconvenient and costly.

Within the past week to ten days the Communications Center experienced loss of electrical service or momentary powers surges. The Center is equipped with a battery backup system that is designed to seamlessly maintain power to the communications system if and when electrical power is interrupted. However, in the latest outage the Communications Center went into total darkness and their Nine-One-One system shut down.

Schaeffer called Heineken Electric to check the system and they discovered the ten-year old battery backup system is beyond repair. Because of the vital nature of the system Schaeffer ordered a replacement system and it was being installed on Tuesday. She told the Commissioners the total cost of the replacement will be in the neighborhood of nine thousand dollars and she has Nine-One-One money in her budget to pay for it. The Commissioners unanimously approved her positive actions to keep this vital operation in working order.

In addition to the battery backup system malfunctioning, Schaeffer told the Commissioners that the Nine-One-One locating system is not working. The Communications Office can receive calls, but the GPS coordinates are not shown on the screen. A call was made to the technician in Kansas City over the weekend but he was not able to get here until Tuesday, February 17.

Schaeffer requested permission to switch their E-Dispatch service to a local vendor rather than one that is located out of the area. She believed that Pierce Electronics in Jewell could offer better and more immediate service. The Commissioners voted Three To Zero to allow her to make that change and approved a contract of three thousand dollars per year for two years.

The Commissioners gave a unanimous vote to proclaim the month of April as Fair Housing Month. This observance began as part of the Civil Rights movement in 1968.

After several months of deliberation, the Commissioners voted Three To Zero to approve the purchase of a new track loader to be used at the Mitchell County landfill. The current machine is twenty years old and is in dire need of replacement. The new machine to be purchased is a Nine Fifty-Three Caterpillar track loader at a cost of two hundred fifty-five thousand nine hundred seventy-three dollars. Foley Equipment Company will allow a trade in value on the old machine of twenty-five thousand eight hundred dollars putting the final cost of the new machine at two hundred thirty thousand one hundred seventy-three dollars. Commissioner Mike Cooper has negotiated local municipal lease/purchase financing on a five year pay off basis. The new loader comes with a five year/two thousand hour warranty. The expected delivery date will be in July or August.

Emerson informed the Commissioners that he had completed his list of specifications for a new mower tractor and is ready to send it out for bids. He will solicit bids from W-T Equipment and Carrico Implement first because they are local vendors.

The group continued their discussion from last week on how to best get rid of two older tractors and a cab-over semi-tractor. A course of action to first attempt to sell these machines at Zimmer’s Consignment auction with a minimum bid required and then to attempt to sell them on Purple Wave if necessary.

“I believe Ron Heller isn’t interested in taking three dollars a yard so that gravel can be continued to be quarried on his property. I am waiting for him to call me back to hear for sure,” said Emerson.

Kelly Hawk, Director of the Emergency Medical Service and Eric Hamel, Assistant Director were on hand with a medical billing contract for the Commissioners to approve. Last week they discussed the benefits of contracting with a private business to do the medical coding and billing for ambulance services. The proposed contract was with Delissa Medical Billing Service in Delphos, Kansas. Delissa will do all the paperwork currently done by EMS staff making the collection process more efficient. Delissa will receive seven percent of the money they actually collect for the County. The Commissioners voted Three To Zero to approve the contract.

Additionally the Commissioners approved spending approximately three thousand dollars for rewiring and replacing numerous lights and fixtures at the Ambulance Barn. The supplies will be purchased from Boettcher’s and Brian Streit will do the work.

Doug Dougherty, Mitchell County Sheriff, and Tony Perez, Undersheriff, addressed the Commissioners regarding vehicle purchases. They have a two thousand ten Tahoe they will move to back-up and “around town’ service. They will replace a two thousand eight Ford Expedition and a two thousand eight Dodge Charger.

Bids have been received for two new vehicles they wish to purchase. One vehicle is a two thousand fifteen Tahoe with a price tag of thirty-five thousand three hundred two dollars. The second vehicle is a two thousand fifteen Ford Explorer with a bid price of thirty-thousand two hundred fifty-four dollars.

After discussing finance options it was decided to commit insurance money received for damage in the hailstorm in the amount of fifty thousand four hundred eighty nine dollars and for Daugherty to use money from his vehicle replacement budget to make up the difference.

A Neighborhood Revitalization Grant was approved for James McClure in the amount of forty-nine thousand six hundred dollars for a forty foot by one hundred foot by fifteen foot pole barn.

Two applications have been received for a position on the Mitchell County Tourism Board. Bob Severance was selected to continue his service on the Board.

The Commissioners took the opportunity to encourage people to participate in two upcoming activities. On Saturday February twenty first a legislative coffee will be held at the Guaranty State Bank. Susan Concannon and Elaine Bowers will be available to listen to concerns of their constituent.

The Red Cross Blood Drive will be held this Thursday at the NCK Tech College from twelve noon until six p.m. and on Friday from eight a.m. until one p.m.

Having successfully dispensed with all the business on the agenda, the Commissioners adjourned.

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