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Monday Sept 14 Mitchell County Commissioners Meeting

 

Mitchell County Commissioners

Monday, September 14, 2015

By Terry Bailey

 

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their regular weekly business meeting on Monday morning, September 14. All Commissioners were present for the meeting as well as the County Clerk.

The governing body of our County had a limited number of items on their agenda. They considered these items in a professional manner with the intent of best serving the people of the County first and foremost.

County Clerk Chris Treaster reported that there continues to be confusion with the billing for the roof repair of the Courthouse the Law Enforcement Center. The Knoll Building and Roofing Company was the low bidder on the project and was awarded the contract for the work. At a later date, Mr. Knoll appeared before the Commissioners and said that in his estimate for the bid some errors had been made and the job would cost more than the bid he submitted. The Commissioners responded that while they were sympathetic regarding the problem, the bid submitted was the price for which he agreed to do the work. They further said it would be very bad business practice to pay more than the bid they were offered for the work. Doing so would open up the County for many problems in the bidding process.

Kelly Hawk, Emergency Medical Services Director, presented his monthly report for the Commissioners’ consideration. Before giving his report Hawk was quizzed regarding the Mitchell County EMS’ emergency equipment used for local events.

Commission Chairperson, Tom Claussen, reported attending a football game at Ellsworth last Friday night when a member of the chain gang was seriously injured on the sideline. The medical personnel from Ellsworth were seemingly slow to respond to the critical emergency. They had two ATV machines on site and both of them failed to be of service. This was not only embarrassing but potentially life threatening;

Hawk replied with great confidence that they maintain all equipment with a high degree of reliability to ensure that everything is ready at all times. He said that while equipment failure is always possible, the Mitchell County EMS strives for 100% dependability.

The Mitchell County EMS made 51 runs in the month of August. All of them were in Mitchell County. For the year 2014 at this time, the EMS had conducted 283 runs. For the same date in 2015, 324 runs have been made, an increase of 41 responses.

Saturday was the day with the most runs for the ambulance with the 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. time period being the busiest. The age group of 65 to 74 years of age has the most clients.

Hawk reported that the EMS in currently fully staffed. EMS personnel work three weeks in Beloit or Cawker City, then they rotate to the other city. This gives them a better background knowledge of the people in the County

Larry Emerson introduced Stuart Porter to the Commissioners. Porter will take over for John Cashatt when he finally retires. Cashatt has provided Mitchell County with engineering services for many years from his position with Schwab-Eaton. He has been withdrawing from active involvement for some time.

Porter is not a new face in the community and will provide the first line of engineering services for the County. His background and area of expertise is in water and waste water management. John Martel from the Salina office has provided expertise as it relates to bridges in the past and will continue to do so. Porter assured the Commissioners that Schwab-Eaton has numerous engineers with many areas of expertise and that Mitchell County will be well cared for.

Emerson reported that blading of the roads in the two townships for which they are responsible in progressing well. The work on the bridge on K Road is progressing as expected. He said that the bridge contained a large amount of rock which had to be hauled away.

A Neighborhood Revitalization Grant application from Brad Eilert was reviewed. Eilert is constructing a new TREB building, 50’x100’x20’ in the amount of $75,110 including the electrical work. The grant was approved.

Commissioner Jim Marshall was named as the Mitchell County voting delegate to the Kansas Association of Counties annual meeting in Wichita.

 

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