Journal of the Commissioners

 

2005, eightY THIRD MEETING

CRAWFORD COUNTY COURTHOUSE, COMMISSIONERS’ BOARD ROOM

Girard, KS. Tuesday November 8, 2005 at 10:00 AM

 

The Crawford County Board of Commissioners met pursuant to Kansas Statutes Annotated Chapter 19, Article 2, Section 18 in due and regular session with open doors.

Commissioner Anthony Pichler served as the presiding officer.

Commissioner Bob Kmiec was present.

County Clerk R. J. Wilson and County Counselor Jim Emerson were present and seated with the Board.

Chairman Pichler led the Pledge of Allegiance.

UNDER THE HEADING BUSINESS FROM A PREVIOUS MEETING

CONSENT AGENDA

On motion (05-358) of Commissioner Kmiec and the second of Commissioner Pichler that the consent agenda be approved including:

1.      Approval of the November 4, 2005 minutes of the Board of Commissioners’ meeting:

Yeas: Commissioners Kmiec and Pichler

Nays:           

Present but not voting:

Absent or not voting: Commissioner Moody

The motion prevailed and the consent agenda was approved.

 

SIGNING OF MOTIONS

The County Clerk presented the following motions for Commissioners’ signatures.

 

Motion 05	-355	To approve the consent agenda
Motion 05	-356	To confirm the County Clerk’s report for the allowance of claims and audit authorizing the issuance of orders and warrants in payment of the claims allowed for the month of October 2005
Motion 05	-357	To adopt resolution 2005-165: A resolution certifying the review and revision of the Crawford County Solid Waste Management Plan and authorizing the chairman to sign

 

UNDER THE HEADING NEW BUSINESS

            PUBLIC HEARINGS AND OPENING OF ANNOUNCED BIDS

Item One: Mr. John Childers, Chief of Fire District Number Four and Mr. Tom Ragonese, County Project Director, concerning a report on bid requirements for Fire District Number Four. Mr. Childers and Mr. Ragonese reported that they have reviewed the bids and all of the bids came in too high. Mr. Ragonese said that all of the bids are good bids as far as specifications. He suggested that he would like to contact the low bidder to see if there were some things that could be done to cut the cost, perhaps even gaining volunteer labor to complete some of the items in the project. Mr. Kmiec said that decision would be up to the Fire District Board. Mr. Ragonese said that a week from now there could be an answer back to the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Emerson suggested holding the bids open for 30 days and with permission to negotiate with the low bidder. No bids are rejected at this time.

 

 

             MESSAGES FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS

MESSAGES FROM APPOINTED OFFICIALS

MESSAGES FROM OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES

MESSAGES FROM THE PUBLIC

 

Item One: Mrs. Christine Bitner brought more names to the Board as members signing a petition. Many of the people on the petition are clients and she said she did not have to ask anyone to sign the petition twice. She asked where the money has gone. Mr. Wilson said that he would be the person to contact to receive a copy of the budget. Mrs. Bitner said that no one has worked on her road and Mr. Kmiec said that he knows that her road has been worked on. She presented 21 names on a piece of paper as signers of her petition. Mr. Kmiec said there was no immediate plan on the road and she inquired as to why because she says her road is in bad shape. Mr. Kmiec said there are a lot of roads in bad shape. Mrs. Bitner said that the road two miles from her home was paved and that there is no way that there are 1500 cars on that piece of road. Mrs. Bitner renewed her claim of discrimination about the road. Mrs. Bitner was emotional once again. Mr. Kmiec said there have never been any promises made in this meeting and Mrs. Bitner said that she was told on the phone that the road would be fixed. She said she was referring to Mr. Pichler. Mr. Pichler said that the road has to be ripped up. Mr. Pichler said that no good will come from arguing about this item. Mr. Pichler said he was sure that her road will be maintained like other county roads. Mr. Pichler said that the road will be maintained within the safety specifications of the county. Mrs. Bitner said that there is a school bus on the road. Mr. Pichler said that the pot holes were filled with AB3 rock and Mrs. Bitner said that if the county puts big boulders in a hole they are unlikely to stay in there. Mrs. Bitner said the road is not safe. She said in the six years she has lived on the road no one has done anything on the road except the first time she came to the Commission at that time someone was sent out to fill the holes with asphalt. Mrs. Bitner said that she feels like the Commissioners do not value her business. Mr. Pichler said that nothing like that has ever been said. Mr. Pichler said that the way she feels is not consistent with the facts of the case. Mr. Kmiec said there is a will in this room. He said that if it was affordable every road in the county would be perfect. Mr. Pichler said that her husband agreed that in 2003 the road was chipped and sealed. Mrs. Bitner disputed the facts. She said the date was more in the range of 2002. She asked why every other road was a hard surface in her area except her road. She said she has given a lot of reasons why the road needed to be fixed. Mrs. Bitner said she has a 14 year old who will be driving soon and she said the road is somewhat dangerous for her. She said it wasn’t too cold to fix the road. Mr. Kmiec said that the supplies are not on hand and the supplies would not be available overnight to fix the road. Mr. Kmiec said that the road needs to be torn up and started over. He said if she wanted it fixed that he would have a grader with a ripper on it on the road to start tearing it up. Mrs. Bitner said she didn’t want that because the road would be left that way. Mr. Kmiec said it is necessary to fix the entire road and it is important to fix it correctly when it is paved. Mrs. Bitner said she wanted answers and Mr. Kmiec said that she wanted only one answer and Mr. Kmiec said that answer is not here. She said she would be happy with a no and a plan. Mr. Kmiec said his plan would be to rip the road up and start to lay a new base on the road. Mrs. Bitner made additional inquiry about why the whole road needs to be torn up and then said that she will be back.

 

PROCLAMATIONS AND ORDERS OF THE BOARD

NEW BUSINESS

 

Item One: Mr. Wilson, the County Clerk concerning presentation and recommendation for adoption of Resolution 2005-166: a resolution adopted to correct an error made in assessing of personal property and to instruct the County Treasurer to abate the owed amount of tax plus penalty and interest from the personal property tax rolls.

 

RESOLUTION

2005-166

 

 

WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of the Board of County Commissioners that an error has been made on the assessing of back taxes on the personal property of G.D. Pile.  The error was made in the County Appraiser’s Office and they request that an abatement be made for the tax years 2003 & 2004 for the following individual.  The trailer was moved to Oklahoma in 2001.

 

NAME                            CUT #        YEAR       VALUE         TAX LESS     BACK TAX

                                                                                                     I & P           WARRANT #

G.D. Pile                      Lin  97            2003           66                 $ 6.23             2004-0521

PO Box 3863               Lin  97            2004           63                $ 6.52             2005-0559

Afton, OK  74331-3863

 

IT IS, Therefore, order by the Board of County Commissioners in compliance with K.S.A. 79-1701a and upon a motion made by Commissioner ______________________, seconded by Commissioner _________________________, that the County Treasurer be hereby instructed to abate the amount as shown plus interest and penalty from the personal tax roll for 2003 & 2004  back tax warrant numbers 2004-0521 & 2005-0559 in the name of the above individual.

 

Dated at Girard, Kansas on this 8th day of November, 2005.

 

 

ATTEST:___________________________           ____________________________

               COUNTY CLERK                                  CHAIRMAN

 

                                                                               _____________________________

                                                                               MEMBER

 

                                                                               _____________________________

                                                                                MEMBER

 

 

On motion (05-359) of Commissioner Pichler and the second of Commissioner Kmiec to adopt resolution 2005-166: a resolution adopted to correct an error made in assessing of personal property and to instruct the County Treasurer to abate the owed amount of tax plus penalty and interest from the personal property tax rolls in the case of G.D. Pile.

On a roll call vote:

Yeas: Commissioners Kmiec and Pichler

Nays:           

Present but not voting:

Absent or not voting: Commissioner Moody

The motion prevailed.

 

Item Two: Mr. Emerson the County Counselor concerning a proposal from Ron Albertinni. Mr. Emerson mentioned that he and Commissioner Moody have had a meeting about entering into an inter-local agreement between the City and the County to share the services of surveying from Mr. Albertinni. Mr. Emerson said this is a win-win for the county and the city. Mr. Emerson said that if the city and the county wish to proceed then it would be necessary to draft an inter-local agreement. He said Mr. Albertinni would be an employee of one of the entities to follow their policies and insurance plans. Mr. Emerson said that Mr. Albertinni brings some specialty in the area of GIS and GPS. Mr. Albertinni answered Mr. Pichler that he is not an engineer. Mr. Albertinni said he could attend school in Salina to become a Licensed Public Authority.

 

Mr. Albertinni mentioned that he could be an integral part of acquiring right of ways for easements. He said he is already performing that duty for the county as a contractor. He said he could continue to do the service as a county employee. Mr. Pichler was answered that Mr. Albertinni understands the benefits of GIS for the county. Mr. Albertinni said he understands the benefit of GIS and how it works with GPS. Mr. Albertinni suggested setting section corners to centimeter accuracy with markers available on the ground at intersections. Mr. Albertini said that the county engineer should be responsible for maintaining the section corners and having a useable reference for the new GIS system so when a bridge is clicked on it can be easily plotted on a map. He said a lot of the work can be done without an engineer and when an engineer is needed they can be directed to the right area to address the issues.

 

Mr. Kmiec was answered that GPS equipment which is more accurate needs to be purchased eventually in conjunction with Frontenac to get the accuracy necessary. He mentioned that all of this will make emergency response more readily available as well as make a lot of county functions more useful.

 

Mr. Pichler asked if color or black and white would be better and Mr. Albertinni suggested that a color photo would be better because vegetation can be identified. Mr. Albertinni said outside of Johnson County and Southwest Kansas our county is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. He said that having growth and real satellites available to help with flood plain analysis and other features of GPS.

 

Mr. Pichler was answered that Mr. Albertinni would leave cornerstone surveying and work full time for the county. Mr. Albertinni said that he is already qualified for drainage in answer to Mr. Kmiec. Mr. Kmiec and Mr. Pichler suggested that the counselor should go forward in drafting an inter-local agreement.

 

Mr. Albertinni said there are even state boundary issues that need to be addressed around Arcadia. Mr. Albertinni said that something could be worked up within a week. He said that he plans to work with a lot of the county agencies in a multi disciplined manner.

 

 

UNDER THE HEADING OLD BUSINESS

OLD BUSINESS

 

Item One: Mr. Emerson mentioned that he has checked on the Watco crossing near KMO grain and he visited with the gentleman at Watco yesterday and they will go forward and look at the crossing.

 

Item Two: Mr. Kmiec asked the Counselor to check on the contract with Heckert Construction to see when the contract expires. Mr. Kmiec would like a report on the contract.

 

 

UNDER THE HEADING FUTURE BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

            FUTURE BUSINESS

 

Item One: November 18, 2005 – 9:00 AM, Work session with the Capitol Consulting group to establish the Board of Commissioners’ policies for the upcoming legislative session. The Board will have its regular meeting immediately following the work session.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Item One: November 11, 2005 – The Crawford County Courthouse will be closed in observance of Veteran’s Day. The Board of Commissioners will not meet on that day.

 

Item Two: November 10, 2005 -- Kansas Highway Department meeting concerning the Pittsburg By-Pass on Thursday from 2:00-4:00 PM at the Franklin Community Building.

 

Item Three: November 10, 2005 -- 7:00 PM Rural Development and CDBG hearing at the Christian Church in Opolis for the Opolis Sewer District.

 

Item Four: November 15, 2005 -- 1:00 PM, City of Pittsburg web cast on eminent domain at the City Hall in Pittsburg.

 

 

UNDER THE HEADING MOTION TO ADJOURN

MOTION TO ADJOURN

Item One: Adjournment

On the motion of Commissioner Pichler and the second of Commissioner Kmiec to adjourn the November 8, 2005 meeting at 10:47 AM.

Yeas: Commissioners Kmiec and Pichler

Nays:

Present but not voting:

Absent or not voting: Commissioner Moody

The motion prevailed.

 

Witness my hand in the taking of these minutes and my submission of the same for the approval of the Board of Crawford County Commissioners:

 

 

 

 

____________________________

R. J. Wilson

= Seal =                                  County Clerk

 

Taken RJW