The Board of County Commissioners met in regular session with all members and the County Clerk present.

 

            Marty Long made the motion to approve the minutes of the July 5, 2005 meeting and the claims against the various funds of the county. Carl Higgs seconded the motion. Following clarification of several vouchers, the motion passed unanimously.

 

            Carl Higgs made the motion to adopt Resolution 05-03 to reestablish the ability to levy an annual tax not to exceed one (1) mill for a period of not to exceed ten (10) years upon the taxable tangible property in the county for the purpose of continuing the county’s building fund. Marty Long seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The building fund was established over 20 years ago and has been used when new roofs are needed,

 

            Faye Trent, Great Plains Development, presented two loan applications for the Community Development Block Grant Micro-Loan Program, that have to be approved by the commissioners. Marty Long made the motion to approve the micro-loan for the Fuel Barn in the amount of $16,000.00. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Marty Long also made the motion to approve the micro-loan for Marsha’s New for You in the amount of $15,000.00. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            Henry Helmke, Administrator for Southwest Kansas Alcohol and Drug Addiction Foundation, Inc. (SKADAF), presented a report on the number of clients from Grant County his organization has helped during the past year. He requested the commissioners budget $3,000 for next year, which is the same amount as the past two years. Carl Higgs made the motion to budget $3,000 for SKADAF for 2006. Marty Long seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            Lisa LeNeve, Prepaid Legal Services, explained her program to the commissioners. She also provided information on “Identity Theft Shield”. Ms. LeNeve explained the costs for employee participation in the programs. She said the basic plan would be $14.95/employee for the basic plan on prepaid legal services and $9.95/employee for identity theft protection if purchased with the legal services. The cost for identity theft by itself would be $12.95/employee. The employee will pay the premium through payroll deduction with commissioner approval. The commissioners said they would present the information to department heads to determine if there is enough interest in the plans to justify another payroll deduction.

 

            Douglas Campbell, Attorney, talked to the commissioner regarding the BP AMOCO tax appeals. He said the mediation process is ready to begin. He also explained the mediation would be much less expensive than proceeding to court, and he is hopeful that mediation may bring the cases to an acceptable conclusion. One commissioner will travel to Topeka for the process.

 

            Marlyn Redetske, Western State Bank, informed the commissioners that his bank has a leasing program for all types of equipment except titled vehicles. He explained that quasi-governmental units generally get a lower rate than individuals. Mr. Traster explained that the county usually budgets and pays for equipment needs without using lease/purchase plans in order to save taxpayers interest costs.

 

            Gary Cheek, contractor, talked to the commissioners about the old hotel project. The decision was made to waive the fees at the transfer station for disposing of the demolition material.

 

            Brian Burton, Nex-Tech, talked to the commissioners about the CAMA servers, and he explained that they have the capability of managing the servers and pushing out patches remotely. He presented cost estimates for this service. The commissioners said they would talk to the appraiser about this before a decision is made.

 

            Frank Goldsby, Public Works Administrator, Tom Kramer, Road Foreman, and John Duran, Traffic Control Officer, met with the commissioners. Mike Olson, Engineer with Kirkham Michael, also attended this portion of the meeting. Mr. Goldsby requested approval to purchase a new copier for his department. Carl Higgs made the motion to purchase a Minolta copier from SPC at a cost not to exceed $4,452.80. Marty Long seconded the motion. Following discussion the motion passed unanimously.

 

            John Duran, Traffic Control Officer, reported that it is up to the commissioners to approve allowing Pioneer Natural Resources to put a warning light on county right-of-way and maintaining the light. Carl Higgs made the motion to approve allowing Pioneer Natural Resources to construct and maintain a warning light on county right-of-way on the road to their plant. Marty Long seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Mr. Duran will draft a reduced speed resolution for the same area.

 

            Mike Olson, Engineer, presented cost information on possible truck routes for traffic to and from the proposed ethanol plant. Discussion was held regarding different routes that might be used. Gene Pflughoht and Rod Kreie with Economic Development attended this portion of the meeting. It was decided to use as many existing black top roads as possible for now with improvements to be made at intersections.

 

            Marty Long made the motion to adjourn. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

Linda McHenry, County Clerk                                      Madison Traster, Chairman