The Board
of County Commissioners met in regular session at 9:30 a.m. with all members
and the County Clerk present.
Gene
Schwein made the motion to approve the minutes from the December 3 and December
13, 2002 meetings. Carl Higgs seconded
the motion and it passed unanimously.
Mark
Skiles, Economic Development Director, discussed incentives for Alco with the
commissioners.
Sherry
Thompson, Health Department Administrator, presented an update on her
department. Mrs. Thompson requested
approval to purchase a file server.
Gene Schwein made the motion to approve the purchase of a file server
from Schroeder’s of Hugoton at a cost of $5807.04 with the stipulation that
grant money pay for the networking system.
This amount includes an approximate amount for installation of
$330. Carl Higgs seconded the motion
and it passed unanimously. Discussion
was held on a regionalization grant for bioterrorism and communicable disease surveillance. Adjacent counties will work together
utilizing the grant money so all counties will be able to adequately prepare
for bioterrorism and communicable disease surveillance. No local money will be required for this
project. Stanton, Grant, Stevens,
Morton and Seward Counties will be involved in the grant. Carl Higgs made the motion to approve the
formal agreement between area county commissioners for bioterrorism
preparedness and response and communicable disease surveillance and follow up
pending the approval of the county attorney.
Gene Schwein seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. In other business, Ms. Thompson said she
still sees no need to hire additional full time nurses. However, she would like to change one of her
part time office staff to full time status.
She would also like to add the job description of Administrative
Assistant to her department. Later in
the day, the commissioners made the decision not to allow another full time
position in the health department for the present. They referred the request for the job description of
Administrative Assistant to the department head pay plan committee. Carl Higgs made the motion to recess into
executive session for five minutes for the purpose of discussing contract
personnel. Gene Schwein seconded the
motion and it passed unanimously. After
five minutes the meeting continued in open session.
Sean
Gooding, EMS Director, reported that he is pleased with the facility but he
said the heating bill has increased substantially from last month. The commissioners asked Mr. Gooding to see
if the thermostat can be set lower.
They said something might have to be done to the building if the problem
continues. Discussion was held on Kevin
Barbo’s position and rate of pay. Mr.
Gooding recommended leaving Mr. Barbo at the same rate of pay and changing his
job title to supervisor. Later in the
day, Gene Schwein made the motion to change Kevin Barbo’s title to supervisor
and keep his rate of pay the same as he received as interim director. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously.
John
Crosby, Fire Chief, requested approval to purchase a lap top computer and a
regular computer. He explained that
both items were budgeted for this year.
Gene Schwein made the motion to approve the Dell laptop and the Dell
8250 Series computer at a cost not to exceed $2,021.22 plus freight for the
laptop and $1,990.11 plus freight for the regular computer. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously. Mr. Crosby reported that
he is applying for a FEMA grant to purchase a new tanker. If he receives the grant, the county will be
responsible for 10% of the cost or about $20,000. Mr. Crosby requested approval to advertise in the newspaper to
recruit firefighters. The commissioners
approved his request. Mr. Crosby
reported that he has appointed Rodney Wilson as assistant fire chief.
Brad Welch,
Appraiser, requested approval to purchase the software to enable his personal
property and oil and gas records to be spooled for viewing by the public. The cost for this will be around $1,000. A decision on this was tabled.
Frank
Goldsby, Public Works Administrator, and Tom Kramer, Road Supervisor, proposed
renting a rock-crushing machine for one month.
Gene Schwein made the motion to lease the rock crusher for 30 days at a
cost of $21,000. Carl Higgs seconded
the motion and it passed unanimously.
Mr. Kramer presented information on mining regulations that the federal
government has started enforcing. He
advised that we are in compliance with some of the rules and are working toward
total compliance.
Ric Dalke
and Don McLendon, Area Mental Health Center, presented resignation letters from
Rachel Applegate and Norma Strickland as Area Mental Health Board Members. Two names suggested as replacements are
Larry Rumburg and Art Trevino. New
appointments will be made in January.
Gene
Schwein made the motion to approve Resolution 02-08 relating to refunding over
payment of fees to the Register of Deed’s office. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Carl Higgs
made the motion to approve the purchase of a computer for Rita Gee, Treasurer,
from Nex-Tech at a cost not to exceed $1,345.43. Gene Schwein seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Gene
Schwein made the motion to approve the claims against the various funds of the
county. Carl Higgs seconded the motion
and it passed unanimously.
Linda McHenry, County Clerk Madison
Traster, Chairman