Submitted by Dawn Boyles 

County Clerk

The Board of Brown County Commissioners met in regular session Tuesday, Feb 28, with the following members present: Chairman William Pollock, Richard Lehmkuhl, and Lamar Shoemaker. Also present was Brown County Clerk Dawn Boyles. County Attorney Kevin Hill was present for a portion of the meeting. Pollock opened the meeting at 8:10 a.m. All recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Shane Spangler led the meeting with a prayer.

Department Reports

Road and Bridge Secretary Tami Lehmkuhl discussed the tubes and bands needed for this year. T. Lehmkuhl will seek bids for the tubes and bands.

Services for the Elderly Director Wanda Davis discussed possible pay increases in her department. Davis also stated the hot meals program is going well.

T. Lehmkuhl presented two applications for the open road crewmen positions. Lehmkuhl will contact the applicants for interviews.

T. Lehmkuhl, discussed the road reclamation project with the commission. The commission would like to use the 3-1/2 miles on 270th road as discussed previously. The commission would also like to contribute 20 to 25 percent of the cost share. T. Lehmkuhl will meet with Brady Hedstrom and report back to the commission.

Executive Sessions

The board held a five-minute executive session for attorney client privilege to discuss legal matters with legal counsel, to protect the Board’s privilege and communication with an attorney, with the three commissioners and Hill present to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests. No binding action was taken following the executive session.

The board held a 10-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests, with the three commissioners and the interviewee present to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests. No binding action was taken following the executive session.

The board held a 10-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests, with the three commissioners and the interviewee present to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests. No binding action was taken following the executive session.

The board held a five-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests, with the three commissioners and Boyles present to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel with an executive session necessary to protect privacy interests. No binding action was taken following the executive session.

The board approved to hire one of the applicants subject to the Solid Waste Director Heather Merrill’s approval. 

Also at the meeting

Scot Loyd with Loyd Group discussed the ARPA requests with the commission.

The board approved the Feb. 21 minutes with the following correction:

“Oil Bids for an estimated 500,000 gallons of RS-1H for road oiling were opened. Bids were as follows: Vance Brothers, Inc. with a bid of $2.24 for RS-1H, $2.39 for RS-1HP and $2.29 for RS-1H Plus per gallon; Ergon with a bid of $3.11 for RS-1H, and $3.13 for RS-1HP per gallon and Coastal Refining & Marketing with a bid of $2.78 for RS-1H and $3.12 for RS-1HP per gallon. Road Foremen John Selland, Jerry Hisle and Rodney Allen were present for the bid opening. Motion by Richard Lehmkuhl to accept the Vance Brothers, Inc. bid of $2.29 for RS-1H Plus per gallon. Seconded by Lamar Shoemaker. Motion carried.”

The Feb. 28 claims were approved as follows: General, $85,928.90; Road and Bridge, $41,998.23; Historical Society, $4,583.33; Employee Benefit, $81,981.40; Election, $0; Extension Council, $9,166.66; Mental Health, $7,442.91; Developmental Services, $2,254.33; Capital Improvement, $473.42; Appraiser, $60.17; Ambulance, $25,416.65; Noxious Weed, $462.05; Diversion, $15; 911 SB 50, $0; ACC, $23,806.74; JJA CORE, $24,619.27; Reinvestment Grant, $134.45; Services for Elderly, $1,948.18; Solid Waste, $71,167.88 and Payroll $80.09. The total was $381,539.66.

Boyles presented the annual township and cemetery reports for the commission’s review, with the exception of Washington Township. The board accepted the annual township and cemetery reports as presented with the exception of Washington Township.

Boyles discussed a possible workshop day to review and work on the new wage scale structure. The commission will revisit this at a later date.

Boyles discussed a proposed increase in the landfill fees. Boyles will discuss the fee increase with Merrill.

The Feb. 22 payroll was approved as follows: General, $90,803.30; Road and Bridge, $15,434.38; Election, $6,293; Technology, $316; Appraiser, $8,660; Noxious Weed, $1,760; ACC, $11,695.12; JJA Core, $10,201.21; Reinvestment Grant, $1,947.38; Services for Elderly, $3,161.25; Solid Waste, $5,097.01; Special MVT, $0; Employee Benefit FICA, $10,190.12 and Employee Benefit KPERS, $12,218.22. After the State Unemployment and Worker’s Compensation of $149.28 and Insurance of $8,962.18 were taken out, the total was $174,665.53.

The board approved an Emergency Vehicle Permit for Tim Workman.

Tax Change Orders 2022-46 through 2022-48 were signed and approved.

Boyles presented a letter from the Kansas State Fair for the commission’s review. Boyles will contact other departments to see if there is any interest in submitting a project to the Kansas State Fair.

Boyles presented a letter from the Silver Haired Legislature for the commission’s consideration. It is the consensus of the commission to not contribute to the Silver Haired Legislature.

Pete Quinlan with Bettis Asphalt joined the meeting via phone call. Quinlan answered the commission’s questions regarding the road reclamation project.

The board approved to apply for the KDOT Cost Share Program with the county’s share being up to 25 percent.

Hill discussed the Local Liquor Tax in section three of the KANZA agreement. Boyles will contact KANZA Director Jackie Feathers about attending a commission meeting to discuss with the commission.

The next regular meeting was held on Monday, March 6. These minutes were not available at The Herald’s press time.