Submitted by Dawn Boyles

County Clerk

The Board of Brown County Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, May 15, 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 Jim Farris led the meeting with a prayer.

Budget Requests

Hill presented a 2024 Budget request of $186,000 for the County Attorney’s Office.

Brown County Sheriff John Merchant presented the 2024 Budget requests: Sheriff’s office at $997,482; Sheriff’s dispatch at $600,715; Sheriff’s jail at $735,708; and courthouse security $46,338.50. Sheriff Merchant also presented the 911 budget of $100,000.

Brown County Emergency Management Director Don Pounds presented a 2024 Budget request of $96,575.

Shelby Donahoo, Director of Finance with KANZA, presented the 2024 Budget request of $71,604 for KANZA Mental Health and $17,711 for Brown County share to a Crisis Stabilization Center.

Brown County District Court Clerk Joy Moore and District Court Judge John Weingart presented the 2024 Budget request of $163,100 for the District Court.

Brown County District Court Clerk Moore and District Court Judge Weingart presented the 2024 Budget request of $45,000 for the Four County District Court. Brown County’s share would be $11,461.50. The commissioners approved the $11,461.50 for Brown County’s portion of the four County District Court budget.

Brown County Services for the Elderly Director Wanda Davis presented the 2024 Budget request of $141,020 for the Services for the Elderly Department.

HFED members Leon Wissman, Jared Enneking, Colton Oswald and Drew Froeschl presented their 2024 Budget request of $25,000 for HFED. Wissman discussed the projects HFED is working on.

Brown County Clerk Boyles presented the Horton Industrial Development Committee’s 2024 Budget request of $25,000.

Brown County Historical Society Board of Directors Lynn Allen, Larry Day, Gary Shear and Tim Wenger presented the 2024 Historical Society Budget request of $65,000 for the Historical Society.

Brown County Clerk Boyles presented the 2024 Commissioner’s Budget request of $846,970 for the commissioners.

Brown County Conservation District Nikki Tollefson, Jeff Compton, Brett Covert, Michael Lanter and Tanner Campbell presented the 2024 Budget request of $35,000 for the Conservation District.

Road and Bridge Secretary Tami Lehmkuhl presented the 2024 Budget request of $4,200,582 for the Road and Bridge Department. 

Brown County Treasurer Betty Spiker presented the 2024 Budget request of $272,010 for the Treasurer’s Department.

Kristina Romine, with the Brown County Health Department via phone, presented the 2024 Budget request of $65,000 for the Health Department.

County Clerk Boyles presented the 2024 Custodian Budget request of $264,970 for the Custodian Department.

Clerk Boyles also presented the 2024 Budget request of $700,000 for the Ambulance.

Boyles also presented the 2024 Budget request of $15,000 for the Rescue Squad.

Matt Young, Brown County Extension Agent, and Jill Handke, Extension Board member, requested $125,000 as the 2024 Budget request for the Extension and $10,500 as the 2024 Budget request for the Fair Premium funds. Brown County Developmental Services Director Susy Overdick presented the 2024 BCDS Budget request of $27,052 for BCDS.

Brown County Register of Deeds Nellie Brockhoff presented the 2024 Register of Deeds Budget request of $107,650 for the Register of Deeds Department.

Dallas Johnson presented the 2024 Budget request of $252,260 for the IT Department.

Brown County Appraiser Steve Markham presented the 2024 Budget request of $306,150 for the Appraiser’s Department.

Noxious Weed Director Rich Rodvelt presented the 2024 Budget request of $163,320 for Noxious Weed Department.

Brown County Solid Waste Director Heather Merrill presented a 2024 Budget request of $1,130,670 for Solid Waste.

Clerk Boyles presented the 2024 County Clerk Budget request of $175,722 for the County Clerk’s Office.

Brown County Election Officer Boyles presented the 2024 Budget request of $158,520 for the Election Office.

Boyles presented the 2024 Budget request of $1,665,500 for Employee Benefits.

Department Reports

Road and Bridge Secretary T. Lehmkuhl discussed the purchase of a used back hoe for District 1 from Purple Wave Auction. The commissioners decided to find that there is a substantial likelihood of finding the back hoe at a cheaper price. T. Lehmkuhl presented various quotes and sales of similar back hoes for the board’s review. The board decided to move forward with allowing T. Lehmkuhl to bid on the back hoe up to $65,500 plus commission.

Boyles presented Road and Bridge Permit 23-01 for the commissioners’ approval. The board would like to table the permit approval until more information is received.

Also at the meeting:

The commissioners approved the May 8 minutes.

Tax Change Orders 2022-91 and 2022-92 were signed and approved.

The commissioners approved Occupation License 2023-03 for Golden Eagle Casino.

Boyles presented the Motorola Sole Source Vendor letter from Brown County Emergency Manager Don Pounds for the board to review.

Boyles presented information on invex for the commission to review.

Boyles presented a thank you letter from 3 Rivers Inc. for the commissioners to review.

The commissioners held a 15-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 legal matters with legal counsel to protect the Board’s privilege and communication with an attorney. No binding action was taken following the executive session.

Boyles presented information received from James H. Maggard on a valuation before the Board of Tax Appeals.

Boyles presented a credit approval application from Rush Enterprises. The board decided to use a different route for future purchases from Rush Enterprises.

Boyles presented a letter from Doug Fortmeyer for the commission to review.

Boyles presented a copy of the Hiawatha Housing Study for the commissioners to review.

Boyles presented the recent KCAMP inspection for the board to review. Boyles will be distributing copies of the inspection to each of the departments to complete a corrective plan of action.

Boyles presented the KWORCC inspection for the commission to review.

Boyles presented an updated Road Use Agreement from the Grain Belt Express for the board to review. Hill will forward the agreement to Patrick Hughes for his review.

Boyles discussed the Comprehensive Planning Committee. Commissioner Pollock presented a replacement for Ben Swinger. The commissioners approved Lafe Bailey to the Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Brown County IT Director Dallas Johnson discussed a proposal from Rainbow Communications to install a survey on the county website.

The next regular meeting was held Monday, May 22. These minutes were not available at The Herald’s press time.