Road repairs resume in dryer, warmer weather

Bourbon County Commissioners on Friday learned a portion of one road has been closed to through traffic until permanent repairs can be made.

Roads and Bridges Director Jim Harris said his crew had cut out about 600 feet of the road down to its base, then laid rock on that portion of the road.

"We'll blade it, get a little moisture on it," Harris said. "It will soon be a project we can overlay, but we couldn't cover what was there."

He agreed with Second District Commissioner Barbara Albright who said that portion of the road "really just fell apart."

Harris said the road appeared to have consisted of only a couple of layers of chip and seal, which is not enough to provide a solid structure for a road.

"In my opinion, that's not enough to build up a good road base," Harris said.

The county has hauled rock in to fill the area of the road that was cut and the rock will remain for a while, according to Harris. He said more areas need to be cut, but at the same time the county is cutting roads, it needs to include those roads on a repair plan.

Because it will take a few months before permanent repairs are made, Harris said the crews have placed signs warning drivers the road is closed and there is loose gravel.

"It's going to be gravel until the road changes," Harris said.

He said he "tried to do some door knocking" to advise area residents of the change in the road.

Crews also are moving dirt from the ditches along 265th Street near Osage to the landfill and laying cold patch in other areas.

Who pays for what?

Commissioners also met with Jail Administrator Bobby Reed and Undersheriff Ben Cole on when building and maintenance bills will be paid from the jail's budget.

Reed said he received a $1,651.50 bill from Design Mechanical of Kansas City for served on a heating and air condition unit at the Southeast Kansas Correction Center.

Design Mechanical was contracted to replace and repair air conditioning units on county buildings after the April 7, 2013 hail storm. Commission Chairman Allen Warren asked where the reimbursement from the insurance company had been placed. County Clerk Kendell Mason said the insurance money went into the county's General Fund.

County Attorney Terri Johnson said historically, the jail has "received bills for all kinds of maintenance on the building."

"Last year I received a bill for air conditioners and heat, elevators and so forth," Reed said. "Then I believe when the sheriff and I came up in a prior meeting, it was discussed those kind of bills should come out of the general building (fund)."

"One way to look at it would be, if you have been paying those in the past, they still need to be paid by you, or you give up some of your budget," Warren said.

When asked if he had included building maintenance and repair expenses in his budget, Reed said he had not.

Warren said new budgets are determined by looking at the previous year's actual expenses.

"I actually think the discussion was during the budget meetings," Johnson said. "They were talking about how difficult it was that they get these bills."

Reed said he thought it had been the commissioners' recommendation that such bills would be paid from the county's General Fund. Reed said he understands paying for common maintenance items, such a broken door knob.

"Here's another way to look at it," Warren said. "It's all in the General Fund. So, we move it to another fund other than yours, and that fund goes over budget, we're going to need to hit all the department heads to help us get through the years so we're not over budget."

"And the same token goes for me," Reed said. "If I go over budget, then my hand's out to other departments."

Warren said that's how it worked in 2013. Johnson said Reed did not budget for these type of maintenance expenses.

The commissioners voted on Warren's motion that from now on structural and mechanical expenses, such as heating, air, electronic and elevator repairs will be paid out of the county's General General Fund, which is a general fund within the overall General Fund.

As he left, Reed handed the Design Mechanical bill to Mason.

Other county business

* Charlie Blevins attended the meeting to express his thoughts on a possible new jail. However, after learning his comments would be open record, he changed the topic to having inmates do work in the county as part of their sentence. Commissioners reminded Blevins he will have an opportunity to express his concerns about a possible new jail during a public forum to be held at 7 p.m. March 6 at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center.

* April Shields, Kayla Tinsley, Adrienne Bahr and Katharine Sisson, Pittsburg State University nursing students, attended the meeting as part of a class requirement.