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Contest planned to spiff up courthouse lawn
The Bourbon County Courthouse lawn might be a little brighter this year, thanks to county employees participating in a flower garden contest.
Bourbon County Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to allow the employees to use $500 for the project. The money will be divided between the eight departments that will plant flowers in the main areas of the courtyard.
Bourbon County Treasurer Rhonda Dunn said each department has agreed to participate in the flower garden contest, even though no prizes will be awarded.
The names of each department will be drawn from a hat to determine which area the employees will be responsible for.
"We all want the (flower) pots," Dunn said.
She said she has not walked around the courtyard with Maintenance Supervisor David Neville to determine where the eight flowerbeds will be located.
She said the plan is to plant red and white flowers, which will tie into this year's Fort Scott High School Alumni Reunion weekend.
Dunn said the plan is for each department to maintain their project, which includes weeding and watering. Dunn said there are no rules, but each department will be responsible for coming up with a plan. Employees will work on the flower beds on their own time. The goal is to have the beds ready by Memorial Day.
"We need to talk about a budget for it," Dunn said.
County Clerk Kendell Mason recommended taking the funds from the General-General Fund.
"I think some of that money needs to be spent on perennials that will come back every year, and spend our money locally," Dunn said.
Commission Chair Barbara Albright said she would kick in an additional $50 of her own money and issued a challenge for others to do the same. Third District Commissioner Harold Coleman said he would add $50 to the fund for the commissioners, who will be included in the Public Works Department team.
The flowerbeds aren't the only space in the yard employees want to improve.
Later, Neville presented commissioners with two bids he received for lawn care service.
Cedar Creek Landscape Management Inc., Asbury, Mo. submitted a bid of $1,390 and WL Spraying and Landscaping Inc., Nevada Mo., bid $1,691.
The bids include fertilizing, weed control, seeding and overseeding.
"This is five steps, including overseeding to be done over a year's time," Neville said. "Every so many months they'll be overseeding. They recommended in the fall, but the spraying would be done over a period of months over an entire year. That should make our lawn look a lot better."
"Have you ever done this before?" Albright said.
"Just a fraction," Neville said. "Until you get it reseeded, you'll have bare spots where the weeds are."
Albright asked if anyone in Fort Scott would be able to provide the same lawn care service. Neville said he doesn't know of anybody local, but they would have to be licensed to do the spraying. Albright also asked if the county weed department could spray, but Neville said he remembers asking that question before and being told it could not.
First District Commissioner Lynne Oharah recommended getting prices for a sprinkler system so the lawn could be maintained after the work is completed. He and Neville agreed the system should only cover the main areas, not the islands.
"The reason this (lawn care) costs so much is because it includes the whole place," Neville said. "I put all the islands in there. But if you guys want just the main area, that could be modified."
The commissioners agreed to not take any action on the bids at this time and discussed finding a less expensive way to spray weeds and reseed.
"If we do reseed it, it needs to be mowed at about four-inches," Coleman said. "You need to let it go until you can't stand it."
Other business
* Following a 25-minute executive session to discuss matters of attorney-client privilege with County Attorney Justin Meeks, commissioners voted to take action on a new rock quarry lease contract with Hubert Thomas.
Commissioners gave Public Works Director Jim Harris permission to communicate with Thomas the county's intention to approve the contract for the rock quarry and the county attorney will be updating the contract in the near future.
On April 13, Harris reported Thomas had reviewed the initial agreement approved by the commissioners. Thomas requested 800 tons of rock in addition to the $2,500 lease payment.
Albright said each landowner the county has a quarry lease with gets rock as part of the agreement.
* Commissioners will meet at 10 a.m. Monday to open bids for the construction of a new collection structure at the landfill.
Harris asked if commissioners would also want to have a work session at 10:30 a.m. to review letters of interest from contractors interested in working on the Maple Road project.
The project entails improvements and asphalt overlay on Maple Road between the Fort Scott City Limits and 205th Street and is being funded with a $350,000 High Risk Rural Roads grant administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
In order to qualify for the 90-10 funding, Harris was asked to review a list of approved contractors and send requests for qualifications to the contractors of his choice.
Harris said he has five letters for the committee -- consisting of the commissioners and himself -- to review. After the review, Harris will submit the name of one contractor to KDOT.
The date to open bids was set prior to the commissioner's decision to change their meeting times from 9 a.m. to noon Monday and Fridays to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
* Commissioners met with Cathy Cooper, Director for the 6th Judicial District Community Corrections and approved the contract for the adult drug prevention program.
Cooper said the final numbers for state funding won't be available until the end of June.
"The state keeps cutting back on its funding," Cooper said.
The preliminary information she has received is there could be $326,5888 for this year, $13,000 less than last year.
She also presented information on the juvenile grant, which the commissioners did not need to approve Tuesday.
"We're keeping the program the same as last year, but we've added three new tobacco classes with the youth program," Cooper said. "If a school refers students to us we can offer that service."
Because there is an age limit for tobacco use, youth are referred to the program by the county attorney's office, Cooper said.
* Dunn presented commissioners with the idle funds balance report. The county has $2,483,174.33 in a checking account at UMB.
It also has certificates of deposit with Landmark National, City State Bank, Liberty, and Union State Bank. Dunn said many of those CDs have been in place since the 1990s and are earning an interest rate ranging from .24 percent to .13 percent.
"One of my jobs is to make sure our money is secure," Dunn said.
She said the banks have pledged a total of $9 million to protect the county's money.
* Commissioners also looked at the space vacated by the Register of Deeds office, which has moved to the first floor. Dunn is recommending the state driver's license office be moved from the hallway to the vacated space. She said the room needs painting and possibly new floors.
"I may be coming to you asking for money," Dunn said.
The state pays $400 each quarter to lease space in the courthouse for the license service.
"My only question is do we see the Department of Transportation being here permanently?" Albright said.
Dunn said some Kansas county treasurers have taken responsibility for the driver's license service.
"I don't see that as an option here," Dunn said. "I don't see them moving out, they would just reduce services. That would just be an additional burden to my office I would have to add another employee."
* Commissioners signed a letter of support for two Marmaton Watershed District projects. One is eight miles south of Uniontown and the other is located near Hiattville.
* Commissioners heard a concern from Ralph Reed regarding work on 240th Street. The road is on the top of the county's asphalt project list this year, according to Albright. It has been milled in preparation for new asphalt, but after complaints from residents, an expert from Van Keppel of Kansas City is being asked to make recommendations on the condition of the work. Albright said the asphalt work will be done in the near future.
* Brian Wade attended the meeting and thanked Harris for work done on Soldier Road. He then issued a complaint about the speed of county dump trucks. He said a dog was hit and killed on the road and although it will never be known who hit the dog, he was guessing it might have been a county dump truck.
Harris defended his employees, but said he would have another discussion with the drivers about slowing down when meeting another vehicle and to drive "close to the speed limit."
"We have good employees," Harris said.
* Commissioners held a 10-minute executive session with Harris and Mason.
* While reviewing what projects Meeks has been working on for the commissioners, they also discussed what questions they would like answered during a salary survey to be conducted by The Austin Peters Group Inc. of Overland Park.
Bourbon County Sheriff Bill Martin is paying for the $3,000 survey out of his budget. This is in addition to $175 county commissioners approved to pay for survey work through the Kansas Association of Counties.
Becky Crowder, president of The Austin Peters Group, met with commissioners on April 17 and said her firm could customize the survey questions to fit Bourbon County's needs. On Tuesday, commissioners asked Meeks to contact Crowder with their list of questions to other entities, which includes amount of overtime and benefits.
During the discussion, Mason reminded commissioners and Meeks that not all Bourbon County employees work 40 hours. She said most clerical employees work 35 hours per week.