Commissioners meet in regular session

The Stevens County  Commissioners met in regular session Monday  with all members, Pat Hall, Dave Bozone and Joe D. Thompson, present. Also present were County Clerk Pam Bensel, County Counselor Paul Kitzke and RoGlenda Coulter from The Hugoton Hermes.

The following is just an agenda for the morning with a few of the unofficial highlights.

Neal Gillespie dropped in and talked to the Commissioners about a resolution.

Josh Morris was first on the agenda. As he was out of town, Nancy Honig stood in. Nancy came with information and to inform the Commissioners the State Director will be coming to provide solid information about combining area county Extension Agencies into a district group. They expect the director in October or November. It is possible that four counties may join. It will be better to get in on the ground floor of the districting instead of waiting to join later. Nancy said they will let the Commissioners know a more definite date at a later time. Nancy also reminded the Commissioners about the part of the Extension’s budget held out until taxes were paid. Nancy said they are making cuts wherever they can and plan more when their board meets in October.

Rodney Kelling checked in for the EMS. He was showing the Commissioners the spec sheets for carpet and getting their approval. They gave the ok to get bids. He reported about the recent window remodeling; it is pretty much done.

Sheriff Heaton updated the commissioners about recent activity. Ted and his officers had a really busy Friday and Ted promises a story. The speed limit issue near Moscow was brought back up. It was decided to pull the 20 mph signs and draw up a resolution making the change official.

Tony Martin checked in and gave the report for Road and Bridge. He also presented numbers of how much was saved in the shorter workday system. It was a very substantial amount in labor and utilities. The hospital signs promised by the City of Hugoton for west of town have not been put up yet.

Next on the agenda was Carl Eyman from KWORCC Kansas Workers Risk Cooperative for Counties. He came to review the county’s policy and said the premium for 2016 will be higher. He named claims that had been made as the cause. No names were disclosed. Training sessions in each county department were also discussed.

Susan Schulte brought in the spec sheets she made. Other than a couple of corrections, they thought she did an excellent job.

Commissioners then moved into executive session with plans to adjourn afterwords.