Karen Vines, the county’s health insurance advisor, addresses the Stevens County Commissioners Monday morning with bad news. Looking over the figures, from left to right, are County Attorney Paul Kitzke, Commissioner Tron Stegman, Commissioner Pat Hall, Commissioner Joe D. Thompson, County Clerk Amy Jo Tharp and Karen Vines.
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session Monday, October 23. All members, Tron Stegman, Pat Hall and Joe D. Thompson were present. Also present were, County Clerk Amy Jo Tharp, County Attorney Paul Kitzke and RoGlenda Coulter from The Hugoton Hermes.
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills; 8:45 – Tony Martin; 9:00 – Karen Vines; 10:15 – David Geist – SWKAA; 10:30 – Nex-Tech discussion; 11:00 – Cammie Heaton; 11:10 – Ross Sullivan.
The meeting was called to order. Bills were gone over. A few questions were asked and discussed. Motion was made and passed to approve the county vouchers and the minutes.
Tony Martin came in for Public Works. Tony and the Commissioners discussed the matter of tires at the Landfill. Tony said Waste Managementpicks up the tires approximately every three months. They are loaded into a semi, weighed and hauled off. The landfill is then billed for them.
They discussed the future wind/solar farms. Tony is to meet with the Ford County Attorney Tuesday, October 24. He will then share the meeting details with the Stevens County Zoning Board. Tony told the Commissioners they were doing random drug testing at the county departments. They talked about a complaint of various trucks pulling out of intersections.
Karen Vines was next on the agenda. She represents HUB and is the health insurance advisor for the county. She brought all the details for Blue Cross and Blue Shield for the county employees. It was not good news. There will be an increase in the cost per employee. There is an option of raising the deductible to keep the price down. This created a complicated dilemma for the Commissioners. Also Ms. Vines advised that all Blue Cross users will be getting a letter in the mail concerning drug details. Do Not Throw Away These Letters!!! They require a form to be filled out and sent back! It’s very important that these letters be addressed and will possibly be to the customers’ benefit.
After Ms. Vines left, the Commissioners continued to discuss the changes in health insurance. The options may include: deduct the difference between the single coverage and the family coverage from salary each month (approximately $150 to $200); drop all family coverage and pay just the single coverage for each employee; take the option of the much higher deductible; or take the high price and not give a cost of living raise later. These were just a few of the ideas the Commissioners were discussing. It’s a very hard decision.
David Geist from the Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging (SWKAAA) came in to update the Commissioners. His department covers 28 area counties. They offer: help with keeping elderly in their home as long as possible; health counseling; legal services; and possible employment prospects, just to name a few. Mr. Geist advised that they need representatives from Stevens County. This is a voluntary three year term. They meet every three months and pay for the road trip. Stevens County also is in need of a Silver Hair representative. Rusty Tuman was asked to come in and offer advice on the county’s Nex-Tech programs. Amy Jo also had a representative from Nex-Tech on speaker phone. Rusty had some good advice for the Commissioners. He also had advice of how to save a lot of money and still keep the security in check. Cammie Heaton came in with some updates for the Health Department. Courthouse Facilities Supervisor Ross Sullivan stopped in with updates and requests. Meeting adjourned.
