COMMISSION MINUTES, JULY 21, 2008

The Board of Washington County Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, July 21, 2008, in the commission room at the Washington County Courthouse. Present: Alison Mueller, 1^st District Commissioner; Marcia Funke, 2^nd District Commissioner; Gene Helms, 3^rd District Commissioner, and Lou Kern, County Clerk. Jason Brinegar, County Attorney, was present at the department head meeting at 11:00 A.M.

Chairman Helms called the meeting to order with prayer.

Next regular meeting is scheduled for July 28, 2008 at 8:30 A.M.

Sheila Ouellette, Communications Director, and Theresa Herrs, Deputy Communications Director, and the board discussed the lease on the Palmer tower that is now owned by Eagle Communications. The communications repeater is on top of the tower and the equipment is outside the building. Eagle Communications has no further use for the tower and is willing to assign the lease to Washington County. The matter may be referred to the County Attorney. Also discussed was the priority that ambulances may be dispatched.

Lou Kern, County Clerk, presented resolution for election board workers. Alison Mueller moved to adopt Resolution No. 10-08 setting wages for election board workers. Marcia Funke seconded and motion carried.

Also discussed was re-districting commission districts which will occur at the time of reorganization of the board of county commissioners in January.

Chairman Helms signed official oath and bond for David Willbrant as Public Works Administrator.

The board approved and Chairman Helms signed transfer of earned time from David Willbrant to Gary Bunch and from Jeff Uffman to Gary Bunch.

Duane Bruna, Noxious Weed and Solid Waste Director, reported on his attendance at a noxious weed meeting in Hiawatha last week. Duane received word that Marshall County has accepted the Memorandum of Understanding with Washington County for acceptance of construction and demolition materials. KDHE has issued permit renewal for Washington County through June 30, 2009.

At 11:00 A.M. the commission met with county department heads for the monthly meeting. Also present was Shirley Marrs, District Court Clerk. Lou Kern, County Clerk, presented information from Dague Computers about purchasing multiple use packs for Norton Anti Virus software. 10 packs would cost $149.00. No decision was made. Lou also spoke about tax exemption from Kansas sales tax on motel rooms as well as government rates that are available. Debbie Swoboda is working on getting the government identification badges for county employees. NIMS training for employees that have not received it was also discussed. The definition of earned time as it may apply to pay without leave and how that would affect payment for a county holiday during the time that an employee was not present before the holiday was discussed. Jason Brinegar, County Attorney, opined that the employee was still entitled to full time status and therefore should have been paid for the holiday. Janice Kearn, R.N., County Health Director, presented Ready Kit backpacks that contain the supplies that every household should have for a 72 hour emergency such as the Greensburg tornado. The kits were provided through the State of Kansas. Janice asked that every department head share the information with the employees in their departments.

Christy L’Ecuyer, Business Coordinator, spoke of a person that might be willing to locate in the future at the county airport as an aviation mechanic and asked if the board would like for that information to be included in the master plan. Also to be included in the plan is an extended runway.

David Willbrant, Public Works Administrator, gave weekly work. David spoke about personnel issues and the cost of equipment at auction.

At 12:05 P.M. Marcia Funke moved to go into executive session for 5 minutes under the attorney/client exception. Alison Mueller seconded and motion carried. At 12:10 P.M. the board returned to regular session. No action was taken.

The meeting adjourned at 12:15 P.M.