Commissioners combine regular meeting with end-of-the-month session

At the Rooks County Commission meeting held on Thursday, April 30th through Zoom, the commissioners received a COVID-19 update from health nurse Lori Eichman. At the time of the meeting, Eichman reported that there were only six positive cases in Rooks County, with three already recovered. Eichman had been notified by KDHE that the organization had set up COVID-19 test areas around the state, and there had been one set up at Webster Lake. After Governor Kelly’s speech set for later in the day, Eichman said she, Dr. Jen Brull and emergency management director Butch Post will begin discussions about re-opening businesses, etc. Eichman said it sounds like a threephase plan divided into 14-day increments for the re-opening. There will be no information yet concerning non-essential businesses and when they could open up again. Eichman said at the health office, they were going to start taking appointments, but will keep the doors locked for now and make changes as they are mandated.

Butch Post said they would start reviewing the re-opening plans in the next few days, and also noted that the jails/ prisoners are not open to visitations yet.

Road and bridge supervisor Rich Bouchey was at the meeting to present the commissioners with a farm lease for Steve and Ryan Hageman for the pasture ground at the landfill. The commissioners signed the lease, which was set to start on May 1st.

The department is hauling sand south of Plainville by the Tall Grass Energy Station. The grader that needed an engine is back from Colby. The oil distributor is still in Topeka for repairs. The crews are also hauling material on 16 Road with the first mile laid down between W and X Roads, and material ready for work between V and W Roads.

After the commissioners approved the April 21st minutes, they gave their weekly reports. Corky Hagan stated that people are doing what they can to get by at this time. He had traveled a few roads during the week to check on them after the rain the area had received during the week.

Greg Balthazor had traveled a few roads, but hadn’t received any calls on road conditions. He did receive a communication from Topeka asking how the County was dealing with the quarantine. Balthazor said people are ready to get back out, but were waiting for the state recommendations. He noted that Topeka was concerned that there wasn’t enough COVID-19 testing being done in the area.

John Ruder said he had made some revisions to the County’s COOP plan. Redbud Village is still closed to the public.

Ruder then asked economic development director Roger Hrabe, who was present through Zoom, about the environmental reviews they were doing for Hometown Plumbing Solutions and Twig & Vine. He asked if the funding was from the County. Hrabe said the grant money was from the state through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). His office had not not utilized the grant funds for the past three years due to the many restrictions of the grant application, but during the pandemic the restrictions were taken off. Also CDBG was encouraging the use of the idle funds for emergency reasons to help businesses who needed working capital during the stay-at-home mandate. Ruder said the commissioners had concerns with one of the businesses with Hrabe stating that for right now the state is monitoring the funds which are to help businesses get through this period. The commissioners then signed the environmental reviews for Hometown Plumbing Solutions and Twig & Vine as presented.

Hrabe stated that he would like to discuss the County’s website at a future meeting. He has been contacted by a company that does websites for government/city entities. Hrabe has overseen the website and would continue to do the updating with this company to manage the accessibility part of the program.

Hrabe then reported on the snow removal equipment for the Rooks County Regional Airport. A final inspection of the storage building had been set for May 6th. The bidders for the snow removal equipment have all been notified of who received the bid from the County. The Airport Board has also started negotiations for a fixed-base operator at the airport to oversee grounds maintenance, etc.

Tawnya Rohr with the Senior Companion Program was present for the Zoom meeting with the commissioners to request funding for the 2021 year. She is asking for monetary support to cover the pay of two Senior Companions for the budget year.

Appraiser Heather Poore was at the meeting to give the commissioners the bids for the two, 10-ply tires she would like to purchase. The low bid was from Hahn Tire of Stockton at a cost of $150.00 per tire. Poore also gave an update on her office noting that the house purchasing for the first quarter was slow, but the numbers were the same as 2018. There had been more agriculture sales in the recent months. The office is finishing up on oil and personal properties values, which will be mailed out soon. The final values will be ready for the commissioners by May 15th. Before Poore left, she said she would like to go through her work contract with the commissioners sometime in the next few weeks as it is up for review.

The commissioners then discussed the re-opening of the courthouse. It was the consensus to keep the courthouse closed for the time being until after they receive information from the governor’s office and the county health department. It was decided to return to full staffing of the courthouse employees starting May 1st.

The commissioners spent the remainder of the morning meeting reviewing and signing end-of-the-month payroll and vouchers.