[0:11] Good morning. It's 9 a.m. and I

[0:13] will call the June July 7th

[0:16] County Commission selling

[0:18] County Commission meeting to

[0:19] order with the clerk. Please

[0:20] call the roll.

[0:21] Commissioner here. Commissioner

[0:23] grievous here. Commissioner

[0:25] sparks here. Commissioner Weiss

[0:27] here. Commissioner. Hey, here.

[0:32] I was out in the public

[0:33] talking. If you're able, I'd

[0:35] appreciate if you'd stand. And

[0:37] I drove like sleet in a moment

[0:38] of silence with us. I pledge

[0:41] allegiance to the flag of.

[0:43] The United States of America

[0:45] and to the republic for which

[0:47] it stands. One nation under

[0:50] God, indivisible, with liberty

[0:52] and justice for all.

[0:56] I pray.

[0:57] Thank you. At this time, we'll

[1:02] move in to our citizens import

[1:04] and put portion of the meeting

[1:06] where members of the public may

[1:07] speak on County government,

[1:09] usually limited to three

[1:10] minutes pertaining to items not

[1:12] to be discussed on the agenda.

[1:14] Are there any members who would

[1:15] like to speak?

[1:21] Good morning commissioners.

[1:22] Good morning Rosemary, my

[1:23] Salina, Kansas. And I just

[1:25] wanted to let everyone know the

[1:26] granny brigade is very busy

[1:28] this month. We are setting out

[1:30] on Thursday evenings in front

[1:32] of the radio station from 4 to

[1:34] 6. Uh, collecting water for our

[1:38] Salina residents that have bad

[1:40] water. And also, we've got a

[1:42] booth set up for voter

[1:44] information. We have sample

[1:45] ballots and information on the

[1:48] candidates, that of the

[1:49] candidates that have provided

[1:51] us with that. And then we're

[1:52] also out on Saturday mornings

[1:54] from 9 to 12 over on 2100 South

[1:56] ninth Street. And if you can't

[1:58] find us, you'll see our flags

[1:59] are flying. And also on the

[2:02] 16th we have a meet and greet

[2:04] with, uh, governor elect Philip

[2:06] Saanich from 1130 to 1 at

[2:10] Perkins Restaurant at 3015. Um

[2:15] riffle drive or 1825 Riffle

[2:18] Drive. And that will be from

[2:20] 1130 to 1. And also on July the

[2:23] 21st, we will be celebrating

[2:25] the sixth year of the Granny

[2:26] Brigade of birthday, along with

[2:29] our nation's 250th birthday,

[2:31] and everyone is invited and we

[2:34] will be providing pull pork and

[2:35] brisket and trimmings to go

[2:38] with it. So we're all invited.

[2:40] Thank you.

[2:40] Very much. You are busy. Good

[2:48] morning Norman.

[2:49] Good morning Annie. Normal.

[2:52] Salina, Kansas. What is the

[2:55] international distress signal

[2:56] for the flag? Do any of you

[2:57] know you don't? Do you?

[3:04] Hung upside down.

[3:04] Right. Well, then

[3:06] we better start flying it,

[3:08] because this flag's in trouble.

[3:09] So is this country. Uh,

[3:12] somebody owes any apology.

[3:14] She's not a madam. You know who

[3:16] you are? You call her madam. Do

[3:20] you not have madam? Your code

[3:25] of conduct. Won't you take your

[3:27] job seriously? Planning zoning

[3:29] board. Look at the problems you

[3:30] cause when you approve landfill

[3:32] issues at 1/40 and State

[3:35] Street. That's the federal

[3:36] issue. We've got water

[3:38] contamination at the air base,

[3:39] and now we're putting the

[3:40] landfill out there at 114 State

[3:42] Street. Calcium chloride. It

[3:44] causes chemical burns. It'll go

[3:46] down into the underground

[3:47] aquifer. I've been involved

[3:50] with water since 1941. No,

[3:53] can't be that long. Water. Been

[3:54] here. Why is the private

[3:56] business allowed to put a

[3:58] construct, a private drive on a

[4:00] county road right of way. Not

[4:02] acceptable liability issues

[4:04] that permit should cost him

[4:06] $1,000. And it's still there.

[4:08] It's been there for a week. The

[4:09] county should be installed on

[4:11] that permit. That plug. Still,

[4:13] they're going to plug up the

[4:14] water at a meet and greet for

[4:17] him. Some candidates did not

[4:18] show up. Why? I guess the job's

[4:21] not important to you, is it?

[4:24] That was mentioned to me? On

[4:29] our budget issue, if you bring

[4:31] back the system that worked

[4:32] from 1492 to 1760, it would

[4:35] work. Money was not an issue.

[4:41] We wouldn't be here if it

[4:42] wasn't for cycles. We, uh.

[4:44] She's a Native American. If she

[4:47] hadn't been involved in that

[4:49] trip. Lewis and Clark, Lewis

[4:51] and Clark wouldn't have made it

[4:52] to the West Coast.

[4:55] Thank you, Norm, any other

[4:59] citizens wanting to speak? If

[5:03] not, we'll close that. Uh,

[5:06] citizen's Forum and move on to

[5:08] the consent agenda that

[5:12] pertains to the following

[5:14] approval of tax roll

[5:15] adjustments. Approval of June

[5:17] 18th. Accounts payable.

[5:19] Approval of public forum

[5:20] agenda. Approval of payroll.

[5:23] Approval of disposition of

[5:24] property. Approval of July

[5:26] 10th. Accounts payable.

[5:28] Approval of County Commission

[5:30] meeting minutes for June 16th,

[5:32] 2026. Approval of County

[5:35] Commission meeting minutes for

[5:37] June 23rd, 2026 and authorize

[5:39] the chair to sign the property

[5:41] damage release. Is there

[5:43] anything the Commission would

[5:44] like to remove or add to this

[5:47] consent agenda at this time? If

[5:50] not, I'd entertain a motion.

[5:52] Make a motion. We approve the

[5:53] consent agenda is written.

[5:55] Second, the motion.

[5:56] It's been moved and seconded.

[5:58] We approve the consent agenda

[5:59] as provided. All those in favor

[6:01] say aye.

[6:02] aye.

[6:03] All opposed. Same sign. Motion

[6:05] carries. Thank you. We'll move

[6:11] into the action. Items of the

[6:12] clerk would call the first

[6:14] action item.

[6:15] Approval of Saline County

[6:16] Health Department is the fiscal

[6:18] agent for the North Central

[6:20] Health Care Coalition for

[6:21] preparedness with Jason Tyler,

[6:23] health department director.

[6:24] Good morning, Jason.

[6:25] Good morning commissioners. So

[6:27] a little background, the North

[6:28] Central Health Care Coalition

[6:29] for preparedness exists to help

[6:31] health care agencies in the

[6:32] north Central region work

[6:34] toward improving disaster

[6:36] efforts, increase situational

[6:37] awareness amongst the region,

[6:39] and mutual support and

[6:41] assistance during disaster.

[6:43] I've been the chair of that

[6:44] coalition for more years than I

[6:47] can remember now. Um, in April

[6:49] of 2026, the organization that

[6:52] had been acting as the fiscal

[6:53] agent in connection with CDBG

[6:56] was lost. And Katie, CDBG has

[6:59] subsequently sought out new

[7:02] agencies within the regions to

[7:04] be fiscal agents for the

[7:05] region's funding. Um, after

[7:07] discussion with the Health Care

[7:09] Coalition's Executive committee

[7:10] and CDBG, Slane County Health

[7:12] Department is requesting to be

[7:15] named the fiscal agent for the

[7:17] region. Um, this action has

[7:19] been discussed and approved

[7:20] both with the Health Care

[7:21] Coalition Executive Committee,

[7:23] I should say also the full

[7:24] membership and CDBG

[7:26] preparedness, um, given our

[7:29] long commitment to the work of

[7:30] the health care coalition's, my

[7:32] position as chair, um,

[7:34] involvement of other Linn

[7:35] County folks, um, including

[7:37] Michelle Weiss from Emergency

[7:39] Management, um, and the

[7:41] position of Saline County is a

[7:42] leader within the region. And

[7:44] our longstanding experience

[7:45] serving as the fiscal agent for

[7:47] the Central Kansas Public

[7:49] Health Emergency Preparedness

[7:50] Region. We feel best suited to

[7:52] take on this role.

[7:54] Responsibilities include

[7:55] overseeing the grant funds,

[7:57] making the purchases, paying

[7:58] the bills as approved by the

[8:00] coalition. And then for this

[8:02] administrative effort, we also

[8:03] receive a minimum of 6% of the

[8:06] grant for that time. Um, this

[8:09] will go into effect actually

[8:11] July 1st when the new grant

[8:13] year started. Um, and this

[8:15] action today will allow to move

[8:17] forward with the contracting

[8:18] process and if approved, then a

[8:21] grant contract will follow

[8:22] along, which will then just

[8:24] have to go on consent agenda

[8:25] after review by county council.

[8:28] Um, of course, alternatives for

[8:31] action. Uh, we hope that you

[8:33] approve this action. Um, you

[8:35] can deny it or send me back

[8:37] more info. Like I said, staff

[8:39] recommends approving the action

[8:41] for the county health

[8:43] department to be the fiscal

[8:44] agent for the North Central HCC

[8:47] budget. Excuse me? Budget

[8:49] impact. So the estimated a

[8:51] grant amount from CDBG that

[8:53] would be managing is $150,000.

[8:56] So other than expenditure

[8:57] authority, you know, we make we

[8:59] pay the bills, we get

[9:00] reimbursed. Um, that will have

[9:03] minimal impact to the budget

[9:04] other than the addition of the

[9:06] fiscal agent fee that we

[9:07] receive for doing that.

[9:10] So thank you. Uh, so it's a situation where a Kansas

[9:16] Department CDA was doing this

[9:20] fiscal management.

[9:21] There was a different, um,

[9:24] private company. They were

[9:25] contracted with who was acting

[9:27] as the fiscal agent for all

[9:30] seven regions across the state.

[9:32] And that relationship between

[9:34] those two, um, is no longer

[9:37] existing. And so each region

[9:40] then now has to have a fiscal

[9:42] agent in order to be able to

[9:44] draw down those funds, to be

[9:46] able to do the work of the

[9:47] region..

[9:48] And your agency, the Saline

[9:51] County Health Department, and

[9:53] yourself, um, will be that

[9:55] fiscal agent for those

[9:56] counties.

[9:57] Correct.

[9:58] And are you being you said 6%.

[10:02] Is that the same compensation

[10:03] that the private company

[10:04] received?

[10:05] Uh, I don't know what the

[10:07] private company, what their

[10:08] percentage was. And I say that

[10:10] 6%, that's a minimum. When we

[10:12] do the the full budget as a

[10:14] coalition, um, after we receive

[10:16] the contract, that can always

[10:18] be negotiated higher, but at a

[10:21] minimum at 6%. 6% is what we

[10:23] receive for the central Kansas

[10:25] region for doing for being the

[10:27] fiscal agent for that one.

[10:29] And you're anticipating no new

[10:31] staff needed or anything like

[10:32] that. You're just going.

[10:33] To know any.

[10:34] Without existing.

[10:35] Right? Any staff that's a part

[10:37] of this is contracted through

[10:40] the coalition. So like, um, as

[10:42] a comparison for the central

[10:44] Kansas region, we are the

[10:47] fiscal agent, the regional

[10:49] coordinator who does the work,

[10:51] you know, for the region as a

[10:53] contractor. And so he submits

[10:56] an invoice. We pay that

[10:57] invoice. He does the grant

[10:58] reporting. Um, we do the fiscal

[11:01] reporting, um, if there's a

[11:03] purchase that needs to be made,

[11:05] um, for the region, um, he

[11:08] brings the, the like the

[11:10] meeting minutes or whatever to

[11:12] show that the region, uh,

[11:14] viewed and approved this

[11:16] purchase. And then we make the

[11:17] purchase, submit reimbursements

[11:19] to CDBG, and then they pay us

[11:21] back for that. Now, this like

[11:24] FEP and most of the other ones

[11:25] as well, there's usually a 25%

[11:28] front of the grant funds. And

[11:30] so we kind of start out with

[11:33] spending that 25%, and then it

[11:35] goes into reimbursement for the

[11:36] rest of the year. But we've

[11:38] never had any issues.

[11:40] Thank you.

[11:45] I'm good there.

[11:46] Any other questions comments.

[11:48] No.

[11:49] Is there any public comment? If

[11:53] not, I'll bring it back to the

[11:54] commission for a motion.

[12:00] Madam chairman, make a motion.

[12:01] We approve RFA 2026-75 is

[12:04] presented second.

[12:06] It's been moved and seconded.

[12:07] We approve RFA 2020 675 as

[12:10] presented. All in favor, say

[12:11] aye. Aye aye. All opposed. Same

[12:13] sign. Motion carries. Action

[12:16] item two.

[12:20] 2027 budget proposal and

[12:23] notification with Matt Stiles,

[12:25] County Administrator.

[12:27] Good morning.

[12:28] Commission.

[12:30] So I've got a little

[12:31] presentation set up for you. Of

[12:32] course, we sent out that

[12:33] information so that you have a

[12:34] kind of a background on this.

[12:36] It's obviously.

[12:37] Uh, a.

[12:38] Kind of a beast. When you talk

[12:40] about the budget, uh, here in

[12:41] Saline County. And we're very

[12:42] dependent, as we talked about

[12:44] it, our last study session on

[12:45] property taxes. And so I think

[12:47] you'll see kind of that as we

[12:49] evolve and discuss what's in

[12:51] this budget. Um, yeah. So we'll

[12:54] kind of dive in. So overall,

[12:55] the, uh, economic conditions in

[12:57] Saline County are actually

[12:59] pretty good. Uh, we've had

[13:00] positive growth in business

[13:01] industry that helped drive the

[13:03] economy, helps drive consumer

[13:04] spending. Um, sales tax

[13:06] collections. So is a good

[13:07] marker for us, particularly

[13:09] with the jail. Um, it continues

[13:11] to surpass what the

[13:11] expectations were with that.

[13:13] Uh, the expectation, at least

[13:15] the projection when we adopted

[13:17] the jail bonds back in 2020 was

[13:19] that we would have about $4.5

[13:21] million per year to at least

[13:23] cover the debt service for

[13:24] that. And it's been coming in

[13:26] closer to eight and a half or

[13:27] eight and almost $9 million a

[13:30] year. So that's been excellent.

[13:31] Um, what happens with that

[13:33] money? And just in case

[13:34] anyone's wondering, is that

[13:35] money gets collected into a

[13:36] fund specifically for the debt

[13:38] payment of the jail. Uh, and so

[13:41] that money sits there, uh, it's

[13:43] collecting. It's got about

[13:44] 12.12 point $6 million in there

[13:46] right now. And we'll be able to

[13:47] refund those bonds earlier than

[13:49] the original term. Um, they're

[13:52] kind of a Cinderella unicorn

[13:54] issue. Anyway, they were issued

[13:56] at 2% interest, and so they

[13:59] great timing on that. Whatever

[14:00] happened there, it all worked

[14:02] out for you. So, uh, but you

[14:03] should be able to retire that

[14:04] sales tax, uh, much sooner than

[14:06] was originally anticipated,

[14:07] because things have been going

[14:09] pretty well within the economic

[14:10] area. Uh, we've had some new

[14:12] housing projects that have led

[14:14] to population stability. I'd be

[14:15] hesitant to say growth. Uh,

[14:18] there's been minimal growth,

[14:19] but I think it's at least

[14:21] stable and heading in the right

[14:22] direction. And so we'll

[14:24] hopefully see some more of that

[14:26] as we collect more census data

[14:27] that the population has

[14:29] increased a little bit, and

[14:31] everything seems to be moving

[14:32] well in that direction. You can

[14:33] tell by all the new housing

[14:34] starts that we've had in the

[14:35] past a couple of years, so

[14:37] everything seems to be moving

[14:38] well there. And if you're

[14:39] trying to purchase a house in

[14:41] Saline and Saline County or

[14:42] Salina, it's not easy. There's

[14:44] not a lot of stock right now.

[14:46] Uh, I can tell you that. So

[14:47] from firsthand experience, not

[14:48] super easy. Um, the

[14:50] unemployment rate in Saline

[14:52] County is at 3.3%. Statistical

[14:55] full employment. When we talk

[14:56] about it from a macro economic

[14:58] level is about 4%. So what that

[15:01] means to me is that we anyone

[15:03] who wants a job, should and can

[15:05] be able to find a job within

[15:07] Saline County. Um, so you don't

[15:09] have an unemployment issue, you

[15:10] have a people issue. Um, and so

[15:12] that's one of the things that

[15:14] as we work through this,

[15:15] hopefully we can adjust some

[15:17] things and maybe help with

[15:18] that. It's not really our

[15:19] mission, but, um.

[15:21] It's something.

[15:22] That lifts all ships. If we can

[15:23] help assist with that. So, uh,

[15:26] the current consumer price

[15:27] index, that's sort of the model

[15:28] or the, the marker for

[15:30] inflation is 4.2% year over

[15:32] year. Um, whenever I look at

[15:34] that, I look at the municipal

[15:35] cost index. Uh, so that is an

[15:38] index that takes out some of

[15:39] the things that you and I

[15:40] purchase as individuals, like

[15:43] milk and bread. Uh, cities,

[15:46] counties don't purchase those

[15:47] things. We, patch, we purchase

[15:48] asphalt and pipe and things

[15:50] like that. Uh, and so when we

[15:51] look at kind of what that index

[15:54] is, it's about 5.5%. It always

[15:56] trends a little higher than the

[15:57] consumer price index. So the

[15:59] things that we buy as an

[16:00] organization are more expensive

[16:02] now than they were at least one

[16:03] year ago. So that all said, the

[16:06] outlook for Saline County and

[16:08] the economy remains pretty

[16:09] positive. I think we're pretty well in a good shape,

[16:12] and I think the numbers sort of

[16:13] bear that out, see if I can

[16:16] make this work.

[16:17] It's a.

[16:23] There we go. All right.

[16:25] Valuation growth. Uh, just to

[16:27] kind of take take the time

[16:28] machine back so you can see

[16:30] where we've been. Uh, assessed

[16:32] valuation growth has been

[16:33] pretty consistent, averaging

[16:34] about 3% per year, uh, annual

[16:37] growth. And I pulled it back

[16:38] five years to 23. Uh, new

[16:40] improvements for this year. 27

[16:42] is about 12 million. 368 um, we

[16:46] have right now 12,000,012.5

[16:48] million and a little bit, uh,

[16:51] exempted in valuation currently

[16:53] within RH id TIF district or an

[16:55] NRP district. So there's some things built into

[16:58] that that are exempted right

[16:59] now. Total exempt property is

[17:01] about 30 million. I know that

[17:03] came up at our last

[17:04] conversation. Our last meeting.

[17:06] Um, so that includes things

[17:08] like, you know, government

[17:09] buildings, churches, those

[17:10] things. And that's a little bit

[17:12] above our pay grade. We can't

[17:13] really can't change much with

[17:15] regard to what that looks like.

[17:16] But we can see that the trend

[17:18] is moving upward. And so that's

[17:20] uh, that helps with, you know,

[17:21] covering those costs as they

[17:23] increase for us, property

[17:25] taxes. Um, I just wanted to

[17:27] give you an overview of how

[17:29] things look within the property

[17:31] tax funds and kind of the

[17:32] breakout of how that money gets

[17:34] spent. 57% goes into the

[17:36] general fund, and then you can

[17:37] kind of see from there, our

[17:39] next biggest fund is road and

[17:40] bridge employee benefits. And

[17:43] then we have some smaller ones.

[17:44] Public health, uh, special road

[17:46] and bridge construction. Uh, we

[17:48] also have another special highway fund, our

[17:51] special road fund. And then uh,

[17:54] mental health, which is a new,

[17:55] relatively new tax levy for us.

[17:58] We've set aside that starting

[17:59] this year, it's a half a mill

[18:01] for mental health, which is

[18:02] something that we're required

[18:03] to provide. Um, by state

[18:06] statute. So, uh, we have

[18:09] primarily tax, property tax in

[18:11] these eight funds. Uh, the debt

[18:13] service receives no property

[18:14] tax. We don't pay any of that.

[18:16] That's all sales tax. And

[18:17] that's related primarily to the

[18:18] jail. But there's a couple

[18:19] other projects within that that

[18:21] receive special assessments. So

[18:22] they're not property tax driven

[18:24] per se. They're special

[18:25] assessment driven. Uh, we have

[18:27] eight additional budgeted funds

[18:29] that have very specific

[18:30] functions. And then we have 40,

[18:32] 44, zero additional non

[18:35] budgeted funds. Those are all

[18:37] very specific funds that have

[18:39] very specific statutory

[18:40] limitations. So they they work

[18:43] on cash basis and not budget

[18:44] basis. And so we don't have to

[18:46] adopt a budget for them. We

[18:47] just report what we spent in

[18:48] them in the previous year. Uh,

[18:51] so total spending authority as

[18:53] projected is 6767 million

[18:56] 122896. So let's look at what

[19:03] that means for people. Um, as

[19:07] proposed, what we have in the proposal that you looked

[19:10] at at the last meeting. And

[19:11] then what we're proposing today

[19:13] is a mill levy that would

[19:14] actually have a mill levy of

[19:15] 42.142. That's a 2% increase

[19:19] over what was levied this

[19:20] current year. Um, so the

[19:22] revenue neutral rate, um, was

[19:25] 38.724 mills. So in order to

[19:29] reach revenue neutral, you

[19:30] would need to reduce or add

[19:32] additional revenue to those

[19:33] funds of about three and a half

[19:35] mills, $2.6 million. Um, that

[19:39] would that would get you to the

[19:40] revenue neutral rate. But as

[19:42] it's written right here, as

[19:43] presented, the median

[19:45] homeowner, which is about a

[19:46] $200,000 house, would pay about

[19:48] $969.27. That would be an

[19:52] increase from this current

[19:53] present year of $13.13. So

[19:57] that's kind of what it looks

[19:59] like right now. So let's talk

[20:01] about what's actually in that

[20:03] budget. Uh, for employees, of

[20:06] course we have the work group,

[20:07] which is um, sort of a quasi.

[20:11] It's a, you know, it's our

[20:12] interactive group that we, we

[20:14] negotiate with our employees

[20:15] with, uh, we have proposed,

[20:17] projected, uh, increase in

[20:19] health insurance of 10% that's

[20:21] baked into the budget. We think

[20:22] it's going to be less than

[20:23] that, but we don't know yet.

[20:25] Uh, and so that will probably

[20:27] be able to be maneuvered down,

[20:29] but we're not comfortable doing

[20:30] that at this point. So we

[20:31] looked at the 10% and left it

[20:32] in there. Uh, there's a 2% cost

[20:35] of living adjustment in there.

[20:36] And then step increases. Uh, so

[20:39] as you move forward, we have

[20:41] about 50, between 50 and 60% of

[20:43] our employees are eligible for

[20:45] step increases. We have a step

[20:46] in grade system. Uh, and so as

[20:49] you move up, you know,

[20:50] complete, successfully complete

[20:52] a year of employment, you may

[20:53] be eligible for a step increase.

[20:55] And a little over half of our

[20:57] people are eligible for that.

[20:58] You hit a certain point and

[21:00] then you're you're frozen there

[21:01] until you hit the next

[21:02] milestone. So, uh, we retain

[21:06] the the thousand dollars HSA

[21:08] contribution for the high

[21:09] deductible plan users. That's

[21:11] saves us money, believe it or

[21:12] not. Uh, as we have more people

[21:14] in the high deductible plan,

[21:16] even with that contribution, we

[21:17] end up saving money as a county

[21:19] specifically. And another thing

[21:21] that we included in there was a

[21:22] chunk of change, about $50,000

[21:24] for salary study that was

[21:25] requested by the work group. We

[21:27] actually agreed to that about

[21:28] three years ago, but we never

[21:30] did it. Um, and so what it

[21:32] would do is put that into the

[21:33] 27 budget and then it would

[21:35] take effect. Whatever

[21:36] recommendations came out of

[21:37] that that you agreed with would

[21:39] take effect in the 28 budget.

[21:40] So we'd be having a different

[21:42] kind of conversation about that

[21:44] next year. Um, infrastructure.

[21:46] We added back in the half mill

[21:48] for special road construction

[21:50] fund that has been cut out for

[21:51] the last two years. So that was

[21:53] something that I gathered from

[21:54] our conversations that you'd

[21:56] want to look at that at least.

[21:58] Um, that's this is included in

[22:00] that. And then we added back in

[22:02] $400,000 for road construction

[22:04] in the road and bridge fund

[22:05] that had previously been taken

[22:06] out as well. So we've added

[22:09] back in more road, uh, road

[22:11] construction dollars. Um, of

[22:15] course, that's that's a policy

[22:16] decision for you. But as you

[22:18] take out road and bridge

[22:19] dollars, that's just miles of

[22:21] road that we're not able to

[22:22] maintain, and we just continue

[22:24] to shrink that as we go

[22:25] forward, which has a

[22:26] multiplying effect down the

[22:27] road. If you, you know, if you,

[22:29] uh, decide not to make those

[22:31] investments now. We'll get to

[22:40] the next slide maybe. Okay. Uh,

[22:43] what else is in the budget?

[22:44] Capital improvements. Uh, I put

[22:45] in funding in there for $3

[22:47] million with capital

[22:48] improvement projects. There

[22:49] were requests for 5 million

[22:51] that included all the carryover

[22:52] projects. And we'll get to a

[22:54] little bit of what what didn't

[22:56] make the cut a little bit

[22:57] later? Uh, projects with

[22:59] external funding are also

[23:00] included in that. And I

[23:01] specifically think about the

[23:02] CDBG funding that we have for

[23:04] the senior center projects.

[23:05] Those are included in that as

[23:06] well, uh, includes the purchase

[23:08] of the Family Salina Family

[23:10] Health building at the end of

[23:11] 27. So we're scheduled to to

[23:13] take possession of that at the

[23:14] end of 2027. So we had to

[23:16] factor that in as a as a cash

[23:18] purchase there. Uh, and

[23:19] included moving court services

[23:21] into the city county building,

[23:22] which is something we have

[23:23] talked about at our last

[23:25] meeting, moving them from here.

[23:27] Uh, there was a $25,000

[23:29] estimate for remodeling this

[23:30] space. We, of course, would

[23:31] have to work that out with the

[23:32] city, but we would avoid

[23:34] $100,000 in HVAC costs if we

[23:36] were to do that. So we we kept

[23:38] that in there. Is that that

[23:39] particular thing? Uh, equipment

[23:41] and technology improvements,

[23:43] uh, included funding for five,

[23:45] $550,000 in projects or

[23:47] requests for almost 800,000,

[23:50] um, kind of the key pieces with

[23:52] that equipment and technology

[23:54] was a transition to a leasing

[23:56] structure for vehicles. We put

[23:57] in $150,000 placeholder for

[23:59] that. There would have to be

[24:01] some more discussion and some

[24:02] obvious action with that in

[24:03] order to get into at lease

[24:05] program. Uh, but that would

[24:07] reduce the cost, uh, at least

[24:09] initially the first year. And

[24:10] of course, that as you go

[24:12] forward, you're basically

[24:13] managing payments at that

[24:14] point. So, um, that's included

[24:16] in here. And then we also put a

[24:18] focus on IT infrastructure. I

[24:20] just want to underline circle

[24:22] this, uh, IT infrastructure is

[24:25] critical infrastructure for us.

[24:27] Literally everything we do runs

[24:30] through the IT infrastructure.

[24:31] And so we have to make very

[24:33] conscious, consistent

[24:35] investments in IT

[24:37] infrastructure in order for all

[24:39] of this to work. Uh, it's, you

[24:41] know, it's gotten to the point

[24:42] where it's it's like electric,

[24:45] you know, your electricity

[24:46] coming through or your water

[24:48] coming through. You have to

[24:49] have it. And so if we short

[24:52] those investments, we

[24:53] ultimately short ourselves and

[24:55] our ability to do it, it's a

[24:56] force multiplier. So what we

[24:58] can do with technology, you

[24:59] know, with five people's, what

[25:01] we would have had to had ten

[25:02] people to do ten years ago. Um,

[25:04] so it's important that we make

[25:05] those investments. And I want

[25:06] to make sure that we underscore

[25:08] the importance of the IT

[25:09] investments. Now that we've

[25:12] seen what's in it, let's talk

[25:14] about what's not in this

[25:15] budget. If I can get it to

[25:17] move, see the it it you should

[25:19] invest in a new clicker. Need a

[25:21] new clicker Aaron I'm out of

[25:24] range. I'm too close. All

[25:25] right, so as we talk about

[25:27] what's not in this budget, so

[25:29] what we removed from the 2027

[25:31] budget that was requested. Uh,

[25:33] I denied all the requested

[25:35] positions. So there were four

[25:37] positions total, uh, 312,000. I

[25:40] said not this year. I'm sorry.

[25:43] Can't really get to that this

[25:44] year. Uh, four positions, the

[25:46] biggest one being the county

[25:47] attorney. Um, they wanted to

[25:49] add back in attorney position,

[25:50] and they also wanted to add an

[25:51] intern program. I think there

[25:53] may be some opportunities as we

[25:55] look at outside agency funding

[25:56] for the senior services, there

[25:58] may be something we can do with

[25:59] that to add that position. If

[26:00] that's something you wanted to

[26:02] address. I flat just took the

[26:05] rest of them out. Um, I know

[26:07] the sheriff had two positions

[26:08] in there. I think there's some

[26:09] ways that maybe we can address

[26:10] their needs without adding a

[26:12] position. Um, and so we're

[26:15] looking at some alternatives

[26:16] there. I did not transfer.

[26:18] There's no transfers of CIP

[26:20] funds into the general fund for

[26:22] this year. There was $1 million

[26:23] transfer that you guys approved

[26:25] to move from the CIP into the

[26:27] general fund to kind of offset

[26:29] the cost and balance out the

[26:30] budget that is not in here, uh,

[26:32] does not exist. Uh, what it

[26:34] also does is we pause the CIP

[26:36] projects for the Expo Center.

[26:38] There's $2.9 million on the

[26:40] Expo Center projects, uh,

[26:41] scheduled from 26 to 2030. Um,

[26:44] I think we need to give a

[26:46] little bit of additional time

[26:47] to discuss the public, public

[26:49] private partnership

[26:50] opportunities that we've got

[26:52] there. Uh, and so making those

[26:54] investments at this point

[26:56] doesn't need to happen, but we

[26:58] can look at maybe doing that at

[26:59] some point in the future. We

[27:00] may have to, who knows. And

[27:02] that's kind of a complicated

[27:03] relationship we have there and

[27:05] a complicated set of factors.

[27:06] And we're going to talk about

[27:07] that here in a second. But what

[27:09] I want to talk about next is

[27:10] outside agency funding. Um, it

[27:14] is included in this budget. So

[27:16] we have requests. I listed out

[27:18] everything that was in there,

[27:19] uh, the requested and then the

[27:21] recommendation of the, of the

[27:22] group that we put together to

[27:23] review those. So, uh, there

[27:25] were two agencies that didn't

[27:27] make the cut from the

[27:27] recommendation standpoint. The

[27:29] United Way's $10,000 didn't

[27:31] make the cut. And the safe

[27:32] families also did not make the

[27:34] $10,000 cut. Uh, they requested

[27:37] 10,000 there. So, uh, you can

[27:39] kind of see all those things in

[27:41] there. What they lined up with,

[27:43] uh, the things that I think

[27:45] there needs to be some changes

[27:46] to this process. We've changed

[27:47] it this year, but I think there

[27:49] still needs to be some

[27:49] refinement for next year. Uh,

[27:52] there are no there are no

[27:54] requirements on any of these

[27:56] things. These are these are

[27:57] monies that we're giving, uh,

[27:58] to these organizations to

[28:00] fulfill their mission with the

[28:01] understanding that that impacts

[28:03] the county and reduces our cost

[28:04] of service. So it's the theory

[28:06] is it's upstream prevention.

[28:08] Like if we give money to to

[28:10] caps, that we're not going to

[28:11] see as many kids in our, our

[28:13] juvenile justice system. That's

[28:15] sort of the thinking, um, I

[28:18] think that if you're going to

[28:19] continue with this process,

[28:21] that we need to have some sort

[28:23] of requirements, uh, just

[28:26] agreements with these people,

[28:27] that we're going to do these

[28:28] things and some sort of, some

[28:30] sort of way to measure the

[28:31] success of these things. Right

[28:32] now, we don't really have

[28:33] anything. Uh, and so this is

[28:35] just we're giving this money

[28:37] and I'm sure that most of them

[28:38] will be more than happy to

[28:39] provide those, those that

[28:40] information. Uh, I would put an

[28:42] asterisk by the north central

[28:43] Flint Hills Area Agency on

[28:45] Aging, which is a mouthful,

[28:47] that that ought to be something

[28:48] in itself. But, uh, we've

[28:50] requested a ton of information

[28:52] back from them. They they

[28:54] requested 47,954, which if you

[28:57] think that's an odd number, it

[28:58] is. Uh, but they said it had to

[29:01] do with the formula that they

[29:02] use, but they didn't share with

[29:04] us what that formula was, of

[29:06] course. Um, and so we've asked

[29:07] for the formula and a lot of

[29:08] other information. And I

[29:09] actually did speak with the

[29:10] executive director last week.

[29:12] Um, and so they promised me

[29:15] that they would have some of

[29:16] that information for us before

[29:17] our next meeting. Um, I don't

[29:21] know. I based on history, from

[29:23] what I've heard, I don't know

[29:24] that that's going to be the

[29:25] case, that we'll get that

[29:26] information. Um, and if that is

[29:28] the case, then, you know, you

[29:29] may have some flexibility there

[29:30] with what you want to do with

[29:32] that. Um, the position that

[29:35] Rosie requested is roughly the

[29:37] same amount of money. So you

[29:38] could theoretically push that

[29:39] money over into the fund in

[29:41] that position. And that may be

[29:42] a better, maybe a better.

[29:44] Use or split it out in some of

[29:46] the.

[29:47] , some kind.

[29:48] Of that didn't get some

[29:49] funding.

[29:50] Yeah, you could do that too.

[29:52] You have some flexibility there

[29:53] potentially. Um, and so that's

[29:55] an opportunity to think

[29:57] something to think about there.

[29:58] I know okay. Came in uh, they

[30:00] obviously requested almost

[30:02] $200,000. And based on our

[30:03] history, I can see why they

[30:05] would do that, because we have

[30:06] granted them up to that amount

[30:08] before, um, I know that there

[30:11] was some conversation about

[30:12] what does that look like? You

[30:13] know, is that something we need

[30:14] to continue funding? Um,

[30:17] totally up to you. I'm just

[30:18] providing you the

[30:19] recommendations and all of that

[30:20] information is is there those

[30:22] are the recommendations of the

[30:23] group that you appointed to do

[30:24] that and all that information

[30:27] or all that funding is within

[30:28] this budget. So if you want to

[30:30] make changes to that, that is

[30:32] completely up to you. We'll deal with whatever you

[30:34] want to do with that.

[30:35] Can I say something that. Yeah.

[30:37] You know, the group that we put

[30:39] together, the.

[30:39] Asked to go out and take a look

[30:41] at this, they were fantastic. I

[30:43] mean, they they really did dig

[30:46] into it, look into it hard and

[30:47] everything. I still think this

[30:49] system is flawed. I, I as some

[30:52] of the asking and some of the

[30:55] recommendations, I still don't

[30:57] agree with some of the ones

[30:59] that were not funded. I don't

[31:00] agree with. Sure. And I you

[31:02] know, I think that's something

[31:03] as a commission that we really

[31:04] need to take a closer look at

[31:06] and see, not taking anything

[31:08] away from the people that we

[31:09] asked to, uh, you know, to

[31:11] review the applications and

[31:12] everything because they did an

[31:14] excellent job and they did what

[31:15] they we asked them to do. But I

[31:18] do think that we need to really

[31:19] take a closer look at this.

[31:20] And, and, uh, you know, uh, you

[31:24] know, I'll say right now,

[31:25] especially the north central

[31:27] Flint Hills, I mean, I, I just

[31:29] got a real bad feeling about

[31:32] that. So that's something that

[31:33] we need to really look into.

[31:39] Okay.

[31:42] So moving on. So we want

[31:44] to talk a little bit about some

[31:45] budget options as far as you

[31:47] know I know that there there's always the pressure to reduce the budget and look

[31:52] at services. And one of the

[31:53] things that when you brought me

[31:54] on was that you wanted me to

[31:56] look at these things. We talked

[31:57] about a lot of these options in

[31:59] January at our retreat. Uh, and

[32:02] so I'm bringing those forward

[32:03] to you right now so we can have

[32:04] this conversation if you want

[32:06] to change these, obviously

[32:07] we'll have some time. The

[32:08] recommendation today will just

[32:10] be to set the revenue neutral

[32:11] rate hearing. And then you can

[32:12] evaluate these. You'll have at

[32:14] least a month, almost two

[32:15] months, uh, to evaluate some of

[32:17] these things, get more

[32:18] information. And that will be

[32:20] kind of what our budget, uh,

[32:21] workshop will be about later in

[32:23] the month. So, uh, the first

[32:25] thing that comes out is home

[32:26] health services. Um, so the

[32:28] city or. Excuse me, the county

[32:30] has provided home health

[32:31] services for 60 plus years. Uh,

[32:34] in the proposed budget, which

[32:35] is included in the budget, uh,

[32:37] it does require a 413, uh,

[32:41] 413,530. An additional

[32:43] investment to to to fund the

[32:46] full health services budget,

[32:48] uh, versus the amount of money

[32:49] that we receive in from

[32:51] reimbursement for service. Uh,

[32:53] we serve up to about 60 people.

[32:55] That kind of flow ebbs and

[32:56] flows depending on what it is.

[32:57] Uh, we have 11 budgeted

[32:59] positions in that, but we've

[33:00] got two are in positions that

[33:02] we've had vacant for almost for

[33:03] over a year. Uh, we had almost

[33:05] nine months since we've had a

[33:07] last application for those

[33:08] positions. So there's clearly

[33:10] something that we're we're not

[33:11] we're either not paying them

[33:12] enough or that that position is

[33:14] not attractive enough to to get

[33:16] applicants into that position.

[33:18] Uh, so I talked with Jason and

[33:20] he provided me some options

[33:21] for, you know, there's some

[33:22] ways that we could reduce that

[33:24] service, reduce kind of shrink

[33:26] that delta a little bit. How

[33:27] much of additional investment

[33:29] we would need. Um, you know,

[33:31] there's there's just a bunch of

[33:32] different options potentially

[33:34] for that that we could look at

[33:36] to maybe shrink that that

[33:37] amount of money that's

[33:38] additionally needed. So, um,

[33:42] there's currently between 8 to

[33:43] 12 other home health agencies

[33:45] serving in Saline County. So

[33:47] there are other public private

[33:48] sector options that could be

[33:50] used. Um, so what I did here is

[33:52] I laid out some of your options

[33:54] as far as what you could do.

[33:55] You can continue at current

[33:56] levels. You could absolutely

[33:58] just keep it in there. It's in

[33:59] there now. It can stay there.

[34:01] Uh, you could reduce the level

[34:02] of service, which is some of

[34:03] the options that Jason will lay

[34:05] out for you at the meeting. Um,

[34:08] so you can kind of reduce the

[34:09] amount of money that you would

[34:10] need there, or you could exit

[34:12] the service. Totally. There are

[34:13] other options within the

[34:15] community for people to do

[34:16] that. But let me just warn you

[34:18] that if you choose to exit home

[34:19] Health, that is a permanent

[34:21] decision. It's one way, uh,

[34:22] we're not getting back into

[34:24] home health. If if you decide

[34:25] to leave it. Um, and the fact

[34:27] of the matter is, is that it's

[34:28] not a 27 decision. That's a decision that's going

[34:31] to happen now, um, because it's

[34:33] going to take about 120 days to

[34:35] wind that down. And once people

[34:38] start understanding that we're

[34:39] getting out of that business,

[34:40] we make that decision. We're

[34:42] going to start to lose staff

[34:43] people. We're going to start to

[34:44] lose clients. And so it's a

[34:46] decision that gets made now,

[34:48] uh, and it will have impacts on

[34:50] the budget for this year.

[34:51] Pretty minimal. Uh, but it

[34:54] would take effect next year

[34:55] fully. We would be out of that

[34:56] business. So that is one

[34:58] option. I know that was

[34:59] something we talked about back

[35:00] in January. I know it's been

[35:02] we've from what I understand,

[35:04] that's been discussed multiple

[35:05] times at the commission level.

[35:07] Um, so this is this is one of

[35:09] those things that we wanted to

[35:09] bring up to your attention. Uh,

[35:14] the other thing that kind of

[35:15] comes up a lot is the Oxbow

[35:17] Center. Um, so last year we

[35:20] collected 120,000 in revenue.

[35:22] Uh, the budget that you have in

[35:24] front of you would projecting

[35:25] 90,000. It could be higher than

[35:27] that. I tend to project pretty

[35:28] low on the revenues. Be pretty

[35:30] conservative on that. I'd

[35:31] rather have more come in than

[35:33] end up less. Uh, required

[35:35] investment there from the

[35:37] county and additional funds to

[35:38] cover the difference between

[35:39] what we bring in and what we

[35:40] spend on that is 397,000. Um,

[35:44] so the things that we do there,

[35:46] we, we host the Tri River's

[35:48] Fair and a lot of other ag

[35:49] related events, and a lot of

[35:50] those have multi-year

[35:52] commitments. And so there's

[35:53] things that we have to take

[35:54] into consideration if you want

[35:56] to make a change within the,

[35:57] uh, the Expo Center, uh, the

[35:59] lease with the city runs until

[36:00] 2050. It does require a one

[36:02] year notification for

[36:03] termination. It's December 31st

[36:06] notification. So even if you

[36:08] decided, hey, we don't want to

[36:09] do this anymore, we want to

[36:10] toss you the keys back. You

[36:11] have to give them a year's

[36:12] notice. So, uh, if you wanted

[36:14] to do it. Well, you missed your

[36:17] opportunity for this year. Uh,

[36:18] so it would be, you know, if

[36:20] you gave them the notice at the

[36:22] end of this year, then it would

[36:23] be the end of 27 when that

[36:24] would, would expire. So, um,

[36:27] there's a no harm, no foul kind

[36:29] of clause within that so that would be something you

[36:31] could do. We've met the

[36:33] obligations of the agreement as

[36:34] far as what we needed to do

[36:35] from capital investments. Um,

[36:38] in the initial term. And so you

[36:41] would have that flexibility to

[36:42] do that if you wanted to. I

[36:44] would say that we're

[36:45] investigating some public

[36:46] private partnership

[36:46] opportunities. I know that

[36:48] there's been a lot of

[36:48] discussion over the years about

[36:50] building a whole new expo

[36:52] center. I think there might be

[36:53] some potential to partner with

[36:55] some of our private sector

[36:56] individuals to do something

[36:58] similar. Uh, at least meet

[37:00] where, you know, meet the

[37:02] objectives of providing the for

[37:04] age kids at home. Um, you know,

[37:05] providing some of those

[37:07] livestock shows, a home, a

[37:09] place to do those things. And

[37:10] it may not be within the

[37:12] current footprint. It may be in

[37:14] someplace totally different.

[37:16] Um, and then we've also spoken

[37:17] with the private operators, Oak

[37:21] View Group, that operate the

[37:22] TPC, uh, and they may be an

[37:25] option as well. Um, you know,

[37:27] maybe, maybe there's some good

[37:28] energy to be had there in

[37:29] partnership. If they're running

[37:31] both the TPC and the livestock

[37:32] center, what would happen with

[37:35] regard to that? You can

[37:36] continue doing this at the

[37:37] current level of service. It is

[37:38] in the budget right now. You

[37:40] don't have to do anything and

[37:41] it will continue as is. Uh, you

[37:43] could look at reducing levels

[37:45] of service. You could increase

[37:46] the fees. There's a couple

[37:47] different options there. Uh,

[37:49] you got to be pretty sensitive

[37:50] with the fee increases because

[37:52] you don't want to price out

[37:53] certain groups. Um, that gets

[37:55] to be a little bit tricky. You

[37:56] could exit the service totally.

[37:58] Again, that's that's probably a

[37:59] multi-year stage, multi-stage,

[38:02] multi-year process. So that's

[38:04] something to consider. I know

[38:06] that was on the list of things

[38:07] that was talked about in

[38:09] January. I wanted to bring that

[38:10] forward to you. Those are the

[38:11] one that's an area where we

[38:13] have to have a pretty

[38:14] consistent investment. Uh, the

[38:20] next one is, uh, with regard to

[38:22] employees, uh, the Cola. So

[38:25] what you have in here is a 2%

[38:27] Cola and eligible step

[38:28] increases. Um, the overall

[38:32] impact of that is about

[38:33] $686,000. The step increases

[38:36] are about 200 of that. And the

[38:38] 2% Cola is 479,000. Uh, the

[38:42] current CPI, which is of

[38:44] course, the inflation rate that

[38:45] we talk about is 4.2% year to

[38:48] date. So for our employees,

[38:50] everything has gotten more

[38:51] expensive. Uh, and so making that investment

[38:56] employees I'll always go to

[38:57] the, the board for employees as

[38:59] far as what that gets. Because

[39:01] good employees make this work.

[39:04] Uh, we are in the people

[39:05] business. And if we don't have

[39:07] good people, we can't we cannot

[39:09] do this job. Um, just for

[39:12] reference, the state of Kansas

[39:13] for fiscal year 27, that's July

[39:15] of this year to June of next

[39:17] year, included a 1% cost of

[39:19] living for employees. So

[39:20] there's, you know, there's some

[39:21] precedent within the 1%. Uh,

[39:24] and then I would just reiterate

[39:26] that employees are likely to

[39:27] see a health insurance increase

[39:28] this year and costs. So

[39:30] figuring out something to help

[39:32] offset that would be my

[39:34] recommendation. It's baked in

[39:35] here at 2%. Um, we can continue

[39:38] this at the recommendation. So

[39:40] you do nothing. 2% step

[39:42] increases. Uh, you could look

[39:44] at adjusting the Cola or even

[39:45] the steps, but I would highly

[39:46] recommend not messing with the

[39:48] steps because that is part of

[39:50] the classification and pay

[39:52] plan. Uh, that gets into a

[39:56] whole can of worms as far as if

[39:58] you want to start messing with

[39:59] that, because then we're

[40:00] rewriting the step in grade

[40:02] plan. If you're going to make

[40:05] any adjustments, just make it

[40:06] to the Cola and not the steps.

[40:07] So I guess is what I'm saying.

[40:09] Uh, and then, you know, you can

[40:10] make some adjustments to the

[40:11] cola and then or you could

[40:13] provide no increase for 27.

[40:15] Those are kind of your options

[40:16] with regard to that. There we

[40:25] go. And then there's a couple

[40:27] of financial options for you.

[40:28] So uh, you could continue with

[40:31] the five mill allocation for

[40:33] road construction. That's kind

[40:35] of a precedent that you've had

[40:36] for the last few years. So I

[40:38] put I put the mill half a mill

[40:40] back in there. You could take

[40:41] it back out. Um, so that would

[40:43] automatically save you half a

[40:44] mill. Um, you could reduce the

[40:46] road and bridge capital spend.

[40:48] I put it up $400,000 closer to

[40:50] what it has been in the past.

[40:53] Uh, you could reduce that if

[40:54] you wanted to. But again,

[40:55] anytime you make a reduction to

[40:57] the road and bridge, those are

[40:59] just less road miles that we're

[41:01] able to maintain or pave. Uh,

[41:03] chip seal. Um, so there's a

[41:06] trade off there. Something to

[41:07] think about. Uh, reduce the

[41:09] budget contingency. So we we

[41:11] always factor in a budget

[41:12] contingency that really

[41:14] reflects our fund balance and

[41:16] kind of where we want to be at,

[41:17] uh, right now, it's at 1.8

[41:19] million. You could reduce that.

[41:21] I probably wouldn't go any

[41:22] further than 1.5 million. That

[41:24] gets me a little nervous. Um,

[41:26] but there's 300,000 potentially

[41:28] there. Uh, this year, you

[41:30] transferred $1 million in from

[41:31] the CIP, uh, for general fund

[41:34] operations. The balance in the

[41:36] CIP right now is $8.9 million.

[41:39] I would just say that you're

[41:40] basically borrowing money from

[41:41] yourself, uh, for operations

[41:44] versus your capital. Anytime

[41:46] you remove capital money,

[41:47] you're just sort of deferring

[41:48] maintenance out into the future

[41:50] and reducing the amounts you

[41:51] can do on capital projects as

[41:52] you move forward. Uh, you could

[41:55] reduce or reject outside agency

[41:56] funding. That's an option. Two

[41:58] as Commissioner Hay had

[42:00] suggested that, you know, maybe

[42:02] there's there's definitely some

[42:03] things that need to be changed

[42:04] about that. Um, you could opt

[42:06] not to do it. I mean, that's a

[42:07] 100% year option. So, um, you

[42:11] the options are laid out for

[42:12] that. You can keep all the

[42:13] recommendations, make no

[42:14] adjustments. There. I will make

[42:17] adjustments at your direction,

[42:18] whatever that looks like. You

[42:19] could limp in all those

[42:20] reductions. Um, and that would

[42:22] save you about 3.11 mills or

[42:24] $2.36 million. But I would say

[42:27] that that's a short term one

[42:29] year savings. So I wouldn't

[42:32] expect to see that next year.

[42:33] If you want to come back and

[42:34] have that conversation. So. Uh,

[42:40] recommended action. So today,

[42:43] really all you have to do today

[42:44] is decide what you want to do

[42:45] with the revenue neutral rate

[42:46] notification. If you come to me

[42:48] and say, Matt, we don't want to

[42:50] exceed the revenue neutral

[42:51] rate, then I go back with my

[42:52] pencil and get to work trying

[42:53] to get it down to 38 mils. Uh,

[42:56] that's going to be pretty hard.

[42:58] Um, what I would suggest when

[43:00] I'm recommending is that we

[43:01] publish it at the 42.142 rate,

[43:05] uh, because once you publish

[43:06] it, you can't exceed that

[43:07] amount, but you can always back

[43:08] down. Um, and so that would be

[43:09] the one that gives you the most

[43:10] flexibility. We're going to

[43:12] have future meetings regarding

[43:14] the budget. And we'll have we

[43:15] can hash out, you know, where

[43:16] you want to make some

[43:17] adjustments if you want to make

[43:18] that a lower tax rate for

[43:20] folks. Um, that would be my

[43:23] recommendation. I would set the

[43:24] combined revenue neutral and

[43:26] budget rate hearing for

[43:27] September 1st, uh, at 9 a.m..

[43:30] It's our regular meeting date

[43:32] and time. Uh, you have to you

[43:35] have to approve that by

[43:36] September 20th. So you would

[43:37] have an additional meeting if

[43:39] you wanted to set it one

[43:40] meeting in the future. Or you

[43:41] could set a special meeting

[43:42] anytime you want to. So, uh, I

[43:45] would also recommend, you know,

[43:46] having further discussion about

[43:47] the potential options regarding

[43:49] services before your hearing

[43:51] date, reductions in services,

[43:53] other financial actions would

[43:55] be required by a majority

[43:56] action. Obviously, you know

[43:57] that it's like I'm not going to

[43:58] just make it because

[44:00] Commissioner Grievous wants me

[44:01] to maybe.

[44:03] work.

[44:04] But if you can find three

[44:05] friends, two friends, then

[44:06] we'll make it work. Um, and

[44:09] then, of course, as I

[44:10] mentioned, every year. But you

[44:12] don't know that you've only

[44:13] seen it. This is the first time

[44:14] you've had this with me. I

[44:15] mentioned this every year we're

[44:16] going to continue to monitor

[44:17] financial conditions for the

[44:19] remainder of this year, and

[44:20] we'll make adjustments as we

[44:21] need to as, as we get closer to

[44:23] the end of the year. So that is

[44:25] my presentation on the

[44:27] recommended budget. Um, I would

[44:32] stand for any questions you may

[44:33] have at this point.

[44:34] I'll bring it back to the

[44:36] commission. I will say well

[44:37] done. It's a well written

[44:40] report and easy to read, and I

[44:42] appreciate that. So check and

[44:46] check first. You're doing okay.

[44:49] Um, any other comments or

[44:51] questions from the commission?

[44:54] Well, I, uh, I like the, um,

[44:57] the suggestion of, of, uh,

[44:59] setting the the, um, mill levy

[45:04] has, has proposed we did the

[45:06] same thing last year and was

[45:07] able to work after the fact and

[45:10] to reduce that down some more,

[45:13] but it just gives us that

[45:16] safety blanket that, that we

[45:18] have set an amount.

[45:20] I agree, I think we have after

[45:22] earlier and today, we know that

[45:25] we have a lot of discussion on

[45:26] pieces. So I think it does.

[45:27] That safety blanket feels

[45:29] comfortable.

[45:32] That the the $8.9 million that

[45:35] we have in the, uh, general

[45:38] fund, I think you said it was

[45:41] 8.9. We have in the general.

[45:42] fund improvement or capital

[45:43] improvement. Okay. Every year,

[45:45] I mean. Do we have any idea

[45:50] what we've been I mean, in the, past, how much of that

[45:55] we've been using? I mean, is it

[45:58] a significant amount or are we just keep building it

[46:01] or.

[46:02] No, no, it's a significant

[46:04] amount. We've we've approved

[46:05] quite a few projects within

[46:07] that. Um, and so I actually

[46:09] think we're projected to be out

[46:11] of those funds if we did

[46:13] everything within the the

[46:14] current capital improvement

[46:16] plan by 2030 or before that,

[46:19] actually, I believe, yeah,

[46:20] 2030. Um, so if you did nothing

[46:24] as far as moving extra money

[46:26] like we have been in the past

[46:27] into that fund, you would have

[46:29] nothing in it by 2030. And

[46:31] that's just the projects that

[46:33] have been listed out. So not

[46:35] all those are firms. Some of

[46:36] those have been approved and

[46:37] are just waiting in the queue.

[46:40] Um, but yeah, you don't. It's

[46:43] just a it's a limited, limited

[46:44] resource.

[46:45] It's a health department. Uh,

[46:48] purchase going to be coming out

[46:50] of that capital improvement.

[46:52] That was the plan as I

[46:53] understood it. Yeah.

[46:54] And that's was.

[46:55] That any building improvements

[46:56] or to make it ready and usable

[47:00] would also come out of that.

[47:01] Correct. So there would be no

[47:02] bond.

[47:04] Yeah. No debt. The way I

[47:05] understood it, you wanted no

[47:06] debt with that. So that's what

[47:08] it's structured as okay.

[47:10] Mhm.

[47:11] Okay. Thank you.

[47:14] Anybody else questions or

[47:15] comments at this time. Then I

[47:19] will bring it to the public for

[47:21] any questions or comments that

[47:23] they would like to share.

[47:28] Seeing none I'll bring it back

[47:29] to the Commission for a motion.

[47:32] Would you mind if I call you

[47:33] Madam Chairman?

[47:36] I do adore.

[47:37] Norm and. Oh, you

[47:40] guys will call me whatever I

[47:41] want, remember? Because I did

[47:42] suggest clean at one time. But

[47:44] I think that might take it a

[47:45] little far. So I'll move away

[47:48] from that.

[47:49] And move.

[47:50] I move that we approve. Um,

[47:52] make sure I get the right

[47:53] budget. Approve RFA 2026-80 is

[47:57] presented.

[47:58] Second.

[47:59] It's been moved, and second, we

[48:00] approve RFA 20 2680 as

[48:02] presented. All in favor, say

[48:04] aye.

[48:04] I.

[48:06] Motion passes. Move on to the

[48:08] next action item.

[48:13] 2027 Special District Budget

[48:15] Review and R&R publication with

[48:17] Matt Stiles, County

[48:18] Administrator.

[48:19] We'll make this one a little

[48:21] bit quicker. Yeah. Uh, as far

[48:22] as you have, uh, authority over

[48:25] the Rural Fire District budget

[48:27] setting. Um, and so you have

[48:28] seven rural fire districts.

[48:30] They've submitted their budgets

[48:31] with regard to what they're

[48:33] suggesting. Spends would be for

[48:35] this year. Uh, and of those

[48:37] seven, five are. suggesting

[48:39] mill levy, uh, mill levies that

[48:41] would exceed the revenue

[48:43] neutral rate. Uh, and so what

[48:45] we're asking for today is, um,

[48:49] for you to do the notification

[48:50] and publication of the Rural

[48:53] Fire districts is listed there.

[48:54] Rural Fire District one, two,

[48:56] three, five and seven, uh, to

[48:59] exceed those revenue neutral

[49:00] rates, I would say that some of

[49:02] those, because of the way the

[49:03] valuation goes, they may be

[49:05] exceeding the revenue neutral

[49:06] rate, but they're not actually

[49:07] levying more dollars. Um, and

[49:09] so that's just kind of one of

[49:11] the quirks of revenue neutral.

[49:13] It it's just the number on a

[49:15] page that it reflects, like

[49:17] the, the, the revenue that

[49:19] you're collecting. So if your

[49:21] valuation goes down then it can

[49:23] create these weird situations

[49:25] where you're not actually

[49:25] loving as much, but you have to

[49:27] make a notification. So, uh,

[49:29] what we would do is recommend

[49:30] that you approve the

[49:33] notification and publication of

[49:34] those to exceed those revenue

[49:36] neutral rates as listed on the

[49:38] notification sheet, and set

[49:40] those hearings for September

[49:41] 1st, uh, 20, 2026 at 9 a.m..

[49:45] We'll hold those in in

[49:47] conjunction with our county

[49:48] wide, one countywide hearings.

[49:52] Right back to the Commission

[49:54] for comments or questions.

[49:55] I think I mentioned it earlier.

[49:58] I would really like to see I

[50:01] want to see these budgets. I

[50:03] mean, you know, we we look and

[50:04] said that, you know, we look on

[50:06] there, we said we're going to

[50:07] exceed the revenue neutral rate

[50:08] by so and so. I have no idea

[50:11] why are they exceeding that

[50:13] number. Why? I mean, I want to

[50:15] see why they're exceeding that

[50:16] number. So if, you know, if the

[50:18] public comes out and says, hey,

[50:20] you know, how come or such a

[50:22] jump or how come our taxes is

[50:23] going up this much I can at

[50:25] least say, hey, I looked at it.

[50:26] I can see what exactly what the

[50:28] budget is. And I think that,

[50:30] uh, you know, from now on, any

[50:32] of these fire districts, I

[50:34] mean, you know, they had they have a budget. I want

[50:37] to see that budget and see and

[50:39] they have an explanation why

[50:40] that they're exceeding or or

[50:43] not.

[50:44] Would you like them to come in

[50:45] and do a presentation of that

[50:47] budget?

[50:47] I don't know if it has to

[50:48] exactly be a presentation. I

[50:50] said if I just seen, you know,

[50:51] if if we got, well, at the same

[50:53] time, if they said they're

[50:54] going to exceed, I mean, we

[50:56] would have the budget sheet.

[50:57] They're explaining to us why

[50:59] they're exceeding that, that.

[51:02] They're yeah, we can we can

[51:03] provide you as much information

[51:05] as they give us. I mean, that's pretty straightforward

[51:08] for us. Yeah.

[51:09] Well, like I said, you know, I

[51:10] think it's only it's only

[51:11] right. You know, we we're we're

[51:13] transparent with our budget and

[51:15] everything like that. So I

[51:16] think they need to be

[51:17] transparent with their budget

[51:18] so we can see it. And uh, you

[51:20] know, you know, make some

[51:22] informed decisions. Sure.

[51:24] Would it expedite your wishes

[51:26] to have them present? So if you

[51:28] have a question, it's not a

[51:30] another two weeks back and

[51:31] forth.

[51:33] Yeah. I mean that might not be

[51:34] a bad idea okay. I mean that would work. Whatever's the

[51:39] easiest in there to be.

[51:41] Could that occur? I know I'm

[51:43] just adding time to that

[51:45] meeting on the 28th. We are

[51:47] going to have to order pizza. I

[51:48] don't know, but, um, uh, could

[51:51] that occur then? Because I'm

[51:52] afraid might get well either

[51:56] way. I mean, if you want to

[51:57] bring it out during a regular

[51:59] meeting to either way, their

[52:01] public meetings. So.

[52:02] Yeah.

[52:03] Uh, I would suggest. So the

[52:08] rule fire districts don't

[52:11] typically meet at this time.

[52:14] Um, they have full time jobs,

[52:15] and a lot of them are. If you

[52:18] have flexibility to meet at an

[52:20] like an evening meeting or hold

[52:21] a special session that would be

[52:22] more accommodating to their

[52:23] schedules, I think we could

[52:25] probably arrange that. Um, I

[52:28] would.

[52:28] Defer to.

[52:30] Michelle, who disappeared.

[52:32] Yeah.

[52:33] Uh.

[52:33] So with enough time, right, we

[52:36] could get at least someone from

[52:38] their board to present. Um, it

[52:40] might not be the fire chief. It

[52:41] might be the treasurer. Um,

[52:45] but, yes, I would just say

[52:47] ample time. And unfortunately,

[52:48] right now, harvest is a little,

[52:52] um. So it would just kind of

[52:54] depend. But at the most part, I

[52:55] could guarantee they'd probably,

[52:56] for the board members, that is.

[53:00] Like I said, I think they could

[53:02] help all together. I mean, you

[53:03] know, if if we tell the people

[53:04] out there we're going to raise

[53:05] their taxes, you know, they

[53:07] want to know why.

[53:08] Fair. Yeah.

[53:10] Great question. If if we do, we

[53:13] have the same flexibility with

[53:15] this. If we approve it then we

[53:18] can later, uh, have a sit down

[53:22] for, for Joe and. Yeah. And,

[53:25] uh, reduce their amounts or

[53:27] whatever.

[53:28] You absolutely do. Yes.

[53:29] Okay. Okay.

[53:32] Yeah. The questions or

[53:33] comments. I'll open it up to

[53:36] the public for questions or

[53:37] comments.

[53:48] Tony's pizza has a retail piece

[53:50] of it. You get there on

[53:51] shilling. Make a left. You can

[53:53] buy whole case. It comes down

[53:55] to about $0.50 a pizza. That's

[53:57] a budget.

[53:58] Thank you. That's something I

[54:00] could get myself.

[54:01] Thank you.

[54:02] God, I have a debit card. They

[54:04] won't take cash.

[54:05] Check and check. I got that

[54:07] too. Thank you. Great idea.

[54:09] For a volunteer.

[54:10] I know I'm not asking you to go

[54:11] out and get it for me. Thank

[54:12] you. Norm, any other public

[54:15] comment? We'll close that and

[54:19] bring it back to the commission

[54:20] for a motion.

[54:24] I. I want to.

[54:25] Move that. We approve RFA.

[54:27] 2020 681 as presented..

[54:30] Second to motion.

[54:31] It's been moved and seconded

[54:33] that we approve RFA 2020 681 is

[54:36] presented. All those in favor

[54:37] say aye. Aye aye. All opposed.

[54:39] Same sign. Motion carries.

[54:41] Thank you. Action item for.

[54:48] Wholesale fireworks 2026

[54:50] display with Michelle Weiss.

[54:51] Emergency management director.

[54:53] Good morning Michelle.

[54:54] Good morning. Commission.

[54:56] Um, so we had our new firework

[55:00] regulation for discharge in the

[55:02] county, uh, last year that

[55:04] moved this year to the third

[55:06] and fourth, um, wholesale

[55:08] fireworks, typically on the

[55:09] fifth after sales would do a

[55:12] their 4th of July celebration

[55:14] for their, uh, tent staff. They

[55:18] are requesting a private

[55:19] display to basically make up

[55:22] that fifth experience on the

[55:24] 11th. Uh, so that will be in

[55:26] District Six's boundary. It

[55:28] will be at the location of

[55:30] four, seven, three seven West

[55:32] Schilling Road. Uh, there is

[55:35] it's not. It is consumer grade.

[55:37] So it is what they sell in the

[55:39] tent that was typically fired

[55:41] off on the third and fourth,

[55:42] just with the new regulations.

[55:44] They're going through this

[55:45] permitting process now. Um, do

[55:47] you have any questions

[55:48] regarding this?

[55:51] is a private residence.

[55:53] Yes.

[55:56] I've received a couple of

[55:58] comments. Why are they wanting

[56:02] to shoot fireworks for four

[56:04] hours?

[56:05] It's not.

[56:06] Four hours.

[56:07] It's I thought it's from eight

[56:09] to midnight. Time of display.

[56:12] 808 to midnight.

[56:14] We just couldn't determine

[56:15] whether, like, wind speed and

[56:17] or like sun setting. We were

[56:19] trying to give them a window to

[56:21] work within.

[56:24] Wouldn't this be a permit

[56:25] situation?

[56:26] Incorrect. That's why we're

[56:27] here. They've paid the $75 fee

[56:29] for the display.

[56:31] They just didn't. We're just

[56:33] not getting to it instead of

[56:34] those because you did a couple

[56:35] other ones earlier this year.

[56:36] Correct. So what came from?

[56:37] They started doing firework

[56:39] tent sales. And when Chief

[56:41] Turner did the inspection of

[56:42] their tent, he had also

[56:44] mentioned that the discharge

[56:46] dates had changed in the

[56:47] county. And so it was just when

[56:49] they started selling on the

[56:50] 28th of June that they realized

[56:52] that they would have to go

[56:53] through this process to do that

[56:56] event for their staff.

[57:03] And if I you have all the the

[57:07] paperwork, I apologize. I

[57:10] wasn't up to speed on this one,

[57:11] but the fire chief has signed

[57:13] off on it.

[57:13] And yes, Allen is aware and

[57:16] careful with it.

[57:17] Different than any other you

[57:18] brought to us.

[57:22] Any other questions or

[57:23] comments? Open it up to the

[57:25] public for comments. Seeing

[57:28] none, I'll bring it back to the

[57:29] commission for a motion.

[57:31] And chair. I'd like to move

[57:33] that. We accept RFA.

[57:34] 2026 De 77 as presented.

[57:37] Second.

[57:38] It's been moved and seconded.

[57:39] We approve RFA 2020 677 as

[57:42] presented. All in favor, say

[57:44] aye.

[57:44] aye aye.

[57:45] Opposed. Same sign. Motion

[57:47] carries. Thanks, Michel.

[57:48] I could just wing.

[57:49] It also.

[57:51] Okay.

[57:53] Oh, you're gonna say I get it.

[57:55] I got that little extra talk.

[57:58] Thank you. Informational items.

[58:01] Emergency management quarter,

[58:03] two updates. Michelle Weiss,

[58:05] emergency management director.

[58:07] Good morning.

[58:07] Again. Um, this one is a little

[58:10] short only because most of the

[58:12] discussion will be on April and

[58:14] June. So. Matt was not the only

[58:19] one who struggled with said

[58:21] there we go. Patience is a

[58:22] virtue. Um, so the April 27th,

[58:26] we went ahead and we declared

[58:29] for the hailstorm that we

[58:30] experienced with the two inch

[58:32] plus hail. There are five

[58:35] counties included in that state

[58:36] declaration that totaled about

[58:39] $7.3 million in damages for the

[58:42] state of Kansas. For Saline

[58:44] County, our biggest impacted

[58:47] disciplines were the airport

[58:50] 305 and, um, the city and

[58:53] county did carry a portion of

[58:55] that with our deductibles. So

[58:58] as I was writing this, Trump

[58:59] did approve a declaration

[59:02] federally. So actually, we have

[59:04] reached out and we will be

[59:05] doing our preliminary damage

[59:07] assessment and applicant

[59:09] briefing with those listed in

[59:11] that assessment. There are

[59:13] eight entities with Insulin

[59:15] County that are included in

[59:16] this disaster declaration.

[59:23] Uh.

[59:24] For June 8th. So that was a

[59:27] little bit of a experience for

[59:30] the past month that we are

[59:31] still working through. So one

[59:33] of the big areas that we

[59:34] focused on most was feeding,

[59:36] sheltering, hygiene and

[59:37] chainsaw crews. So listed are

[59:40] the organizations, what they

[59:42] provided. Um, and kind of what

[59:45] their goals were. So feeding we

[59:47] had quite a few entities that

[59:48] provided meals for the county

[59:51] and the community. Hot meals

[59:53] USA, which by the way, this

[59:55] organization typically does

[59:56] hurricane response. So I'm not

[59:58] sure how I really feel about

[59:59] the fact that they came to

[1:00:00] Saline County, provided

[1:00:01] community meals. Red cross is a

[1:00:04] community partner that we work

[1:00:05] with quite frequently. They

[1:00:07] provided community meals and

[1:00:08] they fed our shelter. Salvation

[1:00:10] Army, who is very active with

[1:00:12] our organization, did community

[1:00:14] meals, uh, did provide us 1700

[1:00:19] pizzas for rural communities.

[1:00:21] So that is also an option.

[1:00:22] Annie, uh, Southern Baptist

[1:00:24] Disaster Relief did chainsaw

[1:00:27] crews feeding and sheltering

[1:00:29] and then Eight days of Hope did

[1:00:31] provide some community feeding

[1:00:33] as well. Sheltering was a

[1:00:36] experience. It always is. And I

[1:00:39] will forever have a little PTSD

[1:00:41] just from doing sheltering

[1:00:42] during Covid 19. So Kansas

[1:00:44] Wesleyan stepped up and we were

[1:00:46] an overnight shelter there. We

[1:00:47] did exceed capacity for that

[1:00:50] just due to the fact that we

[1:00:51] lost power for 72 hours. For

[1:00:53] most residents. We then

[1:00:56] provided and opened up an

[1:00:58] additional shelter at the

[1:00:59] University United Methodist

[1:01:01] Church, which was also a

[1:01:02] cooling and overnight shelter.

[1:01:04] Uh Grand Avenue was a shelter

[1:01:07] just for chainsaw crews. So we

[1:01:09] also partnered with the Grand

[1:01:10] Alliance that had two showers

[1:01:12] and a laundry trailer that was

[1:01:14] open to the

[1:01:14] He chainsaw crews because after

[1:01:16] a day's work, those individuals

[1:01:17] definitely deserved a shower.

[1:01:19] And it was also opened up to

[1:01:21] the community, which was

[1:01:22] incredible because they tracked

[1:01:23] that. So over a thousand

[1:01:25] showers were given to residents

[1:01:26] while they were here in that

[1:01:28] time frame, and 100 families

[1:01:30] did multiple loads of laundry.

[1:01:32] So that was a neat addition

[1:01:34] that we could provide to the

[1:01:35] community. No matter what your

[1:01:37] circumstances were. Chainsaw

[1:01:39] crews. We had roughly nine of

[1:01:41] them come in and provide

[1:01:43] assistance and help with all

[1:01:45] different ranges of

[1:01:46] capabilities. It was really

[1:01:50] great to see homeowners and

[1:01:52] individual step up, but also to

[1:01:54] have these organizations come

[1:01:55] in and provide assistance.

[1:01:56] Another huge shout out to drew

[1:01:58] with GIS. He created work

[1:02:00] orders for every single one of

[1:02:01] these chainsaw crews. That was

[1:02:02] over 650 jobs that he created.

[1:02:05] A map, detailed assignment that

[1:02:07] we could then provide the crews

[1:02:08] to maximize not only their

[1:02:10] time, but their equipment as

[1:02:11] they shared that amongst teams.

[1:02:13] We are still working through

[1:02:14] roughly 55 of those remaining

[1:02:18] chainsaw work orders. Some of

[1:02:20] them, it's just trying to

[1:02:22] coordinate with energy, as well

[1:02:24] as getting homeowners

[1:02:25] permission to enter properties.

[1:02:26] But that is something that

[1:02:27] we're going to continue to work

[1:02:28] on. A special shout out for the

[1:02:30] rural communities. Some of the

[1:02:33] private entities within Salina

[1:02:36] had gone out and helped the

[1:02:37] rural communities with their

[1:02:39] cleanup. But on top of that,

[1:02:41] not only did the council and

[1:02:43] staff and neighbors really step

[1:02:44] up to get them back to hole in

[1:02:48] both like this area and Gypsum

[1:02:49] and Brookville area, so that

[1:02:51] was really great to see. In

[1:02:56] between all of the disaster

[1:02:58] response, we did complete three

[1:03:00] plans for the county. We've

[1:03:02] completed and submitted our

[1:03:04] emergency operations plan, our

[1:03:06] mass casualty plan, and our

[1:03:08] recovery plan. All of those

[1:03:10] include the 6 or 6 cities

[1:03:13] within Saline County and other

[1:03:15] organizations that are

[1:03:16] identified within our hazard

[1:03:17] Mitigation plan are also

[1:03:18] included in the Local Emergency

[1:03:21] Operations Plan. This is a plan

[1:03:23] that exists for five years.

[1:03:25] There is a transition that the

[1:03:27] state will go through. Our plan

[1:03:29] expires at the end of August,

[1:03:30] but in September, the state is

[1:03:32] moving to a new platform. So

[1:03:33] basically we are sliding it in

[1:03:35] at the end and then we will

[1:03:37] rewrite it again at the end of

[1:03:38] the year due to the World Cup.

[1:03:42] The time on that approval

[1:03:43] process is just a little

[1:03:44] delayed. So hopefully we will

[1:03:47] be writing it fairly close to

[1:03:49] when the state approves it to

[1:03:50] when it needs to be passed on

[1:03:51] to FEMA. One thing that did not

[1:03:54] make the cut, and will be

[1:03:56] pushed later on to this year,

[1:03:58] is our reunification plan. Just

[1:04:00] with my June being taken up

[1:04:03] with trees, there was no time

[1:04:04] to write that plan. So my hope

[1:04:06] is to get that finalized in the

[1:04:08] third or fourth quarter. I will

[1:04:10] continue to push. We have a new

[1:04:11] mass notification system in the

[1:04:13] county encouraging residents to

[1:04:15] sign up. You can do that on the

[1:04:17] emergency management website or

[1:04:19] on the sheriff's site as well.

[1:04:24] Rural fire did wrap up grant

[1:04:26] season, so several of them put

[1:04:28] in for the Volunteer Fire

[1:04:30] Assistance Grant through the

[1:04:31] Forestry Department, as well as

[1:04:33] the Assistance to Firefighters

[1:04:35] Grant through FEMA for calls

[1:04:38] for service. As a total, they

[1:04:40] all had 131 in the last period

[1:04:44] between late April and the end

[1:04:46] of June. Most of them

[1:04:48] fluctuated, with an average of

[1:04:51] 15 calls, give or take, and had

[1:04:53] a decent split between both

[1:04:55] medical and fire calls. But

[1:04:59] that is all I have. Are there

[1:05:00] any questions?

[1:05:02] No, just so impressed with

[1:05:05] everything you've got done. I

[1:05:06] can't believe even three

[1:05:07] reports got done during June.

[1:05:09] So you know, that's impressive.

[1:05:11] So thank you.

[1:05:12] Do you need.

[1:05:20] Information on item number two.

[1:05:23] Road and bridge bi monthly

[1:05:25] update with Darren Fisher, road

[1:05:26] and bridge administrator.

[1:05:28] Good morning.

[1:05:29] This is.

[1:05:30] Our bi monthly update for May

[1:05:32] and June.

[1:05:37] Waiting for.

[1:05:42] There we go. So prior to the

[1:05:46] storm event, we had in our

[1:05:48] equipment IP to purchase

[1:05:51] another grapple for our

[1:05:53] loaders. This came in handy

[1:05:55] because it showed up just right

[1:05:57] after the storm event. We were

[1:05:59] able to go out and pick up some

[1:06:00] tree limbs and debris, and we

[1:06:02] used these in the winter to do

[1:06:04] our tree removal. Uh, this is a

[1:06:08] picture of some tires, and this

[1:06:10] is a trash.

[1:06:11] Pickup. And I.

[1:06:15] Only put this up there because,

[1:06:17] you know, when I first came to

[1:06:18] work for Saline County, this

[1:06:20] was a regular occurrence. And

[1:06:22] with the the commissioner's

[1:06:23] approval and the things that

[1:06:25] State Farm or with the Farm

[1:06:28] Bureau, this is less and less,

[1:06:30] you know, so the the $10,000

[1:06:32] that that we do with the Farm

[1:06:35] Bureau really keeps us from

[1:06:37] happening a lot.

[1:06:38] So that's a lot of tires,

[1:06:39] though.

[1:06:39] It is. It was a couple dump

[1:06:41] trucks.

[1:06:41] Were you able to find out who

[1:06:43] did this?

[1:06:43] No.

[1:06:44] this was a out of brown

[1:06:47] here on Cloud Street. There's

[1:06:49] it's pretty much no man's land

[1:06:51] out there. If you get out in

[1:06:53] there. Uh, this is where these

[1:06:54] things end up.

[1:06:55] Wherever it was. Took some time

[1:06:57] to get those all dumped in

[1:06:59] there.

[1:06:59] They did. They probably had a

[1:07:00] dump truck because it took us a

[1:07:01] dump truck to get them out of

[1:07:02] there. And.

[1:07:04] Uh.

[1:07:05] So we sent seven employees to

[1:07:07] three different trainings. Um,

[1:07:09] the Kansas Association County's

[1:07:10] new supervisor training, uh,

[1:07:13] the Kansas County Highway

[1:07:15] Association, supervisory skills

[1:07:17] and the l tap legal aspects of

[1:07:20] management. Uh, we had just

[1:07:22] gotten into our culvert

[1:07:23] replacement program. Uh, you

[1:07:25] can see the picture on the

[1:07:27] left. We start looking at these

[1:07:28] things in the winter, start

[1:07:29] planning them out for the the

[1:07:31] better weather. This is Ohio

[1:07:37] Street in Hedberg.

[1:07:38] Uh.

[1:07:43] This is, uh, Crawford Street

[1:07:44] south of Leadville. Uh, and

[1:07:46] some ditch cleaning. Also, with

[1:07:48] these things, these culverts go

[1:07:49] bad because they'll silt up

[1:07:50] rust. And when they silt up,

[1:07:52] they they deteriorate faster.

[1:07:55] This is Amos Road south of

[1:07:56] Magnolia. This is Cunningham

[1:08:02] Road south of highway four.

[1:08:03] Some ditch cleaning. This is,

[1:08:10] uh, Farley Road east of

[1:08:11] Whittemore Field. Entrance. Uh,

[1:08:16] this is, um, an interesting

[1:08:18] area here. This is, uh,

[1:08:20] McReynolds road, east of Berman

[1:08:22] Road. If you look in the

[1:08:23] middle, there are two

[1:08:25] structures there. One on the

[1:08:27] west side had been closed, um,

[1:08:30] several years ago. And then the

[1:08:32] one on the east side

[1:08:34] deteriorated to the point where

[1:08:35] the farmer could not access his

[1:08:37] field right there in that

[1:08:39] middle section. Um, so we had

[1:08:43] to go in there and create a low

[1:08:45] water crossing and close the

[1:08:48] other structure. You can see

[1:08:54] the deteriorated one on the

[1:08:55] right. Something heavy went

[1:08:56] over it and, uh, broke the back

[1:08:58] wall. Um, so this structure

[1:09:00] here on the, on the right had

[1:09:02] been closed for probably 2 or 3

[1:09:04] years. So we went in there and

[1:09:09] just blocked the old structure

[1:09:11] off. And then we're the we're

[1:09:12] the one that had been closed.

[1:09:13] We cut down the banks and

[1:09:15] created a little water

[1:09:16] crossing, uh, for access to

[1:09:18] that field. This is a bridge on

[1:09:21] South Highway 81. Uh, the deck

[1:09:24] had started deteriorating. Uh,

[1:09:26] not to the point where it

[1:09:27] wasn't usable, but it was

[1:09:29] getting to the point where it

[1:09:30] was rutted. It was starting to

[1:09:32] break out on the ends. So we

[1:09:34] had to put a new deck on it.

[1:09:41] And I'm not going to I say new

[1:09:43] deck, new to that bridge. Uh,

[1:09:45] the timbers from this bridge

[1:09:46] came from the 20 some bridges

[1:09:50] that Saline County closed 2006,

[1:09:53] 2007. When they did that, we

[1:09:56] went out and we recovered all

[1:09:58] the usable decking material and

[1:10:00] wood from those structures. And

[1:10:02] we have that in a pile in our

[1:10:04] yard. So we went out and and

[1:10:05] replaced that with recycled

[1:10:07] materials. Uh, this is Amos

[1:10:12] Road just south of McReynolds.

[1:10:14] Um, this is a bridge that had

[1:10:16] been closed for maybe a couple

[1:10:18] of years. You can see the

[1:10:19] deterioration of the bench. Um,

[1:10:22] it wasn't able to to meet its

[1:10:24] three ton requirement. Every

[1:10:26] time a heavy load would go over

[1:10:28] it, it would push the bench

[1:10:29] down. And so once it gets so

[1:10:32] far down there, something was

[1:10:33] eventually going to go through

[1:10:34] there and it would have broken.

[1:10:37] So since it is a low service

[1:10:39] road, um, if you're there,

[1:10:43] there's only one reason for you

[1:10:44] to be there. And that's either

[1:10:45] to access your field or to

[1:10:47] drive through. We replace that

[1:10:50] structure with one of these

[1:10:52] half round tankers, and then we

[1:10:55] put a low spot in the road just

[1:10:58] north of here where if they do

[1:11:00] get a significant heavy rain or

[1:11:02] flooding event, it will go over

[1:11:04] that low spot in the road.

[1:11:06] Instead of washing the tanker

[1:11:07] out. This is, um, Samson Road

[1:11:14] and Campbell intersection. If

[1:11:15] you remember, we just did a big

[1:11:17] drainage project there where

[1:11:19] they widened it, took the trees

[1:11:21] out and widened the channel.

[1:11:23] Um, for that area, part of the

[1:11:26] negotiation for the right of

[1:11:28] way to do that was to replace

[1:11:31] this entrance. There had been

[1:11:35] an entrance there. Um, many

[1:11:37] years ago. And in 2019, this is

[1:11:41] what it looked like. It had

[1:11:42] been closed. Wasn't usable or

[1:11:44] accessible. So we had closed

[1:11:47] the entrance. And this is, uh,

[1:11:48] 2022. Somebody decided it would

[1:11:51] make a good bonfire. And so we

[1:11:55] never replaced this entrance

[1:11:57] because the owner did have

[1:11:58] access to his property, um, off

[1:12:01] of another adjoining road. But

[1:12:04] part of the, uh, negotiation

[1:12:06] for that right away was that

[1:12:07] the owner would like an

[1:12:08] entrance here. So we built a

[1:12:15] what we call Lego box structure

[1:12:17] there. We we went in there and

[1:12:18] did some excavation and placed

[1:12:20] Lego blocks in there, and then

[1:12:24] put to the beams that we buy

[1:12:26] used, or we salvaged from

[1:12:29] bridges that have been built

[1:12:30] and, and put an entrance back

[1:12:32] in there for him.

[1:12:35] That's a nice entrance.

[1:12:37] Yes.

[1:12:38] So on the, uh, the 28th of May,

[1:12:42] we had some severe rains in

[1:12:44] Saline County. We, you know, 4

[1:12:45] to 6in in the in the north and

[1:12:47] western part of the country,

[1:12:49] the county. And we had started

[1:12:50] our recovery efforts on that,

[1:12:53] which is to go get the

[1:12:54] aggregate back out of the

[1:12:56] ditch, uh, unplug them and put

[1:12:58] it back on the road. These are

[1:13:00] some of the activities that we

[1:13:02] were doing. And the drift there

[1:13:06] was quite a bit of drift. And

[1:13:10] then on the eighth, Saline

[1:13:12] County experienced a 100 mile

[1:13:14] an hour windstorm. This is a

[1:13:16] picture of my dashboard. And

[1:13:18] this is up there in the top

[1:13:19] left. It shows you to date how

[1:13:21] much we have spent with debris

[1:13:23] removal. All of the dots on

[1:13:26] this map represent where we did

[1:13:29] something. Whether we set a

[1:13:31] barricade, closed the road, or

[1:13:34] picked up a tree. And as you

[1:13:38] can see down there at the

[1:13:39] bottom, we've completed 181 of

[1:13:41] those tasks. And there's

[1:13:42] another 60 left. And that

[1:13:44] that's ongoing. So we're at

[1:13:46] about 250. Um. Okay. This shows

[1:13:55] where we've picked up debris.

[1:13:57] And so as you can see on the

[1:13:59] map here, it kind of looks just

[1:14:02] like every storm that goes

[1:14:03] through Saline County moving

[1:14:05] from southwest to northeast,

[1:14:07] 90% of the storm fronts will

[1:14:09] travel that way. And that's

[1:14:11] where most of our damage was.

[1:14:17] And this is the type of damage

[1:14:19] that we were seeing within the

[1:14:21] right of way. This is the

[1:14:31] unincorporated town of Kipp.

[1:14:37] And this is the city of Gypsum.

[1:14:39] We, uh, got a request from

[1:14:41] emergency management. The City

[1:14:43] of Gypsum had requested, um,

[1:14:45] put in a request to emergency

[1:14:47] management that there tree to

[1:14:48] be debris pile was in town

[1:14:51] where it couldn't be burned.

[1:14:52] And I believe where they're

[1:14:54] usually keep it was flooded at

[1:14:56] the time they were doing their

[1:14:57] cleanup, and we had crews down

[1:14:59] in the area working. And

[1:15:01] because of a mutual aid

[1:15:02] agreement, we decided just to

[1:15:04] go ahead and do it. And we

[1:15:05] picked up those trees and moved

[1:15:06] them. And it was about three

[1:15:08] blocks just over the other side

[1:15:09] of the dike. Um, and those tree

[1:15:12] debris piles are a health

[1:15:14] hazard. Critters get to living

[1:15:16] in them. And, and and so we did

[1:15:18] that for them. This is a pile

[1:15:20] of our tree debris in our yard.

[1:15:22] Uh, because of the, uh, the

[1:15:25] widespread nature of this

[1:15:27] event, I had, I had them haul

[1:15:29] all our debris to the yard

[1:15:31] because we'd had to make a

[1:15:32] little pile here, a little pile

[1:15:33] here, and a little pile there,

[1:15:34] and to go out and get those

[1:15:36] burnt would have been really

[1:15:38] inefficient. So I had to bring

[1:15:40] it to the yard. That way we

[1:15:41] could quantify the debris also

[1:15:43] for if FEMA does declare this a

[1:15:46] disaster, we know exactly how

[1:15:49] much we moved. Um, and so it'll

[1:15:51] be real easy to say this is how

[1:15:53] many how many cubic yards we've removed. And to talk

[1:16:02] about that a little bit.

[1:16:03] Um.

[1:16:04] About the debris. You know, I

[1:16:06] instructed our, our folks to,

[1:16:09] uh, clear the brief from the

[1:16:12] easement for which Saline

[1:16:13] County has responsibility. Um,

[1:16:16] our our procedure was if the

[1:16:18] debris originated from the

[1:16:20] right of way, we would remove

[1:16:21] it. If the debris originated

[1:16:24] from what we consider joint

[1:16:26] ownership, which is a tree or

[1:16:29] vegetation planted on the right

[1:16:31] of way. That's that's joint

[1:16:32] ownership between the property

[1:16:33] owner and the counter. We would

[1:16:35] remove that debris if the

[1:16:37] debris originated from outside

[1:16:39] of the right of way, which was

[1:16:40] a tree planted on private

[1:16:42] property, but fell into the

[1:16:44] right of way, we would place

[1:16:46] the debris back on the property

[1:16:48] owners property, and then I

[1:16:50] instructed them not to fix any

[1:16:52] fence and not destroy any more

[1:16:54] fence, putting it back on the

[1:16:56] right of way. Also, uh, so that

[1:16:58] was our, um, operands. That's

[1:17:02] what the way we operated for

[1:17:03] that. And we're still going,

[1:17:05] uh, and talking with the road

[1:17:06] superintendent this morning.

[1:17:08] We're probably going to spend

[1:17:10] the month of July, uh,

[1:17:12] finishing up the tree and

[1:17:13] debris removal. Uh, so this is

[1:17:17] just where our rural operators

[1:17:18] bladed in the last two months,

[1:17:20] there was a 1767 miles. This

[1:17:24] picture here shows all the 82

[1:17:26] locations that we hauled

[1:17:28] aggregates to. Um, that

[1:17:31] consisted of 1230 ton of SS

[1:17:34] five road rock, 2720 ton of AB

[1:17:37] three, 825 ton of SSH sand, and

[1:17:41] 1005 ton dirt. I think that's

[1:17:47] it. That's the end of my

[1:17:48] pictures. We do have some

[1:17:49] plans. Uh, you know, with the FEMA declared disaster for

[1:17:54] July 17th and 22nd of last

[1:17:57] year. There's still some

[1:17:58] paperwork to be done on the

[1:17:59] flood recovery for those

[1:18:01] disasters. Um, we're going to

[1:18:04] continue our recovery efforts

[1:18:05] from the flood and the high

[1:18:06] winds that we've had the last

[1:18:08] couple of months. Uh, we're

[1:18:10] working on new specifications

[1:18:12] for a new truck bar and our

[1:18:13] pavement replacement. And also,

[1:18:16] I would like to mention, um, we

[1:18:18] applied for a CDBG grant, and

[1:18:22] it's called, uh, Clean Air

[1:18:24] Diesel. Uh, and I believe it

[1:18:27] was March. The commission

[1:18:29] approved a dump truck for

[1:18:30] purchase. Well, the dump truck

[1:18:32] that we were replacing was old

[1:18:34] enough that it did not have any

[1:18:36] diesel emissions controls. And

[1:18:38] Ccdc had a grant. Was that if

[1:18:39] you replaced an older piece of

[1:18:41] equipment with a newer piece of

[1:18:43] equipment, they would pay for a

[1:18:45] certain percentage of your new

[1:18:46] vehicle. So we did receive that

[1:18:48] grant. So we're going to now

[1:18:51] it's we're in the re it's a

[1:18:53] reimbursement grant. So we're

[1:18:56] working on getting that

[1:18:57] submitted. And then there'll be

[1:18:59] paperwork for the

[1:18:59] reimbursement. So of the 100 it

[1:19:01] was $154,000 truck and and uh

[1:19:05] Cades is going to give us a re

[1:19:08] reimburse us $110,000. Wow. So

[1:19:11] that money can be moved into

[1:19:13] our equipment fund for next

[1:19:14] year.

[1:19:15] Well, congratulations.

[1:19:16] Thank you.

[1:19:17] And our budget usage is within

[1:19:19] historical averages, which is

[1:19:21] pretty low for right now. But

[1:19:22] we haven't gotten into the

[1:19:24] higher dollar items, which is

[1:19:25] our asphalt overlays, chip

[1:19:27] seals and things like that have

[1:19:29] not come out of our budget yet,

[1:19:30] but we're in pretty good shape.

[1:19:34] I appreciate you applying for

[1:19:36] grants. I know everybody's busy

[1:19:37] and those take time and energy,

[1:19:40] and yet you did it and you got

[1:19:42] it. So good for you.

[1:19:43] This is the third such grant we

[1:19:45] have gotten that way. Uh, I

[1:19:46] believe they paid for part of

[1:19:48] an excavator one time and then

[1:19:50] a tractor the other time. So.

[1:19:51] Excellent.

[1:19:52] We keep an eye on those things.

[1:19:53] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:19:55] Any comments or questions? The

[1:19:57] commission.

[1:19:58] Thank you.

[1:20:00] Okay. Thanks, Darren.

[1:20:01] Be back.

[1:20:02] Uh, informational item four.

[1:20:04] No, three.

[1:20:06] County administrator's update

[1:20:08] with Matt Styles. Kenny.

[1:20:09] I kind of I think in my head

[1:20:10] you've talked enough, so I'm

[1:20:12] just breezing right past you

[1:20:14] again. But I'm not.

[1:20:15] I can pass if you want. No, uh,

[1:20:18] just just a handful of things.

[1:20:20] Um, just the July 28th study

[1:20:22] session. Uh, we're hoping to

[1:20:24] have that over at the Salina

[1:20:25] Family building, which will be

[1:20:27] the new health department

[1:20:28] building. I know that a couple

[1:20:30] of us haven't been in there for

[1:20:31] a while, and so I think it

[1:20:32] would be good to have a

[1:20:33] conversation within that. We'll

[1:20:34] talk about facilities and we'll

[1:20:36] extend to budget and then maybe

[1:20:37] whatever else. And Annie is

[1:20:39] hopefully going to be having.

[1:20:40] Pizza.

[1:20:41] brought in.

[1:20:42] Although Norm's not going to.

[1:20:44] provide it.

[1:20:44] So I'll.

[1:20:45] Have to I know where we can

[1:20:46] get.

[1:20:46] It though.

[1:20:47] I'll have to find someone to

[1:20:48] bring us pizza.

[1:20:49] Fair enough. Uh, give you a

[1:20:50] quick update on public private

[1:20:52] partnerships. I mentioned it a

[1:20:53] little bit in the budget

[1:20:55] presentation, but we've been

[1:20:56] talking a little bit about Expo

[1:20:57] Center and some maybe some

[1:20:59] opportunities there. Uh, we've

[1:21:01] spoken with the Oakview Group

[1:21:05] leadership about they run the

[1:21:07] tea pack, and that might be an

[1:21:09] option for us to consider as we

[1:21:10] move forward with the, you

[1:21:12] know, maybe having some kind of

[1:21:13] agreement with them. I've also

[1:21:15] met with J.R., I um, about, you

[1:21:17] know, maybe a potential

[1:21:18] partnership with them. They are

[1:21:19] doing a lot of really

[1:21:21] interesting, cool stuff with,

[1:21:22] um, KW, kW, uh, with, uh,

[1:21:25] restorative agriculture. And I

[1:21:27] think they have a passion for

[1:21:28] agricultural education. And so

[1:21:31] there may be some natural kind

[1:21:32] of natural kind of partnerships

[1:21:34] there that may make some sense

[1:21:35] for us there. Um, so, you know,

[1:21:37] we're we're continuing to

[1:21:38] pursue those partnerships. And

[1:21:39] I think that helps, you know,

[1:21:42] keep us within the within our

[1:21:44] scope, but also to to provide

[1:21:46] the services that we want to as

[1:21:48] a county. Uh, we'll talk about

[1:21:50] Isabel's onboarding. Isabel's

[1:21:52] been out meeting with everybody

[1:21:54] and getting their feet wet and

[1:21:55] talking to everybody in the

[1:21:57] county. Um, and building, uh,

[1:21:59] quite the list of, of grant

[1:22:00] opportunities. So I mentioned

[1:22:02] some grant things. We're going

[1:22:03] to be looking at those, uh, and

[1:22:05] then we're, you know, getting

[1:22:06] on board with some other, uh,

[1:22:08] communication strategy stuff.

[1:22:09] And then I would just mention

[1:22:10] that we've got a new

[1:22:11] administrative assistant, and

[1:22:12] we're at the Arc. Jamie,

[1:22:14] Marcum, she is taking over, uh,

[1:22:17] this week, actually, today is

[1:22:19] her second day, so work her

[1:22:20] out. Get after she was here

[1:22:22] earlier. Um, she's going to be

[1:22:25] a great addition for us. And

[1:22:26] Tanya, she went over to, uh,

[1:22:27] senior services. So if you see

[1:22:29] her over there, give her a hard

[1:22:30] time. And that is everything I

[1:22:32] have today, ma'am.

[1:22:33] Thank you very much. And,

[1:22:35] Isabel, welcome. And I look

[1:22:36] forward to seeing the grants.

[1:22:38] It'll be fun. Informational

[1:22:43] item for commissioners.

[1:22:45] Comments.

[1:22:48] I just want to make sure

[1:22:49] everybody knows that we are

[1:22:51] meeting on the October or.

[1:22:54] Gosh, oh.

[1:22:55] I have not had enough time

[1:22:57] today. Um, I'll change that to

[1:23:00] July 28th for all those

[1:23:02] discussions at the Family

[1:23:04] Health Center. Um, you know,

[1:23:06] it's a it's going to be our

[1:23:07] building soon for our public

[1:23:09] health. So it's going to be

[1:23:10] great. And, um, I look forward

[1:23:12] to I've been in there, but look

[1:23:14] forward to seeing it again. But

[1:23:15] also then discussion on budget

[1:23:17] and facilities, which I know

[1:23:20] there's a lot of anticipation

[1:23:21] around all those. So that'll be

[1:23:23] a public meeting. All are

[1:23:24] welcome to attend. What about

[1:23:28] you?

[1:23:29] I'll mention that I did spend a

[1:23:31] morning with, uh, Darren and a

[1:23:35] private individual out in the

[1:23:36] county who had some concerns on

[1:23:39] different procedures that were

[1:23:40] going on, and and it was

[1:23:42] enlightening. And it was

[1:23:44] productive. And, uh, and I

[1:23:47] think, uh, I think some changes

[1:23:51] will be made internally and, uh, so there were some, validity to some of the

[1:23:58] concerns and, and uh, Darren

[1:24:01] Fish was quite receptive to

[1:24:02] that.

[1:24:03] So.

[1:24:03] Great. Well, thank you for

[1:24:04] doing that. Thank you. Anybody

[1:24:08] else. Okay. Any announcements.

[1:24:17] I'll make a motion. We adjourn.

[1:24:20] Second.

[1:24:21] It's been moved. And second,

[1:24:22] and we adjourn. All in favor

[1:24:23] say aye.

[1:24:24] aye aye.

[1:24:25] All opposed. Same sign. We

[1:24:27] adjourned. Thank you very much.

Saline County Commission Meeting - July 7, 2026

Transcript