[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.