Sure, 2021 was a challenging year, but it was a successful one marked by many good things happening in Barton County.
That was the message from two Barton County commissioners Friday morning. Barb Esfeld from District 2 and Shawn Hutchinson from District 3 addressed the commission during a special meeting called for budgetary transfers, but expanded to cover their year in review.
“Commissioner Esfeld and myself got together (Thursday) and put together a year-end summary of the accomplishments of this commission,” Hutchinson said. “And it’s two pages.”
“I thought we’d start out with a few things in mind.” Esfeld said. But, after brainstorming, the list expanded.
“This commission has been awesome,” she said. “We’ve really done a lot of things, and Shawn and I were both surprised.”
Esfeld stressed that it was thanks to the efforts of the entire commission. “We owe it to all of you. We we’ve really done good for this county.”
“I’ve learned a lot,” Hutchinson said. “And I know that I still got a lot to learn. I feel like maybe we’ve been through everything once now at least. So we’ve got our work cut out for us next year, but we’ll get through it.”
Their fellow commissioners said they appreciated the recap.
“I want to thank both of you,” District 1 Commissioner Kirby Krier said. “That’s awesome. I am excited about next year.”
The letter
The list of accomplishments was presented as a letter from Hutchinson and Esfeld to the rest of the commission and the county as a whole.
“This has been an amazing year and we are honored to have been elected to represent YOU – the taxpayer! It is with our sincere gratitude that we share our accomplishments. Your faith in us and our commit to you – our bosses – will allow us to continue on this path for another year. You have our promise of hard work and dedication,” the letter starts.
“Our commitment to YOU is that we will be fiscally responsible and continue to serve and grow for the greater good of the entire County. As always feel free to reach out with any suggestions or ideas,” it reads.
It goes into a list of accomplishments. The rundown is printed as presented.
• Our county staff are very important to us. To show our appreciation we were able to provide:
– Pay raises that allowed us to bring up lower wage earners faster while still rewarding long-term employees.
– Raises were backdated to 2020 and administered in a lump sum just before Christmas.
– Funded the maximum amount of longevity pay to reward long-term employees.
– Updated health insurance options. Same quality, less cost.
• Facilitated a relationship with the cities of Barton County for the purposes of economic development.
– We were able to help expand Great Bend Economic Development to include other cities within Barton County.
– We are fostering the relationship between area cities and the county as we share the common goal of working together.
– We used our existing economic development fund to help grow Great Bend Economic Development into a county-wide initiative. Securing a seat on the selection committee (Barb Esfeld) as well as a seat on the board itself (Shawn Hutchinson).
• Created Facade Improvement Grants (FIG) that will help revitalize our downtown commercial properties.
– The investments that we have made to our downtown have the potential to pay for themselves through increased sales tax collection and increased property values.
– The FIG program benefited 43 local business owners and utilized at least 16 different licensed Barton County contractors. We have encouraged contractors to source materials within Barton County.
– We believe this program will promote local pride, beautify our downtowns throughout the County while encouraging our citizens to shop local.
• Became more active as a Board of Commissioners by working longer hours and serving on multiple boards including Southwest Developmental Services, Golden Belt Humane Society, Great Bend Economic Development (County-wide Initiative), Great Bend Chamber, and Workforce One.
• Through our new procurement policy we have made sure that any local vendor that is on our registry gets an opportunity to bid on county purchases and services.
• Improved the equipment pool and infrastructure for County offices.
– After years of negotiation, we are in the process of purchasing a sand pit to secure enough road sand to sustain our county for many decades to come.
– Made significant improvements at Road and Bridge and Solid Waste through the purchase of needed new and used equipment.
– Improved safety for staff and citizens with an update to doors as well as the county’s information system.
• Expanded the existing Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) to include the rural areas in Barton County.
– For the first time in the history of Barton County, citizen taxpayers in rural areas are eligible to receive property tax rebates on new construction and remodels. For example, new barns, sheds, garages, and homes/remodels are eligible to participate in rebates that were only available to citizens living in the city prior to this expansion of NRP.
• Continued our partnership in a united response to COVID.
