County offices closed for Memorial Day
County Business Offices will be closed on Monday, May 25,, in observance of Memorial Day. The Health Department, the Records Division of the Sheriff’s Office and the County Landfill will also be closed that day. Emergency services will be in normal operation.
This also means the next regular County Commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 26.
Community-wide clean-up efforts are mixed blessing, Barton County Landfill Director Phil Hathcock told the County Commission Monday morning.
Generally, the Landfill allows a 50 percent reduction in fees for such city efforts, he said. These are limited only to sanitary refuse waste and construction and demolition materials that are properly sorted.
This also means there is a reduction in landfill revenues.
But, Hathcock said the trade-off is worth it. Local clean-ups may limit the amount of illegal dumping in the rural areas of Barton County, and the avoided costs of this offset the loss of revenue. “I think this is a good deal.”
In addition, he said, there is an economic benefit to community beautification efforts. To date in 2015, Albert, Claflin, Ellinwood and Olmitz have held city-wide clean-ups, with Hoisington having a drive in the works.
As far as total tonnage, Claflin hauled in 19.38 tons, Ellinwood 20.45, Albert 5.61 and Olmitz 1.6. The cities were charged $19 per ton and the total generated for the landfill was $903.76.
In other business Monday morning, the commission:
• Approved the purchase of a replacement patrol car for the Barton County Sheriff’s Office. An officer had an accident earlier this year and totaled a 2013 Dodge Charger. As a result, the BCSO initiated the process to replace the vehicle, Sheriff Brian Bellendir said. Selected was a new 2014 Dodge Charger, priced at $22,000 from Davis Moore of Wichita. The price is offset by the insurance claim, less deductible, for a total cost to the county of $15,350.
Bellendir said they went out of town because they found a car that was patrol ready and was $4,000 less than they could have purchased locally. This car was left over from the State of Kansas contract Davis Moore had last year.
• Was introduced to new Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch. “We are developing a very good working relationship,” Bellendir said of he and Couch. “This is a new era of cooperation.”
Couch said there has already been a lot of communication between the two departments and that he is excited about “maximizing resources by working together.”
Originally from Florida, Couch comes to Great Bend from Goodland where he had served as police chief.
