Editor’s note: Below is a recap of some of the activities of Barton County departments presented to the County Commission Wednesday. It is the second of two stories highlighting the year-in-review. This is the second of two stories.


In his bi-weekly report on the activities of various departments, Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman said many department heads turned their recaps into a year-in-review. Below are some of the highlights.

 Environmental Manager Judy Goreham
• Total permits issued (water well, septic tank, building, etc.) – 156
• Fees collected from permits – $13,150
• Total inspections conducted (wells, nuisance code violations, day cares, etc,) – 369
The new Barton County Zoning Regulations have passed through the public hearing process and will be presented to the Barton County Commissioners for approval at the Monday, Jan. 28 meeting. The public is invited to attend this meeting. This has been a multi-year process.

Emergency/Risk Manager Amy Miller
Emergency Management
Each year, Barton County Emergency Management applies for grant funds with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management. For the FY2012 year, Barton County is eligible to receive $24,005 by completing planning, exercises and other special projects outlined by the state. In order to receive the grant funds, Barton County Emergency Management is required to participate in exercises, attend specific training classes, work with the Local Emergency Planning Committee, develop emergency response plans and provide emergency preparedness information to the public.
On Nov. 30, the KDEM provided training on the BOLD Supersystem to develop County Emergency Operations Plans and Continuity of Operations Plans. The BOLD Supersystem was implemented by KDEM to assist local emergency managers in developing and maintaining their local Emergency Operations Plans. The system is web-based and allows users to easily update information in a central planning system that can be viewed by local city and county officials, as well as the KDEM to provide a well integrated response during emergencies.
In addition, the office held a Training and Exercise Planning Workshop for emergency response partners within Barton County.
Records Management
• The Barton County Records Management Department had 181 visitors call, write, e-mail or walk in from Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Iowa.
• A woman from Iowa e-mailed a genealogical request. The woman’s great-great-great grandfather was a farmer who homesteaded in Grant Township in the late 1870s. Records staff was able to locate naturalization papers for him that showed he immigrated from Austria and the he was declared a citizen of the United States on Nov. 17, 1889. Staff also found cemetery records for him and his family in Walnut and Fairview townships and even located a civil case that he was involved in.
•There were 249 requests for probates, birth records, criminal, civil, domestic, death and cemetery records, limited actions, marriage licenses, traffic, small claims, state tax, and naturalization records.

County Appraiser Barbara Konrade
• On Jan. 4, the Barton County Appraiser’s Office mailed personal property and oil and gas renditions. The deadline to file the personal property was March 15, while the oil and gas deadline was April 1.
• Real Estate values were mailed on April 1. The Appraiser’s Office held approximately 200 informal meetings to discuss real estate valuations.
• On June 15, the County Appraiser’s Office certified all 2012 values to the County Clerk.
• In the summer, the Appraiser’s Office field staff measured, listed and took pictures of 17 percent of the parcels in the County. Each year, data on 17 percent of the parcels are re-collected pursuant to state statue. Barton County consists of approximately 18,000 parcels of real estate, 1,400 Oil and Gas leases and 3,890 personal property renditions.
• The office continues to make enhancements to the Orion system. Along with e-mailing property records, photos have been taken on most properties and are attached to the cards. This year, maps of the properties are available in the Orion system. This helps serve the taxpayers better by being able to view a map and answer questions without sending the taxpayer to the Mapping division.

Information Technology Director John Debes
• In October, the County has hit with a major malware attack/virus attack. Although Lightspeed quarantined the viruses, the Malware has caused some problems in at least 50 instances. The worst were on those computers running Windows XP.

County Clerk Donna Zimmerman
• Total Licenses/Permits – 231 licenses and 1,427 permits
• Total Beer Licenses – 12
• Total Drinking Establishment Licenses – 3
• Deeds worked – 1,605
• Probates worked – 54
• Death Certificates worked – 117
• Divorces worked – 38
• Total of tax abstracts processed for 2012 Tax Rolls – 15
• Number of 2011 tax roll adjustments processed – 126 abatements and 160 refunds
• Budgets reviewed and audited: seven special districts, 9 cities, 22 townships, 3 schools and 3 recreation commissions
• Audited 22 township reports in 2012
• There were 51 sets of commissioner minutes in 2012 and 2 sets of minutes for the Claflin Fire District #1.
Election Office
• Address Changes/Name Changes/Party Changes/Polling Place Changes and New Registrants – 7,060
• Money spent through accounts payable, Election – $124,000.00
• Number of ballots processed in each election
– City Election of April 2 – 1,436
– Primary Election of Aug. 7 – 5,652
– General Election of Nov. 6 –10,543
• People trained to work elections including techs:
– City Election of April 2 – 36
– Primary Election of Aug. 7 – 102
– General Election of Nov. 6 – 101

Health Director Lily Akings
Clinic numbers, total unduplicated client contacts, 6,341
• Immunizations – 3,383
• Family Planning – 823
• Healthy Start Home Visits – 331
• HIV testing – 48
• STI – 255
• Maternal and Infant – 255
• TB – 537
• Kan BE Healthy – 55
• Communicable Disease investigations – 78
• Child Care Licensing Inspections – 141
WIC (Women Infants and Children)
• On a monthly basis, there are approximately 912 clients who participate, with 1,094 enrolled in the program.
• Clients include income and medically eligible pregnant women, infants and children up to and including age 5 years.
• Goals focus on pregnancy education, assurance of early prenatal care, education on delivery, screening for problem areas, ie diabetes, lead, and relational issues, referral to appropriate resources and assisting with age appropriate nutrition.
• Providing foods via local vendors.