In other business Monday morning, the Barton County Commission:
• Learned that Register of Deeds Pam Wornkey will use technology funds collected through her office to purchase a new printer for $7,805 from Office Products Inc. of Great Bend. The printer, which includes a 40-inch scanner, can plot images at a maximum of 44 inches. In addition to being used to recreate plats and other large prints for the Register of Deeds Office, Cartographer B.J. Wooding has suggested uses for other county offices, governmental agencies and the public.
As a result, the printer will be located in the Mapping Division of the Administrator’s Office and will be accessible by all departments via the server. “We will get a lot of really good use out of this,” Wornkey said.
• Approved a list designating the financial institutions that will serves as the county’s official depositories. Such institutions must meet the 100 percent pledged securities requirement for all county funds. According to County Resolution 2006-23, all depositories must provide to the County Treasurer and the Financial Officer proof of security for these funds whenever such information is requested, said County Treasurer Kevin Wondra. The list includes American State Bank, Bank of the West, Community Bank of the Midwest, Landmark National Bank, Sunflower Bank and Wilson State Bank, all of which have branches in Barton County communities.
• Approved a bid from Foley Equipment Company for $198,662.97 to give the Barton County Landfill’s Caterpillar 826G compactor a certified rebuild. Solid Waste Manager Mark Witt said this basically makes the 90,000-pound 1997 machine as good as new.
The compactor has over 20,000 hours on it and has never bee rebuilt, Witt said. The work, which will take eight weeks at Foley’s Topeka facility, will include new lugged wheels, hoses, wiring harness, a drivetrain rebuild, other upgrades and repainting.
The improvements will have warranties ranging from six months to three years. Witt said they can expect seven to 10 more years out of the compactor after work is done.
A new replacement compactor would cost about $600,000.
Witt said he had planned on this rebuild for 2015, but with the machine going in for an engine overhaul already, it would save about $50,000 to have this done now. The engine is being redone at the expense of Foley after an error by a technician caused the engine to seize up.
In addition, Foley will be responsible for transportation.
The Barton County Commission Monday morning renewed memberships in two multi-county lobbying organizations, but the passage didn’t come without opposition.
Approved a renewal of the county’s membership in the Kansas Association of Counties with dues of $5,991.09 and the Kansas Legislative Policy Group for $4,454.18.
The KAC dues are based on a formula that includes a base fee, population and valuation, said County Administrator Richard Boeckman. The association sponsors the annual KAC Conference, various educational meetings throughout the year and lobbies the state and federal lawmakers on behalf of 103 member Kansas counties.
The organization will also assist counties with budgeting, surveys and legislative efforts upon request.
The KLPG is a bi-partisan coalition of central and western Kansas counties with the common interest in such issues as agriculture and oil/gas production, Boeckman said. It also lobbies for the interests of its members.
“Influence is no government,” said Commissioner Homer Kruckenberg, quoting George Washington who he said opposed lobbyists. “I think there is too much lobbying going on.”
Although he has held similar view of lobbyists in the past, commission Chairman Don Cates has seen what good these groups do for Barton County. “They help us on the local level.”
In the end, Kruckenberg voted against the KAC dues. However, since the KLPG focuses its efforts on rural areas, he offered an admittedly contradictory favorable vote for that membership.
