Changes that are coming down the line in all county treasurer office around the state will mean more equipment being used at work stations and in Barton County that means a structural change will need to be made, requiring remodeling of the work area, according to County Treasurer Kevin Wondra.
According to information from Wondra, “The Treasurer’s Office has received nine computers and monitors and nine printers and desktop scanners will soon be delivered from the state of Kansas. The Department of Motor Vehicles is providing the equipment to aid in running the new MOVRS (Motor Vehicle Registration Solution) and the ATMM (Accounting Transaction Money Manager) programs. These programs are mandated for all motor vehicle transactions being done in the state. From the specifications received, the equipment cannot be accommodated in the space allocated to each work station at the current counter.”
Wondra said there just isn’t sufficient room the way the office is currently designed.
He sought the help of Terry’s Residential Design to develop a design and he’s in the process of seeking bids for the remodeling work.
Wondra said he’s stressed with the designer that he wants to reuse as much of the current desk top material as possible to keep the cost as low as possible. However there are also plans for a small administrative office area and for improved lighting.
There was significant discussion during the Barton County Commission meeting Monday, however, because Wondra did not seek bids for the design work and that proposal was not acted on by the commission, leaving the commissioners with a bill for approximately $3,000 to approve. County policy would be for such a project to be approved before action was taken, the commissioners urged.
Action on the design bill was tabled, and considerations for how to pay for it, other than taking the money from the Capital Improvement fund, will be investigated before next week’s meeting.
Wondra has stressed he didn’t want to incur the cost of design work until it was clear that the communication program changes would continue, with the change of the state administration in January.
Now he’s facing a need to get the project underway before all of the area contractors are tied up with spring projects, he noted.
The new system is schedule to go on line on July 5, Wondra reported.
Training on the new equipment is due to begin May 1, so the time frame for the remodeling is short, Wondra explained.