In other business Monday morning, the Barton County Commission:
• Approved distributions of Special Alcohol Funds. Barton County has solicited applications for the distribution of Special Alcohol funds. Applications were accepted following a public announcement period.
The money is derived from the 10 percent gross receipts tax on the sale of liquor in private clubs. It may be spent only for the purchase, establishment, maintenance or expansion of services or programs whose principal purpose is alcoholism and drug abuse prevention and education, alcohol and drug detoxification, intervention in alcohol and drug abuse or treatment of persons who are alcoholics or drug abusers or are in danger of becoming alcoholics or drug abusers.
For 2014, the total available is $4,100. Applications were received from the Barton County Sheriff’s Office for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (asking for $3,000) and Dream Inc. for Project Dream Inc. (asking for $21,800).
The commission awarded $3,000 to DARE and $1,100 to Dream Inc.
It was noted that this fund has declined in recent years, due in part to slower liquor sales and because it is no longer a joint City of Great Bend-County fund. Great Bend now operates its own program.
• Heard and update from Ellinwood City Administrator Bob Peter on the cleaning out of a drainage ditch southeast of Ellinwood. On July 28, the commission authorized the county Road and Bridge Department to assist the City of Ellinwood with cleaning debris from the ditch.
The work is proceeding quicker than anticipated and both Peter and county officials praised the cooperative spirit involved in the project. There will be more about this in Thursday’s Tribune.
• Approved the purchase of a Dell Precision T3610 Workstation from Dell at a cost of $3,195.92 for the Cartography Department. County Cartographer Bj Wooding was experiencing problems with the departmental computer. Given the programs she runs and the size of files she regularly works with, she is out of virtual memory and this creates a problem as new photography provided by the Next Generation 911 (NG911) project is expected to run at least a terra byte, Wooding said. There will be more about this in Wednesday’s Tribune.
Barton County commissioners who attended the Kansas Association of Counties annual meeting in Wichita last week came away with two overall impressions. First, the State of Kansas is in dismal financial straits, and second, Barton County is in good shape compared to most of its 105 peers counties.
Commissioners Don Davis and Homer Kruckenberg, and commission Chairman Kenny Schremmer joined several other county officials at the conference last Wednesday through Friday in Wichita. In addition to determining the KAC’s 2015 legislative priorities, there were sessions on various county-related matters that painted a dire picture for the future of state funding.
“The State of Kansas is hurting,” Davis said. Governor Sam Brownback and his administration treat billions of dollars like the county treats thousands of dollars.
“Nobody (in Topeka) seems to worry about it,” Davis said. “I worry about it.”
“They’re in a state of denial,” Kruckenberg said of Kansas officials. “We’re real lucky to be in this county.”
Barton County carries no debt, unlike others, and has department heads who manage their departments well, Kruckenberg said. “I’m proud to be from Barton County.”
There were concerns about school consolidations, county-city consolidations and county consolidations. There were also worries about cuts to funding for the Kansas Department of Transportation and how they could impact highway projects in the area.
But, despite the doom and gloom, Schremmer said there were highlights. “There was a lot of input from other commissioners. It was very enlightening.”
Schremmer did say it is important for counties to stand together. “We want to be heard.”
Also on a positive note, County Engineer Clark Rusco was named county engineer of the year.
In addition, County Appraiser Barb Esfeld said a video produced in cooperation with other counties will soon be available that explains how property taxes work. In the near future, it will be shown locally and included on the county’s website.
