The Barton County Solid Waste Department staff held a household hazardous waste collection day Saturday, Aug. 16 at the landfill, an event that met with success, said Solid Waste Manager Phil Hathcock.
Over 200 pounds of waste was received, some of which will be recycled or repurposed. The next Household Hazardous Waste collection day at the Barton County Landfill will be 8 a.m. until noon Oct. 18.
The Landfill has reusable household chemicals available through the Household Hazardous Waste program. Contact the Landfill at 620-793-1898 for more information.
The report was part of Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman’s bi-monthly departmental update given at Tuesday morning’s County Commission meeting. Other highlights included:

Solid Waste
• 913.93 tons of municipal solid waste
• 337.35 tons of construction/demolition waste
• 235.25 pounds of household hazardous waste collected
• 17.6 tons of sewer screenings
• 32.91 tons of special waste
• 525 loads of waste received for disposal
• $48,154.32 of revenue generated through disposal fees

Road and Bridge Director Dale Phillips
• Work will concentrate on sealing operations through Sept. 2. Operation is currently in the southern quarter of the County. In 2014, 8 miles will be sealed.
• Emergency sign repairs continue as needed.
• Ditches are being mowed in the western half of the County.
• At the Memorial Parks, graves and headstone locations were marked.

Emergency Risk Manager Amy Miller
• The final meeting for the Region E Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan was held on Aug. 19 in St. John. The meeting was a forum for final comments from plan participants and a chance to review the draft plan before it became available for public comment. A draft copy of the Region E Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan may be found at www.bartoncounty.org for public comment, select Emergency/Risk Management under the Departments heading, and then select Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2014.
• As part of the exercise program, Miller has been working with emergency planning partners on preparations for a mass casualty table top exercise in Great Bend in late September and served as an evaluator for a table top exercise in Pawnee County on Aug. 27. 

County Appraiser Barb Esfeld
• Currently, the Barton County Appraiser’s Office personnel are in the field doing the 17 percent reinspection pursuant to state law. This year, personnel are measuring and inspecting properties located South of K-4 to 50 Road. This includes Olmitz, part of Hoisington, Albert, Barton Hills and the rural area located between the K-4 and 50 Road. Also included are properties that have sold recently and/or have building permits. Staff will have nametags and will be in County-marked vehicles.
• The appraiser is beginning studies to help build models for the 2015 valuation cycle. This is very important since the county values property by mass appraisal.
Mass appraisal is defined as the use of standardized procedures for collecting data and appraising property to ensure that all properties within a municipality are valued uniformly and equitable. Mass appraisal techniques are used when determining the fair market value of properties within a jurisdiction.

County Treasurer Kevin Wondra
• The Treasurer’s Office has processed a total of 1,779 statement transactions (title and registration, renewals or duplicate/secure titles) from Aug. 13-27. Also processed were 23 commercial transactions.
• Per state statutes, the delinquent taxes were printed in the Great Bend Tribune on Tuesday, Aug. 19, and Tuesday, Aug. 26. The department has collected $84,817.65 in delinquent taxes from Aug. 13-27.
• The bookkeepers have been busy processing daily work and also clearing up Heritage Trust. It is almost all cleared up.

Health Director Shelly Schneider
• WIC had 289 Staff contacts with consumers
• Family planning: 154
• Maternal/infant: 59
• KanBeHealthy: 20
• STI: 47
• Child care licensing: 9
• Communicable disease: 005
• Healthy Start visits: 017
• Tuberculosis: 095
• Immunizations: 582
• Rabies investigations: 5
Updates:
• Continued progress with the Golden Belt Glow for Life on Sept. 13.
• Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program continues to be a great success. They have allowed area seniors to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the season.
• Working on a policy update for the county prohibiting e-cigarettes in all county buildings, which was planned for a study session on Tuesday.
• Planning to attend the County Commissioner meeting Sept. 2 in support of the “Sharrows” (BeWell Barton County).
• The department has set a goal to develop a policy and procedure for home visits based on community complaints about living conditions and sanitary conditions.