You might call it too much of a good thing. Solid Waste Manager Mark Witt was referring to the drought-dampening rains that have dumped on the Barton County Landfill recently.
Due to recent rains, the Solid Waste Department staff has been busy pumping storm water from low areas into the storm water management structures, he said. Approximately 3 million gallons of storm water has been pumped over the past couple of weeks.
Staff has also been busy applying intermediate soil cover to areas of the construction/demolition landfill areas and the household waste landfill. Various ongoing projects include cleaning of storm water management ditches, facility mowing,recycling/waste diversion operations, building a new leachate evaporation pond and others.
In another matter, on Thursday, June 18, the household waste landfill received an inspection by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Waste Management. The inspection yielded no violations of State Solid Waste regulations.
Witt also reported the following numbers in the last reporting period:
• 1,244.88 tons of municipal solid waste
• 374.99 tons of construction/demolition waste
• 82.97 tons of contaminated soil
• 5.83 tons of special waste
• 591 loads of waste received for disposal
• $61,978.52 revenue generated through disposal fees
Witt’s report was part of County Administrator Richard Boeckman’s biweekly departmental update presented at Monday’s Barton County Commission meeting. Other highlights included:

County Engineer Clark Rusco
• Met with a house moving company concerning an upcoming moving project. Reviewed bridge structures located on the proposed route.
• Met with a landowner and Comanche Township officials concerning drainage near the Arkansas River in southeast Barton County.
• Met with Dale Phillips, road and bridge director, to inspect the deterioration of one of the stone bridges north of Beaver. Existing stone in the south limestone abutment has deteriorated since the last bridge inspection.
• Staff is working with Venture Corporation for the sampling of the cold mix asphalt project. Venture has produced the 20,000 tons for this year. This quantity will supplement the cold mix produced by the Road and Bridge Department and will be used to repair and overlay roadways.
• Preparing a sign database for the Kansas Department of Transportation High Risk Rural Road signage Phase 2 project. Sign placement and quantities will be completed in the next couple of weeks.
• Bids for the Tenth Street bridge repair project were received on June 13.
• Truss bridge. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment storm water permit for this structure requires a storm water report be filed anytime the bridge site receives more than half inch of rain. This reporting requirement is being met for this site.
• Working with a consultant concerning a floodplain development permit for a grain handling facility.

Road and Bridge Director Dale Phillips
Road and Bridge
• Asphalt work continues north of Claflin and Beaver and will move to southwest Barton County next week. Staff hand patches potholes as needed.
• In addition to regular sign work, new warning barricade intersection cross bucks have been installed on North Washington and Railroad Avenue.
• Culvert and drainage work is performed as needed.
Noxious Weed
• Spraying is performed upon request. Musk thistle is a current priority.
• Spraying of roadside right of way continues for townships as contracted.
Memorial Parks
• Made repairs storm damaged fences and flagpoles

Emergency Manager Amy Miller
• Work continues on gathering information for the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Planning partners are providing information so that they can participate in the plan. Barton County residents can review the current Hazard Mitigation Plan by going to Emergency Planning tab on the Emergency/Risk Management department page at www.bartoncounty.org. They can then go to the Hazard Mitigation Survey tab and complete the survey about hazards, risks and impacts for Barton County. A draft of the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan will be available later this summer for Barton County residents to review.
• Traffic studies on hazardous materials were conducted within the last three weeks for the South Central Kansas Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Study. Barton County is participating in the 19-county region study on hazardous materials transported through the county as well as chemicals stored within the county.
Information provided through the study is important for responders so that they can effectively and safety respond to chemical incidents within the county.
 
IT Director John Debes
• CIC update – Wrote several reports to help CIC balance the 2012 tax roll. Installed Time Clock Plus for the Treasurer’s office and most of the other offices. Setup a computer in the Administrator’s Office for scanning.
• Continue working with the Register of Deeds on updating cemetery information. Setup new equipment for viewing micro-film.
• Started on the installation of new security cameras for the Courthouse.
• Created a new report for the auditors for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program distribution for the City of Great Bend. The report shows the actual money rebated to the taxpayer and the amount of money retained as administrative fees per fund.
• After a storm the week of June 9, phone lines at the Sheriff’s Office did not work. Nex-Tech determined that an AT&T connection box was not sealed. This has been repaired.

Health Director Lily Akings
 Clinic contacts
• Clinic – 342
• Women, Infant and Children – 281