The Bully Project, which involved the showing of an anti-bullying movie and other educational activities for local youth last month, seemed to be a success, organizers said.
CynDee Christiansen, Teen Court coordinator, reported that “Bully” the movie was shown on Nov. 16 at the Golden Belt Cinema 6 theaters and 179 school age youth signed in to see it. In addition to the youth, there were adult family members, community professionals, school personnel and community members in attendance.
The estimated attendance was 250 to 300 individuals. Present were counselors from area schools and mental health professionals to assist students and/or parents as needed following the movie.
Representatives of the 20th Judicial District Juvenile Intake and Assessment Services passed out information packets to share with family and friends. The packets also included websites and hotline numbers for further assistance to victims and families.
“The hope is to promote a constructive dialogue within families and friends to end bullying,” said JIAS Director Laurie White.
“The Bully Project will be an ongoing program to enlighten, engage and encourage youth and adults to make a change to become an ‘upstander’ and say ‘we know what kind of school, playground or life we deserve and we will work together to make sure everyone feels welcome, supported and safe here,’” White said.
The report on the project came Monday morning during County Administrator Richard Boeckman’s bi-weekly report to the County Commission on departmental activities. Other items included:
County Engineer
 Clark Rusco
 • Met with Kansas Department of Transpsortation and its consultant concerning bridge scour at bridges during flood events. Scour at bridges will be emphasized on the biennial bridge inspections and KDOT has hired consultants to provide specialized services to bring the biennial bridge inspections into compliance with FHWA bridge scour reporting requirements.
 • Truss Bridge Replacement continues southeast of Great Bend. The contractor is placing steel and building forms for the haunched slab. but cold weather has delayed the placement of the concrete.
• As for the Ellinwood bridge over the Arkansas River, the contractor is removing existing expansion devices at the abutments and deck and replacing the joints with new elastomeric joint material. Two partial joints were replaced last week. Concrete met the 28 day strength requirement in less than three days.
The old rocker expansion devices have all been removed and replaced.
Road and Bridge
Director Dale Phillips
• Equipment has been readied for snow and ice removal. Plow blades were replaced and maintenance on all equipment was performed. One plow truck was towed in for repairs and all vehicles should be ready to go.
• Salt was mixed with sand for the upcoming storm. The last storm, which consisted of two days work, required 250 tons of salt/sand being spread on County roads.
• Staff also hauled 50 truckloads of dirt to the Doonan site for the tower replacement project.
• Culvert work continued north of Ellinwood and north of Great Bend. Culverts in these areas were damaged during last summer’s storms. Additional work in the area is planned.
• Sign replacement continued with four 911 locator intersection signs replaced in one day due to vandalism. Sign damage was reported to law enforcement. In addition, there was one sign repaired on Thanksgiving following an accident and other repairs made as time allowed.
 Solid Waste
Manager Mark Witt
• 790.15 tons of municipal solid waste
• 223.33 tons of construction/demolition waste
• 59.85 tons of special waste
• 209.70 tons of brine (sodium chloride) impacted soil
• 865.03 tons of petroleum contaminated soil
• 470 loads of waste received for the 2 week reporting period
• $68,195.82 revenue generated for the period from disposal fees
Venture Corporation recently completed resurfacing of interior roads. Total cost of the improvement was $176,028 which was paid through the Solid Waste Fund. The Barton County Landfill is financially supported through user fees (disposal fees) and does not receive tax monies from Barton County property owners.
Witt reminds customers to be careful when travelling the facility’s access roads as the road shoulders have not been graded level with the road surface, thus a drop-off exits at the road edge.
911 Director Doug Hubbard
2013 Statistics November
 911 landlines, 331
911 wireless, 880
Administrative lines 9,297
 Total calls, 10,508
 Radio calls, 102,618
 Calls for service, 2,967
IT Director John Debes
• Completed installation of new phone system at the Courthouse. As minor issues are discovered, they are being resolved in-house for the most part.
Health Director Lily Akings
Total clinic contacts, 315
• Immunizations, 178
• Family planning, 58
• Maternal and Infant, 16
• Sexually transmitted disease  –  testing, treatment and follow up, 11
• Tuberculosis, 17
 Other items of interest
 • Prepping for radon kit distribution starting in January.
 Juvenile Intake and Assessment
Services Director Laurie White
For the first quarter of the fiscal year, July 1 through Sept. 30, Juvenile Intake and Assessment Services conducted 126 intakes. Of those, 47 were juvenile offenders, 22 status offenders and 63 non-offenders. Fifteen of the intakes, or 12 percent, were taken to detention and 81, or 64 percent, were returned to parent/guardian/relative/other responsible adult.
In October 2013, there were 36 intakes. Six were juvenile offenders, nine were status offenders and 21 were non-offenders. Of these intakes, two (.05 percent) were taken to detention and 24 (67 percent) were returned to parent/guardian/relative/other responsible adult.
In November 2013, there were 27 intakes – six were juvenile offenders, four were status offenders and 17 were non-offenders. Of these 27 intakes – one (04 percent) was taken to detention and 12 (44 percent) were returned to parent/guardian/relative/other responsible adult.