It was a busy year for the Barton County Road and Bridge Department. Over the course of 12 months, work involved dozens of miles of roads, thousands of tons of materials, thousands of labor hours and millions of dollars, Director Dale Phillips reported to the County Commission Monday morning in his annual report.
Totals included:
• Overlaid and/or strip patching – 40.57 Miles of road, used 25,482 tons of asphalt, 6,577 hours of labor.
• Snow removal – 1,702 hours of labor, cost of material, labor and equipment at $138,214.54.
• Applied salt and sand – 1,312 tons of salt/sand, cost of $49,225.90.
• Hauled 3,102 loads of sand for 45,753 tons stockpiled in county yards.
• Sign maintenance – replaced 179 sign, 1,591 hours of labor to maintain, repair and replace damaged signs, $55,260.57.
• Mowing ditches – 3,013 hours of labor, cost of $120,600.18.
• HRRR Sign project – 2,548 hours of labor for installation. Department was reimbursed $124,452.00.
• Call out emergencies – Answered 27 call outs after hours, involving 116.25 hours, Installed 143 sections of culvert pipe as cross over pipe, driveways and entrances. Cost of $5,116.56.
• Mechanical services – performed 126 service requests (oil change, annual service, etc.) Spent $199,093.29 in parts, supplies and outside repairs to equipment.
• Miscellaneous work – 4H Fairgrounds, 911 tower, dig corner stones, haul trash, load bleachers, work for Sheriff’s Office, voting machine setup and moving records, cost of $11,367.09.
• Completed construction of Golden Belt Veterans Memorial.
• Located 43 graves and headstones at Hillcrest and one gravesite at Hillcrest North and four at Golden Belt.
Phillips’ report was part of County Administrator Richard Boeckman’s bi-weekly departmental update. Other highlights included:

Solid Waste Manager Phil Hathcock
In the past month, the Barton County Landfill took in:
• 661.16 tons of Municipal Solid Waste
• 196.02 tons of Construction/Demolition Waste
• 289.69 tons of Special Waste
• 493 loads of waste received for disposal
• $43,274.46 of revenue generated through disposal fees
 
Emergency Risk Manager Amy Miller
 • Severe Weather Awareness Week will be observed March 2-6. The annual storm spotter meeting, Storm Fury on the Plains, will be presented on March 3 at the Crest Theater in Great Bend.

County Treasurer Kevin Wondra
The Treasurer’s Office processed a total of 953 motor vehicle transactions between Jan. 15 and 28. The department has also been busy processing commercial motor vehicle renewals. Although the renewals can be processed online, most of the commercial customers are more comfortable coming into the office.
A handful of 2014 tax payments have been received. Also being received are some of the payments not due until May.
The bookkeepers have completed the January distribution and are preparing for the audit.

Juvenile Services Director Laurie White
• For the first quarter of the fiscal year: July 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2014, JIAS conducted 107 intakes, of those 30 were juvenile offenders, 17 status offenders and 60 non-offenders. Of these 107 intakes 10, or .086 percent, were taken to detention and 72, or 67 percent, were returned to parent/guardian/relative/other responsible adult.
For the second quarter of the fiscal year: Oct. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2014, there were 89 intakes, of those 27 were juvenile offenders, 17 were status offenders and 45 were non-offenders. Of these 89 intakes 7, or .079 percent, were taken to detention and 49, or 55 percent, were returned to parent/guardian/relative/other responsible adult.
In the first quarter of the fiscal year for JISP/CCMA – case managers averaged 88.6 youth in these programs.
In the second quarter of the fiscal year for JISP/CCMA – case managers averaged 86.0 youth in these programs.
In the first quarter of Teen Court – 24 new cases were received, there were nine trials and two cases were returned to the county attorney because prospective participants moved out of state.
In the second quarter of Teen Court – one new case was received and there were 10 trials.