Other highlights from County Administrator Richard Boeckman’s bi-weekly departmental update include:
County Engineer Clark Rusco
• Working with the Kansas Department of Transportation) and PBA Architects to finish the plans for K-4 Cheyenne Bottoms scenic overlook paving and Tower projects. Office check plan has been sent into KDOT for this phase of the project.
• Met with Amy Miller, Emergency Risk Manager, and drove to several locations reporting water over the roads. Took several pictures to document possible damages in Barton County. The GPS cameras provided location and time information in the event that damages would qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency or Federal Highway Administration reimbursements.
• Teleconferenced with Watershed Institute, the design firm for the improvements to Lake Barton Wetland area. The 24 inch pipe that was installed by the Road and Bridge Department has worked well.
• Venture will complete production this week of cold mix at the Road and Bridge mixing site. The engineering technician has been monitoring the material quantities for this project.
• Completed the haul road inspection with KDOT and Venture representatives for Venture’s paving project on US-281. Venture will begin milling this week.
• Discussing plans to develop a steel liner fabrication for the Cleveland double stone arch bridge.
Rusco has provided project information to the Kansas Historical Preservation Office concerning proposed repairs to several designated historical bridges in the county. They will review and determine if the proposed repairs would be allowed for these bridges.
Steel liners for the barrels would be used to keep the stones from moving in the barrel of each of the structures. We will need to follow their recommendations for the structural repairs.
Road and Bridge Director Dale Phillips
Road and Bridge:
• Crews are busy with summer work and some flooding issues.
• Asphalt overlay work continues north of Ellinwood
• High water on West Barton County Road caused crews to be called out to set barricades on May 27 and 28. High water washed out one set of culverts on NE 30 Road.
• Asphalt production was in full swing.
Noxious Weed:
• Musk Thistle spraying continued daily as weather allowed. (Wet conditions have hampered spraying efforts and the weeds are flourishing).
Solid Waste Director Phil Hathcock
In the past two weeks, the Barton County Landfill has taken in:
• 1,015 tons of municipal solid waste
• 199 tons of construction/demolition waste
• 603.9 tons of special waste
• 567 loads of waste received for disposal
• $68,097.84 of revenue generated through disposal fees
During the reporting period:
2840 pounds of e-waste was recycled through a special collection at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.
The next household hazardous waste collection will be held in Holyrood from 9 a.m. to noon June 13. Barton County Landfill has items for reuse from the recent HHW collections and residents can stop by the landfill and take advantage of this free service. For questions regarding recycling, household hazardous waste, or regular household waste, call the landfill at 620-793-1898.
Tax issues, both property and vehicular, were highlights of Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman’s bi-weekly service update to the County Commission Monday morning.
The first came from County Appraiser Barb Esfeld who offered a reminder that the Appraiser’s Office has started the 17 percent re-inspection pursuant to state law. This year, personnel are measuring and inspecting properties located between NW 50 Rd down to SW 10 Rd. This includes Heizer and Ellinwood and Clarence, Buffalo, Great Bend and Lakin townships.
Properties that have sold recently and/or have building permits will also be reinspected, Esfeld said. Staff will have name tags and will be in county-marked vehicles.
Next County Treasurer Kevin Wondra provided information on car and truck taxes.
The Treasurer’s Office processed a total of 1,746 motor vehicle transactions between May 21, and June 3. Of those, 256 were titles for new vehicles.
The State of Kansas plans to discontinue mailing renewal notices beginning with the July notices for August renewals, Wondra said. At this time, Barton County will not mail out any renewal notices, but will utilize the state’s resources to send postcards.
The postcards themselves do not have any information regarding the taxpayers’ vehicles. However, the cards point taxpayers to a website where they can pull up their own renewal notices.
The taxpayer will need to know the license plate number of all vehicles owned in order to access the needed renewal information.
But, he noted there may be some complication as during conversion to the current state software – the MOVRS system that was initiated in 2012 – any names that did not match exactly after conversion were issued separate identification numbers.
Taxpayers will receive postcards for each name ID that has vehicles currently registered to them. As of June 1, an amendment has been proposed that would make it mandatory for renewal notices to be mailed by the state.
