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Wind, hazardous waste, topics at landfill
new deh county update  hazardous waste pic 2 web
The Barton County Landfill will hold its first household hazardous waste collection on Saturday, April 15, at the facility. - photo by Dale Hogg/Great Bend Tribune

The Barton County Landfill staff has been busy with routine operations, including recycling activities and litter control. These two items caused Solid Waste Manager Phil Hathcock to offer some words of advise to landfill users.
First, he gave a reminder that as the weather transitions into spring and it is windy, call ahead and make sure the landfill is open. The Landfill will close on severe windy days to minimize blowing litter.
Second, he said household hazardous waste collections will begin again in April. The first is scheduled from 8 a.m. until noon Saturday, April 15, at the facility. Anyone who is unable to come that day can call ahead and make an appointment anytime.
Call 620-793-1898.
This information was part of the biweekly departmental update presented by County Commission Chairman Jennifer Schartz at commission’s Monday morning meeting.
Other items included:

Emergency Risk Manager Amy Miller
• Barton County Emergency Management hosted an applicants briefing for the declared federal disaster Kansas severe winter storm. The briefing was held on March 10 at the courthouse.
Kansas Division of Emergency Management personnel held the briefing to gather applications from local governments for reimbursement of qualifying expenses associated with the severe winter storm on Jan. 13-16. Federal funding was made available on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal, emergency work and the repair of facilities for eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations.
Applicants for the federal cost-share funds have 30 days from Feb. 24 to apply for the funds.
Interested local governments or private nonprofit organizations who were unable to attend the briefing should contact Miller for information on how to apply.
Call 620-793-1919.
• County residents who are interested in donating items or money to victims of the recent Kansas wildfires are encouraged to call 211 for information or the local United Way of Central Kansas office, 620-792-2403.

Solid Waste Manager Phil Hathcock


In the past reporting period, the Barton County Landfill took in:
• 1,878 Tons of municipal solid waste
• 272 Tons of construction/demolition waste
• 471 Tons of special waste
• 1,060 Loads of waste received for disposal
• $98,627.57 Of revenue generated through disposal fees

County Engineer Barry McManaman
• Phone conference to prepare for the public open house for the Cow Creek floodplain mapping project.
• Phone conference for the Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway.
• Secretary working on the Annual County Engineer’s Report to be submitted to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
• Work began on the scenic overlook tower projects on K-4 east of Hoisington. The county engineering technician will perform daily inspection work.
• Looked at damaged bridge railings due to a vehicle accident.
• Terracon did the geology investigation for the bridge replacement on East Barton County Road

Road and Bridge Director Dale Phillips
Road and Bridge
• Cleaned out drainage ditches at Heizer and on Railroad Avenue.
• Sign work continued.
• Staff worked one vehicle accident on NE 30 Road setting up road closed barricades.
• Sign crews assisted the power company with traffic control in closing North Washington for a short time on Friday, March 3, and Railroad Avenue on March 8 and 9 as large power poles were replaced along the roadway.
• Shoulder roadway repairs filling drop off and erosion along the right of way was completed on SE 50 Ave. (Radium Road) and on SW 30 Road (Pawnee Rock Road).

Noxious Weed
• Continued with spraying around signs and guardrails.
• Public contacts increased due to the mild winter as staff began spraying in pastures.
Memorial Parks:
• Flagpoles and ropes required repairs after high winds caused damage.

911 Director Dena Popp
Statistics for February:
• Created and processed 3,480 radio dispatch cards in Enterpol Computer Aided Dispatch. This includes officer-initiated traffic stops or service of civil process/court documents.
• Handled 6,514 phone calls from the public and officers/deputies. Of those, 933 were 911 calls and 5,581 were administrative calls.
• Approved 196 requests to utilize burn permits.
• Hired and started training one new employee.