September 11 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present. The commission went through the townships requirements for CART money. The ones with competed paperwork were submitted for payments. See the list at the end of this month’s minutes. Trent Diehl with the city of Butler came over to talk about paving the alley between the south side of the square and the Sheriff’s Office from the where the concrete ends east to Main St. There would need to be a utility study to see what is under the alley and then the existing makeup to decide the best pavement to apply. Paving options were discussed. A meeting with the Sheriff’s Office will need to take place.
September 13 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present. Ken was absent for the afternoon session. Josh Framel with Clearway stopped in for an update on the Swan Solar Project. They are in phase one with SBP and 2 more phases to go. Phase 2 should be starting in January. With phase 3 to follow later in 2024. The land needed has been secured. They are looking to add more land to account for unusable areas. The land is mostly in Sterling Ranch with some extending to Shilo Ranch. Discussion of the county road use lead to only one possibly being used at the south end of road 4002. Conversation started about the PILT agreements. At this point there isn’t much to go forward with there. Clearway does have opportunities with Government Programs for reduction by using American made panels and utilizing areas with economical loss. Approved bills.
September 18 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present. The Bates County Coroner, Greg Mullinax and Public Administrator, Brenda Doody came in with a plan to adopt for indigent cremations and dealings. The Coroner’s office has been taking care of these when they arise. There has been an increase in indigent and or unclaimed remains and assets. The county can look over and adopt this process to utilize both offices to make this process seamless and efficient. The Commission is going to consider this plan.
September 20 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present. Approved bills. Donna Rich had set an appointment to speak to the commission about a sewer line problem with the EMA building. A resident on Ft Scott St. is having sewer issues and the city may need to find that line and make repairs. She did not show. At 1:24 pm Trent made the motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel issues with Jami Page, Carl Bettels and Danyelle Baker. Ken seconded the motion. All voted yes. At 2:07 pm Ken made the motion to go back in open session. Trent seconded. All voted yes.
September 25 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present. Jami Page, Bates County Clerk, asked the Commission for an update on the courthouse roof. There is major damage after this weekend’s rain. There are two more rooms that have leaks and cracks in the walls. Ken Mooney said they need to get the roof repairs sent out for bid. Jim Wheatley stated he would like to get our insurance agent, Charles Rush, to look at the damage since the insurance company said they would not pay anything towards the roof. Jami asked the Commission to go over to the courthouse and meet with Gary Ratliff to look at the damage.
Jim Wheatley said they have not yet heard back from Sheriff Anderson in regards to the alley behind the Sheriff’s Office. On September 20, 2023, Jim sent the Sheriff an email requesting him to contact the Clerk’s Office to schedule a meeting. The Sheriff has yet to respond to his email. On July 31, 2023 Jim sent Sheriff Anderson an email requesting a copy of the agreement with the U.S. Marshals regarding the federal inmates. He also requested a copy of the speech that Sheriff Anderson read to the Commission that morning. Sheriff Anderson has failed to produce those documents so the Commission is going to send him a Sunshine Law Request. The Rockville City Council came in to talk to the commission about the city sewer and water situations. They are in need of a secondary source hook up for the city’s water. They have tried to approach this before and are being held up by one resident that does not want to give an easement of his property. They have a secondary route that could be used. They are wanting to hook into PWD#7 and have received their approval. The tower is in need of a few repairs. The sewer has had some issues with inspections as it does not work as designed any longer. Temporary repairs have been put into place. This needs to be corrected to be up to standard in order to work long into the future. They have set up a meeting with Dane Diehl and will be meeting with Kaysigner to get different ideas on funding. They are seeking help with ARPA money. They have saved what they had received as a City from ARPA. The funding of these projects are far over what they have. They were advised to fill out 2 applications one for water and one for sewer. The County has some ARPA left and might be able to help.
Tom Varner with Benefits Administration presented a different Health Insurance choice for the county. He has a company that puts several counties together to get the best quotes. His goals are at least 5% less, rate guarantee of at least 5 years hopefully 10 and longevity. He likes to see the county stay with the same company for 5 years or so. The commission gave him ideas to build his base and to check back when our current agreement is up.
Jami Page, County Clerk, brought in the Indigent Policy rewritten to Bates County and with a few changes. There are still several things in the policy to work out. She is proposing to have the Clerk’s office keep the records. The remains to be kept by the county as they are paying for the cremation and prevents any issues on dealing with future relatives wanting to claim the remains. There are still several things to work out. i.e where to store the remains and possible burial. The commission also will want our legal advisor to look the policy over. The commission is going to look over the policy and proposed changes and will table this till a later date. Jami also brought up the Inventory Policy. The inventory list is due from each office October 10th and a few items need changed to meet the current statue. There are a few changes that the county would like to add as well. The statue has listed anything at or over $1000.00 be listed. The county added any electronics and tools purchased for $300 or more that can easily be stolen to be listed as well as firearms purchased of any value with serial number and model. Ken made the motion to accept the revised inventory policy to go into effect as of 9-25-2023. Trent seconded. All voted yes. No opposition. Motion passed.
2024 ELECTION DATES:
April 2, 2024 Municipal Election
First day for candidate filing is December 5, 2023
Last day for candidate filing is December 26, 2023
August 6, 2024 Primary Election
First day for candidate filing is February 27, 2024
Last day for candidate filing is March 26, 2024
November 5, 2024 General Election
First day for candidate filing is July 9, 2024
Last day for candidate filing is July 30, 2024
