November 3, 2025 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
John made a motion to accept Julie Highley’s Opioid Application Proposal. Trent seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition. Jim added that they will attach an approval letter on each application.
John also made a motion to accept a verbal bid from Scott Hall with Heritage Tractor for an extended warranty. Mr. Hall is going to contact Bill Stephan with the Bridge Department and discuss the warranty and the details. Trent seconded. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
November 5, 2025 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
Kevin Nitsche came in to discuss the road he lives on, located in Mount Pleasant Township. He explained that there is no ditch and the drainage issue is causing road damage. Kevin stated he has previous experience with moving dirt and gravel and said that it looked like to him that, “they just put all the gravel in the ditch.” Jim stated that he also has dealt with an issue like this before, where it looks like all the gravel is in the ditch, but he explained that the gravel is, in fact, added to the road but the traffic that drives these roads drive “50 to 60 miles per hour and push the gravel off to roads. If people would drive like they should with one wheel in the center of the road and the other wheel on the side of the road it would help spread the gravel evenly across the road instead of throwing it off the road.”
Kevin asked about the county fixing it, but John let him know that this is not a county issue, but he is more than happy to give the Township a call and see about them putting some more gravel on his road. Jim mentioned that there is someone employed with the township that has been working on various places to get things fixed but warned Kevin that said worker has “messed up some roads and has got some backlash for it but he is working towards getting the roads fixed up.”
Kevin mentioned that he wanted to take his trencher and fix the ditch himself and open the ditch that way the water can drain. Trent questioned Kevin, asking if he knew if there were any electrical wires that ran through the ditch or anything of importance. Kevin let him know that there are fiber optic wire and reassured Trent that he knew where it was located. Jim told Kevin that they now have a Road Retriever, but they do not have anyone to run it right now. Jim told Kevin, “we got this machine for the townships to rent out, all we wanted from them was a small fee to help cover costs.” And explained that none of them wanted to do that. Kevin immediately offered to help when he is available. Trent took his number and stated, “it would be nice to have someone on call if we need them.” John then told Kevin that he would speak with Bill Stephan with Road and Bridge Crew and see if they would need Kevin to jump in and help with anything.
Kevin was very thankful to the Commissioners for listening to him and stressed that he was not complaining, he just didn’t know who to contact about this situation, so John gave him a list of people on the board so that way he knew who to contact regarding any further issues in the township.
Jim encouraged Kevin to run to join the board in his township.
Bill Stephan with Road and Bridge came in and furthermore discussed the Heritage Tractor Warranty.
Trent asked Bill how long it takes him and his crew to get 4,000 hours on a tractor, to which Bill explained, “about 600 to 700 a year.” They were discussing these details to determine the best warranty that would fit what they needed. Trent stated, “I am good with comprehensive four-, five-, or six-year warranty.” To which John agreed and explained, “Bill is going to know what’s best more than anything, with his hours and what will work best for him, and I will follow his lead on this one.” Jim asked Bill if he thought that the comprehensive warranty was the best and Bill replied, “Yes, what we work on is wiring, DEF, and emissions. We haven’t spent any money on the engine and the powertrain, so if we are going to do the warranty, we need to go with the comprehensive for full machine.”
Trent made the motion to go with the 60 Month/3,000 Hour Comprehensive Warranty for the new tractor they will purchase next year. John seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
One of them will call and check out the warranty that they have on the Mower Max as well since they are having issues with hydraulics. Bill explained that right now it has been under the one-year warranty, so everything that has gone wrong has still been under warranty but he was unsure if there was any type of warranty on it once the free one-year was up. They then discussed prices and listed things that will be a deciding factor after they get more information on the warranty.
2026 Holidays were approved.
A Memorandum was made allowing only trained and Certified Service/Support Dogs in ALL County Facilities.
John made the motion. Trent seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
Jami Page brought to the Commissioners attention that there are certain areas on the Court House that is lacking security footage. John responded that he had talked over this before and he had hoped that this issue was resolved last summer but he would investigate this once more.
Jami suggested that this be something they take into consideration for Budget Purpose Costs for next year’s budget.
