Monday, January 13, 2025
A flawless performance
Report from the Bates County Commission
December 18 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner Ken Mooney and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
Sheriff Chad Anderson and Chief Deputy Justin Corbin came over, with only Kenny and Trent present, to discuss the need for the payment on the new vehicle. They are down 5 vehicles now. One that was just repaired is now having another issue. Chad had left the new vehicle at the dealership to be outfitted for police equipment. This put the vehicle over the 30 days. Payment is needed at this point to release it. The insurance is still working on the values so the insurance payment will be awhile out. Chad stated he needed the vehicle this week. Justin's Tahoe was hit and needs to be taken to the body shop for repair. Trent and Kenny both state whatever is needed to support him they are willing to do. Chad asked if he needed to resubmit the invoice to Megan. Jim was still holding the original invoice. Ken and Trent will get with Jim when he gets in. Chad's intent is to purchase and finance the rest of the fleet with this dealer.
The Commission and County Clerk, Jami Page, worked on reviewing the County Budget.
Ken Made a motion to start paying all county employees every 2 weeks after the first of the year. Trent seconded the motion.
Vote was delayed for discussion with the County Clerk, Jami Page. Trent stated the employees are wanting it. Jim stated the City is on the same financial software system and they are able to complete this even with overtime. Employees get the time sheets on Monday and by Wednesday they have a notice of how much they will receive. They receive their payment on Fridays. Holidays can make a day delay in the process at times but still paid on Fridays. Jami asked who are the employees asking for this? She has not heard of any complaints on this issue. She has spoken to several when this subject has come up and most are happy with the once a month payment that is currently being done. Jami stated that she would like to see a statute that allows the Commission to tell her how she runs her office. Her Office is independent of the Commission. She said that she has told them before if they want to change the frequency of payroll then they can take over doing it themselves. She is going to contact her attorney and get his opinion. Jami's office would have a hard time completing this process during Election times as her office is also the Election Authority. It currently takes a good week now for payroll alone. This motion was tabled to gather information.
December 23 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
Calee McElwain with the Health Board stopped in to chat with the Commission. No notes were given on the conversation.
The Commission worked on the vacancies and appointments for the following.
The Commission received a letter of resignation from David Kauffman on the Senate Bill 40 Board. To fill the vacancy for the reminder of the Term it was proposed to appoint Toni Huber to this period of One year.
Trent made the motion to appoint Toni Huber to fill in the remainder of the vacated Term on the Senate Bill 40. Jim seconded the motion. All voted yes. Motion carried. No Opposition.
Trent made the motion to appoint Patricia Pike to the Bates County Senior Services Board for a 2 year term. Jim seconded the motion. All vote yes. Motion carried. No opposition.
Trent made the motion to appoint Sharon Tourtillott to the Bates County Senior Services Board for a 2 year Term. Jim seconded the motion. All vote yes. Motion carried. No opposition.
Trent made the motion to keep Ivan Schraeder Law as their attorney. Jim seconded the motion. All vote yes. Motion carried no opposition.
The Commission is tabling the Senior Tax Credit Ordinance till next year. They are wanting to get the Incoming Northern Commissioner, John Gray, in on the process.
Jerry Wiedenmann came in for his scheduled appointment. He is wanting to have a family cemetery on his property. He shared some of his family history. He was here to get direction from the Commission. He was told to have the parcel surveyed out for a legal description and needed easements. Then have a title drawn up giving it over to the County.
Work In Progress
Policy Regarding Indigent Cremations given 8/25/2023
Policy Regarding Computer, E-Mail, Devices and Social Media given 2/14/2024
Bid for Hallway lights given 2/14/2024
Telephone Contracts 3/11/2024
Senior Tax Credit 9/9/2024
Office's desk window remodel/ Security 9/11/2024
December 30 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
Jim and Trent revised the Township CART money contract and Detailed Financial Statement. To the contract was added the requirement of filing a completed budget for the year, a certificate of insurance, advisement to the commission on any bridge or culvert needing repair or replacement as soon as detected and if all requirements are not met the Commission will withhold CART funds until they are completed. Also added was witnessing signatures. To the Detailed Financial Statement it was added that under Other the Townships provide a separate sheet listing all other items purchased or funded.
Jim made the motion to approve the updated Township Contracts and Detailed Financial Statement. Trent seconded them motion. All voted yet. Motion carried. No opposition. Schraeder Law Firm Agreement Signed and sent.
What's Up by LeRoy Cook
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These are the times that try pilots’ souls: When it’s either so cold that starting an airplane is a major undertaking, even though clear skies are beckoning, or a warm front brings in clouds and frozen precipitation, closing runways. There were some hardy travelers in and out last week, or at least passing through, and the city snowplow crew did an excellent job of clearing what they could off the runway. The initial ice coating wouldn’t budge, awaiting nature’s touch on the black pavement, but they were able to push the follow-up snow covering off to open the field. A Beech Bonanza F33 came in, and we observed an Army Reserve CH-47 Chinook helicopter beating its way toward home.
The week’s California wildfire situation attracted a bunch of drone pilots, trying to get pictures and video feed, despite airspace closures over the conflagrations. Last Thursday, one of the two Canadair CL-415 amphibious scoop-up and dump airplanes CalFire has leased from the province of Quebec ran into such an errant drone and had to undergo a quick repair to patch a hole in the wing’s leading edge. They were just lucky the airplane made it back to base instead of crashing into the fire. Get your priorities right, people.
Just so you won’t run out of things to worry about, a Gulfstream business jet reportedly ran into what’s described as a "metallic object” off the Florida coast at 27,000 feet, back in December. The G550 was en route from Fort Lauderdale to New York and took the hit into an engine compressor fan, causing it to put down single-engine at Palm Beach. No drone that time.
The U.S. Parachute Association recently announced a new record low number of fatalities for 2024, when there were nine skydiving deaths recorded, the first single-digit year. This is despite growing numbers of skydives made; 2023 set a low mark of 0.27 deaths per 100,000 jumps. Rigorous safety protocols are helping improve what is an inherently dangerous sport. Fifty years ago, the normal fatality rate was over 40 per year, with much less activity.
On a warm June day last summer, a student and instructor were conducting multi-engine training in a Tecnam P2006 light twin-engine plane out in Colorado, near an airport with an elevation of 6700 feet. They shut down one of the Rotax 912 engines for practice, feathering the propeller, but when they restarted it, they were unsuccessful in getting enough thrust to maintain altitude in the thin air. Unable to reach an airport, an attempt to land on highway I-25 was made, but the airplane hit a road sign so the Italian-made twin wound up crashing in a swamp, with serious injuries. The NTSB issued the preliminary report, although it delegated the investigation to the local FAA office. Lessons learned: 100-hp Rotax engines aren’t powerful enough for a twin, don’t try to land on highways, and never do single-engine training unless within close range of an airport.
An Oklahoma City company is developing a “perpetual flight” unmanned aircraft, powered by solar cells and storage batteries so it can stay up essentially forever. It’s as big as a Boeing 747 airliner, but weighs very little, supposedly offering a payload of 800 pounds. They’ve flown it six times last year, reaching an altitude of 33,000 feet. It’s planned to offer 90-day-long surveillance missions at low cost.
The question from last week asked the year the Douglas DC-3 airliner made its first flight. Reader Rodney Rom correctly reported that American Airlines put it into service in 1936. However, it made the initial test flight on December 17, 1935, the 32nd anniversary of Wright Brothers first flight. For next week, our question is "what was the length of Butler airport’s first runway?" You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Good fun AND a good deed
Ginger Zellmer of Butler along with grandsons Maverick, 12, and Ladigo 6, had some fun while providing entertainment for residents at Medicalodge on Nursery street this weekend. Despite a few cold fingers and toes, the trio says "it was well worth it" just to see smiling faces through the windows of the facility.
More cold air inbound
However, while we enjoy temps venturing into the 40's by midweek we'll see the above mentioned arctic blast hit our area around Monday, January 20. Mid America Live will be providing updates accordingly.
Many kudos paid to city crews
Generators at the Butler light plant will get some needed maintenance to the tune of about $15,000 to help insure they are ready for the next run. It looks as though such maintenance will be required every couple of years.
An agreement with Marks Nelson of Overland Park KS was signed as they will be helping the city with economic development. Every avenue of attracting new business needs to be taken and it appears this company could help.
Likewise, an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration was approved allowing the completion of much needed lighting upgrades at the airport; and thanks to grant money, upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant will finally be completed as well.
It was reported that city crews pulled a 36 hour shift repairing power lines and replacing poles following last week's storm which greatly helped getting the lights back on during the arctic blast. Many kudos were paid by the mayor and council members.
A major highlight of the meeting was very positive feedback regarding the Hometown Grid outage reporting system which allows for up-to-the-minute reporting of outages as well as pinpointing the exact locations. Anyone can view the outage map by visiting https://www.hometowngrid.com/butler.
Remember, the Butler city council meets on the first and third Tuesdays, 7 pm, upstairs at city hall. An elevator is available for those with special needs and the public always encouraged to attend.
Saturday, January 11, 2025
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