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HOT SPOTS 2010 The Grant County Board of Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. every Monday, except the fifth Monday and legal holidays, of each month in the Commissioner Board Room, Room 103, on the first floor of the Grant County Courthouse, 112 E. Guthrie, Medford. Meetings are open to the public. Meeting agendas are posted, as outlined by the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act, on the north and south entrances of the Grant County Courthouse. County Worker Thanks Community for Support I would like to thank everyone who came to the Benefit Dinner to raise funds for my medical bills and prosthesis. Thank You: Bill Kemna, coordinator; Cindy Bobbitt, organizer; and Roland Schroeder, financial director for Middle OK 30446 Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for the matching funds. I would also like to thank the Grant County workers, Cheri Michael and the Pond Creek students for their volunteer work, Grant County FCS ladies for cakes, Kevin Stacy and the Lamont Fire Department for helping to clean up, area churches, friends and family for donations, food, volunteer help and time. Thank you Deer Creek-Lamont school administration and students for hosting the benefit, friends and family for hugs, calls, cards and good wishes. Only God and the prayers of good people in good communities can change a bad circumstance into a good time. Thank you … everyone!!! Richard Metcalf, and family. Library contract signed; Web site moves forward Bobbitt motioned to approve the minutes, as corrected. The motion was approved unanimously. Commissioners voted to review purchase orders and travel claims. Commissioners approved a crossing permit in District 1 for Atlas Pipeline for $500. There were no blanket purchase orders and no comments from the public. The meeting was adjourned at 11:11 a.m. County spent more than $37,000 on legal notices The Board of Grant County Commissioners has chosen an address of www.grantcountyok.com for a Web site that will provide countless benefits to Grant County residents. All information on the Web site will be provided at no charge to the public. The site will encompass information from all county offices and also give the public instant access to meeting minutes, agendas and bid notices. The site will cost the county $15 a year to be registered and $10 a month to stay active. KanOkla will host the Web site. Korina Schneider will build and maintain the Web site for $20 an hour. The intent of the Web site is to provide the public – free of charge – with instant access to county information. The site potentially could save the county thousands of dollars in man hours, copying costs and legal publication fees in years to come. Commissioner Cindy Bobbitt hopes the Web site will provide an even greater cost savings to the county than anticipated. She has asked the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma to put forward legislation to change the language regarding the publication of legal notices for counties. At present, Oklahoma counties are bound by law to publish minutes and bid notices in a local legal publication, which can cost hundreds of dollars per week. Bobbitt said because of big budget crunches that states, cities and counties are facing, she will move more aggressively toward promoting new wording of legislation regarding legal notices. The proposal will ask the Legislature to make it an option for counties to publish legal information to a county Web site, if one exists, and make it an option to also publish in a local newspaper, if funds are available or if the county desires to do so. Bobbitt hopes that changing the wording will save counties tens of thousands of dollars in the future. Grant County has spent $37,704.70 on legal publications during the last four years. All monies were spent with the Medford Patriot-Star, Pond Creek Herald and Wakita Herald during the entire years of 2006, 2007, 2008 and all but one week of 2010. The county paid the same three publications for legal notices until June 30, 2009. The North Central Reporter published legal notices for the county from July 1, 2009, to January 7, 2010. If legislation is approved next session, the county can save an average of nearly $10,000 a year and provide the public free access to legal notices through the Web site, which will cost less than $150 a year. Maintenance fees for the site should average between $1,000 and $3,000 a year. Papers signed for road, bridge money The Grant County Board of Commissioners called the July 26, 2010, meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. in the Commissioner Board Room on the first floor of the Grant County Courthouse. Present were commissioners Max Hess, Jerry Shaffer and Cindy Bobbitt. Guests present were County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar, Treasurer Penny Dowell, Korina Schneider, Larry Don Dewey and Ken Kiser. Commissioners reviewed the minutes from the July 12 and July 19 regular meetings, which were approved, as corrected. The following county workers were presented with safety award certificates from their respective commissioners and $20 Wal-Mart gift cards provided by the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma:
Hess motioned to approve one transfer of appropriations for the assessor’s office ($500). The motion was approved unanimously. Hess motioned to approve July payroll. All voted aye. Bobbitt motioned at 9:49 a.m. to recess until 1 p.m. so the commissioners could attend a funeral. The meeting was reconvened at 1:02 p.m. with commissioners Hess and Shaffer present. Bobbitt arrived a few minutes later. County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar and Korina Schneider were present; Treasurer Penny Dowell arrived later. Hess entertained a motion to review purchase orders and travel claims. Shaffer seconded. Both voted aye. Bobbitt motioned to approve purchase orders and travel claims. The motion was approved unanimously. Commissioners reviewed a resolution to accept county road and bridge funding from CBRI 103 and CBRI 105, Senate Bill 2173, according to the resolution. Hess and Bobbitt agreed that the wording on the resolution was not correct and should read “HB 1288” instead of “Senate Bill 2173.” Hess called CED 8 Director Donnie Head to ask about the wording on the resolution. Head said the resolution should read “HB 1288.” Hess said the wording on the resolution would be changed to “HB 1288.” Chairman Hess initialed the change, and commissioners agreed unanimously to pass the resolution, which will be formally corrected by Executive Assistant Rich Donaldson. Commissioners voted unanimously to dispose of a Liberty trailer in District 3. The trailer was bought July 18, 2007, from DCS Property Distribution for $5,000. District 3 sold the trailer for $7,500.54 to Tony Shaffer. Kathy Aebi said the courthouse computer server, which is housed in the assessor’s office, should be on a wall with separate plug-ins and two separate breakers. Aebi said it would be nice to have three plug-ins with separate battery backups. Commissioners advised Aebi to get estimates from local electricians. Oklahoma Department of Transportation documents were signed for a 2010 John Deere 200D trackhoe in District 1. The lease purchase price for the trackhoe was $164,789.70 with monthly payments of $1,961.78. An item on the agenda to discuss the “name” of the county Web site was tabled based on the wording of the agenda. Bobbitt thought the agenda should read “Web site address” instead of “name.” Hess motioned to approve blanket purchase orders. There were no comments from the public. Under commissioner comments, Bobbitt commented on the National Association of Counties conference, which she attended last week. She said she received valuable information from the conference. She handed out booklets from the Office of Homeland Security and the 111th Congress. Bobbitt was awarded the 2009-10 Top Recruiter Award for recruiting 16 counties to join NACo in the last two years. She showed the commissioners a trophy she received for the award. She said Kay County Clerk Tammy Reese also attended the national convention in Reno, Nevada. Shaffer said he visited briefly with officials from Warren CAT about a free program for surveying the rock quarry. He said he would like to look further into the program. Hess said he met with Woods County officials regarding E-911 proposed addresses. He said he talked with Assessor Phil McCoy, who said postal officials have contacted him about rural addresses. Hess said employees in the assessor’s office also have been calling the post office regarding addresses. Woods County officials are working with the postal service on reviewing every address in the county. Under new business, there were no items. A motion to adjourn was passed unanimously at 2:27 p.m. Trackhoe documents, juvenile service contracts approved The July 19, 2010, regular meeting of the Grant County Board of County Commissioners was called to order at 9:05 a.m. with Commission Chairman Max Hess and Vice Chairman Jerry Shaffer present. Board Member Cindy Bobbitt was absent while representing the county at the National Association of Counties meeting in Reno, Nev. Shaffer led the prayer, and County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar led the flag salute. After review, Hess and Shaffer tentatively approved the minutes from the regular July 12, 2010, meeting, with one correction. Hess asked that the minutes be placed on the next regular agenda for official approval because Shaffer was absent from the July 12 meeting, and Bobbitt, who was present at the July 12 meeting, was not present to review the minutes. Shaffer motioned to review purchase orders and travel claims. Shaffer moved to recess the meeting at 9:37 a.m. After reconvening, Hess motioned to approved purchase orders and travel claims. He then motioned to jump to item “F” on the agenda to sign documents with Northern Equipment for a trackhoe in District 1. Commissioners approved signing documentation, including an invoice for equipment. Commissioners then motioned and approved to move back to item “A,” approval of purchase orders and travel claims. Bobbitt requested one transfer of appropriations. Hess requested a transfer of $1,500. Shaffer requested a transfer of $2,000. The requests were approved. Commissioners considered monthly reports from the sheriff, health department, assessor, treasurer, election board, county clerk and court clerk. All were approved, subject to audit. The reports are available for review in the county clerk’s office. Juvenile detention contracts were approved for Eastern Oklahoma Youth Services in Woodward and Pittsburgh counties ($23.25 per day per child); Western Plains Youth and Family Services, Inc. ($29.35 per day per child); and Oklahoma Juvenile Justice Services, Inc. ($23.26 per child per day). Commissioners signed documents with RCB Pioneer Bank on 2011 pickup for District 2. Commissioner voted to approve blanket purchase orders. There were no comments from the public and no commissioner comments. Hess said under new business that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation would be in touch with Treasurer Penny Dowell regarding payments of funds. Hess said during the recess he spoke with Assistant District Attorney Steven Young regarding the approval of the minutes, and Young advised to officially approve during next week’s regular meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 10:43 a.m. Commish picks address for Web site Grant County Commission Chairman Max Hess called the July 12, 2010, meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. with board member Cindy Bobbitt present. Hess announced that Commissioner Jerry Shaffer would be late to the meeting due to an unexpected circumstance that occurred Monday morning. One guest, Korina Schneider, was present at the meeting. Bobbitt opened the meeting with prayer, and County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar led the flag salute. Hess and Bobbitt reviewed the minutes from the July 6, 2010, regular meeting, and Hess motioned to approve the minutes, as corrected. The motion passed. Commissioners voted to review payment of purchase orders and travel claims. Bobbitt motioned to approved payment of purchase orders and travel claims. The motion was passed. Hess moved to approve transfers of appropriations from the sheriff’s department ($90) and District 2 ($6,000). Bobbitt seconded. The motion was approved. Hess motioned to retain Bobbitt as the Wheatland RC&D board member and pay all dues. The motion was passed. Bobbitt announced that the county did not receive a grant through Wheatland RC&D to make upgrades to the fairgrounds. Hess signed a reimbursement claim from the state for the election board secretary salary. Hess called KanOkla and asked if contracted engineers could come to the courthouse and fill out paperwork outlining legal descriptions for where work will be performed in the county. The permits were tabled until paperwork can be filled out completely. Korina Schneider presented the front page of the new Grant County Web site to the board. Commissioners voted to reserve the Web site address of www.grantcountyoklahoma.gov with the least expensive Web site provider. They asked Schneider to research Web site host options. Schneider said she will call local providers, specifically Pioneer and KanOkla, for prices. Under commissioner comments, Bobbitt said she will attend the ACCO and NACo conferences this week. There was no new business. Bobbitt motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:35 a.m. The motion was passed. Short meeting for commish following holiday Commissioners called their regular July 6, 2010, meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. with Chairman Max Hess and board members Jerry Shaffer and Cindy Bobbitt present. Commissioners read and approved the minutes from the regular June 28, 2010, meeting and the special meeting of July 1, 2010. Payment of purchase orders and travel claims were reviewed and approved. At 10 a.m., sealed bids were opened for a 14-by-64-foot Liberty Mobile Home from District 3. Bids were received from Tony L. Shaffer for $7,500.54 and David Moss for $1,200. Commissioners accepted the bid from Shaffer. Bobbitt motioned to approve transfers of appropriations for a lease purchase for District 1 ($10,000) and road projects in District 3 ($7,115.77). Other agenda items approved during the meeting were as follows:
No comments from the public were made. Commissioners had no individual comments. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. County faces $6 million pinch (June 14, 2010 regular meeting) During the regular Monday meeting of the Grant County Board of Commissioners, commissioners Jerry Shaffer and Cindy Bobbitt called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. and recessed the meeting about 9:02 a.m. to join the treasurer’s auction in the courthouse lobby. Commissioner Max Hess joined Shaffer and Bobbitt about 9:08 a.m. The commissioners returned to regular session at 9:22 a.m. following the sale of three properties through the treasurer’s office. During review of the agenda, Hess noticed that an item regarding the official publication for the county was not on the June 14, 2010, agenda. County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar said the commissioners could address the item under new business or under item “I” on the agenda, which called for the renewal of a resolution naming the Medford Patriot-Star as the official county newspaper for the fiscal year. Bobbitt said that resolution will not take effect until July 1 and felt the item could not be addressed under that item or under new business. Hess and Shaffer agreed. Kretchmar suggested the commissioners tentatively approve the minutes for publication and officially take action on the matter during next week’s regular meeting. Bobbitt asked for a correction on the minutes, stating that Mandy Smith said during her Web site proposal, given during the June 7, 2010 meeting, that the Web site Smith might be contracted to create would be maintained by Executive Assistant Rich Donaldson, (costs for wages and benefits are $16.99 per hour) and the cost of Smith’s services would be $20 per month (for Intuit Web site). Commissioner Shaffer moved for approval of the minutes, with corrections. The minutes, with changes, were approved unanimously. Commissioners voted to review purchase orders and travel claims. At 10 a.m., commissioners opened six-month material bids. Bids were received from the following companies: Bridge & Highway Materials, Inc., Enid; Dolese Bros. Co., Oklahoma City; Anchor Stone Company, Owasso; Asphalt & Fuel Supply LLC, Overland Park, Kansas; Ergon A& E, Catoosa; Bebeco LLC, Enid; The Quapaw Company, Stillwater; Sunbelt Equipment & Supply, Meeker; Dietz Welding, Cleo Springs; VJ Stone, Carnegie; K&O Construction & Supply, Enid; Tinhorns R Us, Tuttle; Railroad Yard Inc., Stillwater; Northern Equipment Company, Enid; Evans & Associates Construction Co. Inc., Ponca City; Dub Ross Co., Oklahoma City; The G.W. Van Keppel Company, Oklahoma City; Logan County Asphalt Co., Guthrie; Keeling Co., Fort Smith, Arkansas; Vance Bros. Inc., Tulsa; Whitaker Aggregates, Savonburg, Kansas; APAC-Central, Inc., Dewey. After opening bids, commissioners voted to table a decision until they could tabulate and further review all bids. Commissioners returned to reviewing and approving purchase orders and travel claims. Commissioners appointed Hess to serve on the Northern Oklahoma Development Authority Board of Trustees and then voted to recess at 10:20 a.m. The meeting was reconvened at 10:29 a.m. A resolution for a contract agreement renewal of ETR funds was approved. Also approved were the following agenda items:
Commissioners renewed the following resolutions for Fiscal Year 2010-11 (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011):
Commissioners tabled a decision for an assessor contract renewal with EDA. The renewal of a cooperative agreement with Woods County for E911 services was tabled. Commissioners voted to break for lunch at 12:13 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 1:16 p.m. The board voted to renew a cooperative agreement with the USDA Wildlife Services. Commissioners considered Web site proposals made during the June 7 meeting by Korina Schneider and Mandy Smith. Bobbitt said having Rich Donaldson maintain the Web site would not be feasible as Donaldson has numerous duties the way it is as executive assistant to the commissioners. Bobbitt motioned to have Schneider design the Web site. The motion was approved unanimously. Hess and Shaffer said they thought the duties of creating and maintaining a Web site might be too much for a county employee to take on in addition to their regular duties. Bobbitt said she reviewed bids which were opened last week for two graders in District 2 and chose to accept a bid for John Deere graders from Northern Equipment in Enid. While reviewing budget proposals from elected officials, Bobbitt said county salaries may go down if evaluations for the county go down. The change is part of a bill recently passed in the Legislature. Budget Proposals: Election Board: Election Board Secretary Harvey Bush said an additional $810 was budgeted for a part-time employee to cover for Deputy Cathey Ebert should she need to take some time off. Rather than rely on the assessor’s office to man the office when Ebert is gone, Bush said, the election board might hire a part-time employee to cover those duties. Also, he budgeted an additional $1,000 for capital outlay, which would be reimbursed by state, if used. Bush said he is thinking about buying a laptop. In addition, he said he budgeted for one county special election and one state special election, as he does every year. If the elections do not take place, the money will not be used. OSU Extension Office: Director Scott Price said the extension office’s total budget comes from county, state and federal funds. To maintain staff (two full time educators and one full-time secretary), the minimum guidelines allow the OSU Extension Office to request $16,500. He budgeted an additional $1,000 under maintenance and operations to cover costs of a copier the office leases. Grant County Fair Board: Price spoke on behalf of the fair board, which requested a total budget of $10,401. Price said there are some things that need to be updated. He asked about the status of a maintenance grant for which the county applied, and Bobbitt said they won’t know anything until probably August. The budget request for last year was $9,901. The additional funds would cover costs to replace brooms, tables, “little things that just add up,” Price said. Sheriff: Sheriff Roland Hula asked for one more dispatcher. State inspectors continue to evaluate the sheriff’s operation, and Hula said changes must be made. No less than two dispatchers must be on duty 24 hours a day, or the county will be fined $500 a day until the violations are corrected. Hula said he can use about half the proceeds collected from sales tax revenues, which are not available yet, to pay for an additional dispatcher. The sheriff’s office will receive about $3,000 a month as soon as the county pays off an outstanding debt to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The county has paid 87 percent of the debt. Until those funds are available, Hula said he would appreciate the help “because it’s simply going to have to be done.” Also, a leak in the basement, which has been there since he has been in office, is to the point now that the water has made a trench on the east side of the building. It has ruined woodwork and doors. “I don’t have a clue as to what the cost would be,” he said. A “basement doctor” could fix the problem, but Hula was not sure of the cost. Wheatland RC&D has grants available for jails to make upgrades. Hula said he will check with Wheatland RC&D to get specifics. The sheriff’s department generated $211,000 last year. “We had a very good year,” Hula said. The department has about $22,000 left from that amount. Much of the money was used to pay inmates’ medical bills, which were exceedingly high this year. The department received some financial aid to cover costs. Hula said the department will accrue some additional funds through calling cards, vending machines and a couple other resources. Dollars generated help pay for employee raises and salaries. County Clerk: County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar did not ask for any employee raises. She asked for a $1,520 increase in maintenance for KellPro software to maintain purchasing and payroll. The software was paid out of one of the cash accounts last year. County Clerk (Recording): Kretchmar asked for no new funding except for $1 to allow one account to stay open. County General (20 – Personal services, legal fees): Kretchmar presented. Maintenance Superintendent Keith Pitcher’s salary will remain the same. Travel was lowered to $100 because it has not been needed in the past. Maintenance and Operation was increased by 5% for utilities, etc. Capital Outlay had $10,000 last year, but Kretchmar said she didn’t see any big purchases on the horizon, so she cut that total to $5,000. Capital Improvement account will go away but has $7,000 to get through final payments needed from account. County General (Health Insurance, Workers’ Compensation): Health Insurance went up 6%. Workers’ Compensation went up about $2,000 from last year. Unemployment was estimated with a 5% increase. Kretchmar said she does not know where that will be set this year. Retirement will not change, except for employees who get paid more than last year, as for a new employee. The tort liability rate has not been determined. Excise Board: The budget is the same as last year. Auditor: $8,948.04 Court Clerk: Deana Kilian lowered travel from $2,000 to $1,500. She said it could be lowered to $1,000, if needed. The court clerk budget remained the same as last year. The state court fund that usually funds courthouse utilities $18,000 was lowered to $15,000. It will be discontinued in 2012. State funding to the court clerk’s office was cut from about $95,000 to about $68,000. Assessor: Kretchmar presented the budget proposal from Assessor Phil McCoy. He requested a $1,644 increase for EDA. District Attorney: Kretchmar said the DA’s office is reimbursable through the state. County pays heating and air conditioning bills associated with the second-floor office, but costs for law library books, etc., are reimbursed by the state. Under comments from the public, Kretchmar said she is concerned with the amount of money that will be spent on building and maintaining a county Web site. She asked if Schneider will charge $20 an hour to cover county meetings, and the commissioners said they will pay Schneider $20 an hour to cover the meetings. Kretchmar said in light of budget cuts that will have to be made this year, she doesn’t think spending that money is a good idea. Dowell inquired about address changes that will be required when the E911 service is implemented. Dowell said her office is looking at changing about 20,000 addresses. Hess said the changes are being processed. Under Commissioners’ Comments, Bobbitt said roads are washed out, and maintenance will continue. Shaffer said the rock quarry was broken into. Someone broke into a truck and took it for a joy ride around the quarry. The truck was found in front of Sonic in Newkirk. The windows of the truck were left down, and it had rained. The keys were gone, but nothing was torn up on the truck. Shaffer said rock quarry owner Kelly Donnell is hauling off old equipment and has hired people to clean up the quarry. Shaffer said he is not sure who is going in and out of the quarry. A trailer that sits in the quarry has been broken into, and he wants to get rid of the trailer. He tried to sell it once but did not get any bids on it. He asked to put the trailer out for bids as soon as possible. Hess discussed registration for summer conference. Dowell asked to schedule a meeting to discuss the county’s collateral. The meeting is set for 1 p.m. Monday, June 21, and will be included on the regular agenda. The meeting was adjourned at 3:44 p.m. Bridge monies will go directly to counties (June 9, 2010) Grant County Commissioners Cindy Bobbitt, Jerry Shaffer and Max Hess joined commissioners and county officers from Circuit Engineering District 8 during a meeting that began at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 9, 2010, at the Woods County Fairgrounds in Alva. At 11 a.m., discussion was opened to address changes to the County Bridge and Road Improvement Fund, formerly maintained by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Changes will take effect July 1, 2010. Four main points were discussed: History and Revenue Sources – HB 1819, last bill passed in 1980
Fund Transition/Transfer
Account Balances
SB 2173
Uses
Process – Bridge Projects
Process – chip/seal and gravel projects
Recommendations
Chairman Dee Schieber (Kay County) alerted treasurers that collateral for county projects will have to be in line when funding comes in. Counties will get last financial report, ending on June 3, next month. That will be the last financial report sent to counties by ODOT. Clerks will still get a separate report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Funds will be included on the report as separate line items. Counties will have file folders before any money is distributed. Balance will be allotted July 9 directly from the OTC and will go directly to counties. Counties will have to transfer monies to specific accounts. “Commissioners will know better than anyone how funding should be distributed.” Packets sent by ODOT will have details as to which accounts get what funding, and county officers can go on OTC Web site to view county balances. Bobbitt asked if monies can be appropriated immediately and will be available for use. ODOT: “Yes, but ‘we’ll talk about that.’” Hess motioned to adjourn the meeting at 12:32 p.m. Funding changes hands; county considers Web site (June 7, 2010) Also approved was a resolution for action for the use and disbursement of County Bridge Road Improvement funds, 1176 funds and CIRB funds. Circuit Engineering District 8 Director Donnie Head said CBRI funds are now available through the 1176 Program, which is the reason the resolution was necessary. The action will give the county more access to funds for bridge projects and free up about $200,000 for those projects, Head said. The change in funding source will back some projects up a bit, but Head said he does not expect a big delay. Bobbitt motioned to approve the resolution. The resolution was approved unanimously. Gary Lillie, representing the Hawley Fire Department, asked the commissioners to endorse a letter of support allowing the fire department to apply to become an emergency medical response agency. By becoming an emergency medical response agency, Hawley firefighters can train to become emergency medical technicians and first responders, which would allow the fire department to respond to medical calls in the Hawley district. Lillie said the department is required to obtain an endorsement from the department’s governing body, the county, before continuing with the application. The fire department, if approved, will later acquire certain equipment and training to complete the process. The department also will undergo yearly inspections, if approved. Shaffer moved to approve the endorsement. All three commissioners voted to approve the motion. Commissioner reviewed and approved purchase orders and travel claims, as presented.
Bobbitt made a motion to table a decision until the next regular meeting, which will take place at 9 a.m. Monday, June 14, 2010. Commissioners approved and signed transfers of appropriations. Also approved:
Mandy Smith and Korina Schneider presented ideas regarding the creation of a Web site for the county. Smith, who works part-time in the treasurer’s office, gave a PowerPoint presentation with some facts and ideas she put together. She said Treasurer Penny Dowell has given her permission to use county time to create a Web site. Maintenance would be passed on to Rich Donaldson, executive assistant to the commissioners. Bobbitt asked if Smith would cover weekly meetings of the Grant County commissioners. Smith said she would create the Web site only. County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar said she could give Donaldson tapes of the meetings so he could listen to them and report on the meetings from the tapes. Schneider showed examples of other county Web sites within the state and presented the commissioners with ideas of what could be included on the Web site, as suggested by Sunshine Review, www.sunshinereview.org. She also included a review of all county Web sites in Oklahoma. Schneider said she would cover meetings and make updates as needed at a cost of $20 an hour, with a 30-minute minimum. The item was tabled for further review. Commissioners accepted and approved the report for bridge inspections for all three districts. The Wakita Herald was voted as the official publication for the county for this week. Commissioners also approved blanket purchase orders, a reimbursement claim for the election board secretary salary and renewed an agreement with Ottawa County for the county’s CMI machine. Under public comments, Dowell said she uses Red River Web Design for the treasurer’s office Web site. Red River charges $1,500 a year to maintain other county sites. Under commissioners’ comments, Hess read a thank-you card from Grant County Library Director Rose Cowger for the donation of books. He also announced that the commissioners needed to update bridge projects for each district. Under new business, Hess presented paperwork from the National Association of Counties to name Bobbitt as NACo representative for Grant County. Bobbitt will have voting privileges at the national conference in July in Reno, Nevada. Hess said county officers will attend a CED 8 meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 9, 2010, at the Woods County Fairgrounds in Alva. Commissioners voted to adjourn the meeting at 12:48 p.m. Excavator bid approved on short agenda (May 24, 2010) After approving the May 17, 2010, minutes, with corrections, Hess and Shaffer reviewed and approved May appropriations, transfers of appropriations and May payroll. Also reviewed and approved were purchase orders and travel claims. After having opened bids last week and considering four options, Hess made a recommendation for District 1 to purchase a John Deere excavator for $159,990 from Northern Equipment in Enid. Bids also were received for Volvo, Komatsu and Caterpillar models. Hess said the buyback value and wider tracks were two reasons he chose the John Deere model. Also, closer proximity to a dealer that can service the equipment is a plus, he said. Commissioners tabled a decision to update a crossing permit from Circuit Engineering District 8 so that Commissioner Bobbitt could review the documentation. Hess and Shaffer approved the publication of the county’s six-month bid list, and voted to publish the official minutes of the May 17 meeting in the Medford Patriot-Star. No comments were made from the public. Besides the commissioners, those attending the meeting were County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar, Treasurer Penny Dowell, Korina Schneider, Ken Kiser and Preston Brown. During Commissioner Comments, Shaffer said he attended a county insurance board meeting, and costs will increase by 6 percent. The commissioners will have to consider in a future meeting whether the county will absorb the cost. Also, deductibles will increase from $400 to $500, and co-pays for generic prescription drugs will increase from $5 to $10. Shaffer noted the co-pay for state employees’ generic prescription drugs is $30. The changes will take effect in July. County employees are covered by Blue Cross-Blue Shield. Hess asked for Shaffer’s blessing to submit a second application for a TIGER Grant that would pay for a $27 million road project in District 1. Hess applied for the grant last year, but the project did not make the cut when winners were announced in February. The TIGER (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery) Grant was part of the 2009 federal stimulus package and was introduced to help rebuild America’s transportation systems while creating jobs and growth throughout the nation. More information about the grant and a complete list of this year’s winners can be found here. Shaffer encouraged Hess to apply for the grant again. The project proposed paving a stretch of dirt and already-paved roads through Wakita and northern Grant County, connecting the county to the west with Alfalfa County and ending near the Kansas border in northeastern part of Grant County. With no new business, the commissioners adjourned the meeting about 11:50 a.m.
Contract Awarded for Repairs to Bridge, Approaches in Grant County According to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the project involves repairing a bridge and approaches along County Road (EW-11) over Pond Creek 3 miles North of SH-11 and 5 miles East of SH-11A in District 1. Sen. Myers, (R-Ponca City) said the State Transportation Commission awarded a $421,227.65 contract on the project to K & R Builders, Inc. The Wheatland company was the lowest of seven bidders for the job, said Rep. DeWitt, (R-Braman). Once construction begins, the project is estimated to be completed within four months. |
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