Saline County commissioners today approved a 30-year lease agreement with the City of Salina for the expo center portion of Kenwood Park.
City commissioners approved the agreement during their meeting Monday night.
The lease agreement would be from Jan. 2021, to Dec. 31, 2050, and is limited to the expo center site south of Tony's Pizza Events Center.
The county will pay to complete several maintenance and improvement projects to the grounds and the buildings as a requirement of the lease. The county has been planning for these maintenance and improvement projects over the past few years and has $1.2 million allocated for these projects through the county’s Capital Improvement Project program.
Commissioners also approved a resolution declaring the intent to issue educational facilities revenue bonds for Kansas Wesleyan University (KWU). The county issued bonds for KWU in 2012 and those bonds have partially been paid off. According to information from the county, it is KWU's intent with these bonds to refinance the outstanding balance on the old bonds and add additional money to take advantage of the lower interest rates to fund an energy solutions project that will increase energy efficiency on campus. There is no financial impact on the county for issuing the bonds, as all bond payments will be the responsibility of the university. Commissioners voted to pass the resolution declaring the intent and will have a public hearing and final consideration for this on Aug. 25.
In other business during the commission meeting Tuesday, the county reported that:
Commissioners approved a request from Justin Mader, county engineer, to award bids for the 2020 reinforced box culvert projects. Bids were received by four companies. Mader recommended awarding four projects that were the low bid to Reece Construction, and one project that was the low bid to L&M Construction. The total cost is $572,527.90 that will be paid with the Special Bridge Construction Fund. The earliest that these projects can start is at the time contracts are signed by both parties and they must be completed by June 2021.
Mader also briefed commissioners on options regarding a railroad crossing northeast of the grain elevator in Bavaria. After staff researched property ownership and maintenance responsibilities, it was determined that while this crossing has the perception that it is a public road, it is not and has not been maintained by the county in the past. Mader recommended that the county continue to maintain Midland Road, but install signage that delineates where Saline County road maintenance ends. He also recommended the posting of a “Dead End” sign. Mader said he would also suggest to the Kansas Department of Transportation and the railroad the need to re-classify the crossing as private and that it would need to be maintained by the owners of the grain elevator. Additionally, any decision to close the crossing would be up to the railroad and the owners of the elevator.
Commissioners heard from Jason Tiller, Health Department Director, as part of their review of the mask mandate resolution. Tiller provided updated case numbers for Saline County, the state, and the nation. He also showed the newly launched dashboard that provides demographic information in more detail on the cases in Saline County. It has been three weeks since the mandate went into effect and there has been a decrease in the number of cases, anecdotally suggesting that the mask mandate is one of the contributing factors to that. Tiller recommended that to keep businesses open and to get kids back to school, the mask mandate should continue. The resolution is still in effect and will be until it is modified or repealed by the commissioners.
Commissioners heard a department update from Marilyn Leamer, human resources director. Leamer reported 15 new hires, nine transfers/promotions, and six people left employment in the period from mid-May to mid-July. Staff has been busy going through the insurance renewal process. Saline County’s self-insured plan will make a change in the network provider that will result in only a 0.5-percent increase in health insurance costs for the county. Due to the county’s self-insured status, the other renewal component is for stop-loss coverage. The switch to a new carrier is resulting in a 21.34-percent reduction in the premium cost from last year. Leamer also reported employment vacancies that the county currently has. There are positions open for corrections officers, intermittent/part-time civil process server, truck driver/truck driver trainee, assistant attorney, booking officer, transport officer, property technician, and a custodian position.
Commissioners also heard a quarterly update from Rosie Walter, senior services director. The kitchen and bathroom remodeling project at the senior center is complete. The kitchen staff moved back in on June 15 and the senior center opened to the public on June 22. During this quarter, there was a 21-percent increase in delivered meals through Meals on Wheels, which is a result of the stay at home order and other necessary precautions that were taken because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior services received $25,781.20 in donations/grants from April to June and Meals on Wheels received $15,673.26 in grants/donations during the same timeframe.
County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes provided his update, reporting on the Coronavirus Funding Advisory Committee’s meeting on Monday. The committee looked at the total reimbursement requests that were received by the cities, county, and schools. The application for direct aid went live last Wednesday and the deadline for organizations and businesses to submit an application is 5 p.m. on Friday. The committee will go through the applications next week and review the requests to determine if they do meet the necessary criteria as well as fit in with the desires of the committee, which is looking at programs that will benefit the community broadly. All documents and links to the recordings of the meetings can be found on the county website at https://www.saline.org/Coronavirus/CRF-Funding.
Smith-Hanes also told commissioners that the county was notified last week that it has been awarded $132,000 from Community Development Block Grant Supplemental funding (CDBG-CV). Staff will be working with the North Central Regional Planning Commission which will assist in the administration of the grant. All contracts for the grant will be brought to the commission next week for review and consideration for acceptance.
The Saline County Appraiser’s Office received word from the State Property Valuation Division that they have met all of the statistical compliance measures again this year as set forth in State Statute K.S.A. 75-505.
Commissioners were reminded of a joint meeting on Monday at 1 p.m. with Salina city commissioners to hear the recommendations from the consultant concerning the emergency radio communications project.