By SALINA POST
A request to raise salaries in the county attorney's office and the widening of a portion of Old Highway 81 are among the items on the Saline County Commission agenda for Tuesday.
About the meeting
Saline County Commission is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in room 107 of the City-County Building, 300 W. Ash Street. The meetings also can be viewed on Saline County’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwwZp_cTSJ3Nepp_5rOGevA.
To participate in the meetings, citizens will need to use the Zoom link. Use the following link and put in the Meeting ID and passcode:
https://zoom.us/j/96835819901?pwd=bUEvaExUb2ppMEFaUnd6cUd6MmNMUT09
Meeting ID: 968 3581 9901
Passcode: 144636
For further information, contact the County Commission’s Office at (785) 309-5825.
Agenda items
Saline County Attorney Jeffery Ebel, in a letter to county commissioners, is proposing the following raises for positions in the county attorney's office.
Ebel, citing unsuccessful attempts to fill two vacant positions, told commissioners that higher salaries were needed in order for the positions to be competitive.
"I have interviewed only four attorneys since August of 2021. Two of the attorneys were people I sought out and were not random applicants. They both declined the offer citing the low salary as a reason why. Only two applicants were from advertising. I offered the position to one who declined due to low salary. The other I offered at the normal starting salary of $57,000 to $60,000, and they said that they would not accept at that rate," Ebel told commissioners in his letter.
Ebel also noted that an attorney who left the office in December cited low pay as the reason for leaving.
Commissioners also are scheduled to consider a request to award the bid for the county's south Old 81 Highway widening and overlay project. The project would include widening by three feet each side of Old 81 from the Interstate 135 exit at Bridgeport north to Assaria Road. After the highway is widened, a two-inch asphalt overlay is to be placed over the existing roadway and the widened surface.
The county received one bid for the project from APAC-Kansas. Staff is recommending that commissioners award the bid to APAC-Kansas for the $1,151,135.25.
Other items on the county agenda for Tuesday include the following.
●Consider a request from the Road and Bridge Department to purchase a wheel loader.
●Hear a financial projection from County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes.
●Hear Smith-Hanes' weekly update.
Additionally, commissioners are scheduled to meet in executive session at the conclusion of the meeting to discuss a non-elected personnel matter.
To see the full Saline County Commission meeting packet for Tuesday (a 20-page pdf), click here.