Saline County is closer to an agreement with the City of Salina concerning an expo center lease.
During Tuesday's county commission meeting, County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes notified commissioners that the city had forwarded to the county Monday night a draft lease agreement for the expo center property in Kenwood Park.
According to information from Saline County, the document was sent to the county counselor. Smith-Hanes told commissioners that they should expect an executive session next week concerning the draft lease agreement, the county information noted.
Other business covered during the Tuesday commission meeting, according to information from the county, includes the following.
Commissioners approved for the purchase of a new patrol vehicle for the sheriff’s office for $43,999. This will replace a unit that was totaled in an accident earlier this year. Insurance reimbursement will be used to help with covering the cost, but remaining equipment improvement funds will be used to make up the difference.
Commissioners approved a service agreement for the decontamination of N-95 respirators with the use of a Battelle system. This system was acquired by the State of Kansas through a resource request to FEMA. This system can decontaminate thousands of respirators at a time and each respirator can be decontaminated up to 20 times. There is no cost for the use of this system, but it was required that the county approve the service agreement to be able to cover all of the agencies in Saline County for the use of this system. Michelle Barkley, emergency management director, told commissioners that this system can decontaminate several different brands of respirators.
Justin Mader, county engineer, presented a Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) agreement to receive emergency relief funds for two projects that needed extensive repairs from the 2019 flood. Originally, these projects were not going to be covered by any funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, however, KDOT was able to provide emergency relief funds for projects that met certain criteria. $114,269.84 will be coming back to Saline County for two projects that met that criteria and have already been completed. Commissioners voted to sign the agreement and accept the funds.
Commissioners approved for the purchase of a new mower deck for the Road and Bridge Department at a cost of $16,070. This replaces a 2002 mower deck.
Darren Fishel, road and bridge administrator, provided a department update for March and April. He noted several things that the department has worked on, including the following.
•Response to two minor snow and ice events.
•Completion of the rebuilding of Wasserman Way and Frisbee Way.
•Pothole repairs on county asphalt roads.
•Hauling of 16,226 ton of rock, 1,865 ton of AB-2, 6,120 ton of sand, and 26 ton of road salt.
•Completion of the seasonal tree trimming and tree removal.
•Completion of the “No Passing Zone” warning sign replacement.
•Replacement of 564 traffic control signs.
During his weekly update, Smith-Hanes told commissioners that County Health Officer Jason Tiller does not plan on adding additional restrictions at this time to the guidance issued by Governor Laura Kelly. The health department is continually monitoring the COVID-19 situation, he said. Smith-Hanes told commissioners that there will be a stakeholder meeting later this week, provided a brief on procedures at some of the other county buildings, and then reminded citizens that if they need to conduct business with a county office to be sure to call beforehand.
Smith-Hanes also updated commissioners on the 2021 budget process. He said that during the next three commission meetings, the commissioners will hear from the different allocation agencies. A special commission meeting with department heads concerning budget requests is scheduled for May 27, he noted.
Additionally, Smith-Hanes told commissioners that the sheriff's office received word that it had been awarded $58,008 from the U.S. Department of Justice through the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program. A request for formal acceptance of the funding will come before the commission next week, he said.