By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
For the new year, the Saline County Commission selected new officers at its second meeting of 2024, alongside discussing another fire department purchase and an update to the Expo Center's construction.
Commissioners present at the meeting include District One Commissioner Robert Vidricksen, District Two Commissioner Monte Shadwick, District Three Commissioner Rodger Sparks, District Four Commissioner James Weese and District Five Commissioner Joe Hay.
After approval of the consent agenda for the day, commissioners moved into their action items and later to the reorganization portion of the meeting.
The commissioners chose a new chair, vice chair and secretary on Tuesday, with Vidricksen stepping down from chair after four years.
Election of officers
According to Shadwick, the board's vice chair typically assumes the position once the previous chair steps down, but Shadwick offered a different plan.
"As I'm looking at my schedule throughout the year, there are many times that I will have to attend by Zoom, so it's always been my intention to nominate Commissioner Hay as chair and me as vice chair," Shadwick said.
Shadwick said it wasn't that he felt he wasn't a good candidate for the position, but that he thought it would be proper for a chair to be at most in-person meetings.
After this statement, Vidricksen said he only remembers once that the commission had chosen the vice chair for the chair position, but he intended to nominate Shadwick.
Weese said he appreciated Shadwick's honesty with his schedule and touched on the importance of the County Commission Chair position.
"I think it's very important that we have continuity — that we have a chair that we know will be here as much as possible," Weese said. "Any of the five of us could do it, but I look at the chair as more than just doing it — it's a matter of being the ambassador for the county."
He then nominated Vidricksen to serve as chair for another year, leaving both Shadwick's nomination for Hay and Weese's nomination for Vidricksen on the table.
Vidricksen said he appreciated the kind words from the board but thought it might be time for a fresh cast of officers.
The nomination for Vidricksen floated to the board first, with commissioners stopping mid-vote to reevaluate the situation.
Shadwick and Vidricksen agreed they wanted to avoid creating a divided board.
"I would never want to vote against you. You have just been an outstanding chair for four years," Shadwick said. "But I do think it's time for somebody new and I think Joe will be there all the time, and that's why I am supporting him. I'm not in any way not supporting you."
Some discussion followed over the two nominations, but ultimately, Shadwick asked for a roll-call vote, in which each commissioner named who they voted to be the next chair.
Commissioner Hay — Commissioner Hay
Commissioner Shadwick — Commissioner Hay
Commissioner Sparks — Commissioner Hay
Commissioner Weese — Commissioner Hay
Commissioner Vidricksen — Commissioner Hay
Weese said although he initially nominated Vidricksen for chair, he wanted to show unity through their board and voted for Hay.
Hay accepted the position, and Vidricksen next nominated Sparks as vice chair, which passed 5-0 with a regular vote by commissioners.
Sparks then nominated Shadwick for secretary, which passed 5-0 with a normal vote.
The reorganization ended with Hay as chair, Sparks as vice chair and Shadwick as secretary.
Rural Fire District Three used vehicle purchase
Before the reorganization meeting, commissioners discussed purchasing a used vehicle from Rural Fire District, or RFD, Five for RFD Three.
Saline County RFD Three Fire Chief Scott Abker presented the purchase to the board, including a $35,000 truck with a $2,000 800 mobile radio.
"We hope that as we are able to build a new station in Brookfield or something, we could add another squad truck over there," Abker said. "We see multiple times where we wind up with mutual aid. Sometimes that's because of people or firefighters and sometimes because we don't have enough equipment on the scene to do what we need to do."
The purchase would be through RFD Three's special equipment funds. Commissioners approved the purchase 5-0.
Change order for Expo Center Barn One and Two
In September, commissioners approved a bid award for new electrical work at the Saline County Expo Center for its two barns which included a new pole-mounted transformer.
As the project continued, Evergy, a Kansas energy company, found the transformers selected were too large to mount on a pole. Hence, the Expo Center requested a change order to ground transformers.
Hanna Bett, the deputy county administrator, presented the change order that would add $5,678 and repave the alleyway due to the electrical work under the concrete.
Weese asked Bett if the concrete there was new or needed repair, to which Bett answered that it was on the list for repair.
Commissioners approved the change order 5-0.
Other agenda items
Road and Bridge Bi-Monthly update
Planning and Zoning Board Discussion