By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – For the past couple of weeks, Linn County Economic Development Director Chasity Ware has been touting the benefits of county residents – and more importantly county employees – connecting with the CivicReady notification system found on the county’s website.
At the same time, Randy Hegwald, the county’s emergency management director, has been saying that Everbridge, a notification system used by his department that was provided free by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was able to do much more than it was being used for.
Hegwald has told the commissioners that Everbridge has several hundred people signed up to receive notifications from that system. (Click here to go the the Everbridge sign-up page.)
On Monday, Jan. 27, Ware told commissioners that she had been diving into Everbridge, and that the Everbridge platform had a lot to offer for the county.
The commissioners had purchased a one-year contract with CivicReady last year for $4,800 and fewer than 50 people had signed up for it.
Ware said she was going to get information together for the commissioners comparing the services.
At another meeting, Emergency Management Director Randy Hegwald told the commissioners that Everbridge has several hundred people signed up to receive notifications from that system.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Learned from Ware that the historical society committee had met and she thought that some progress had been made.
• Learned that Ware had met with the CivicPlus individual on Friday and had received some good information from him and she will meet with him again in a couple of weeks to express what the county wants to see with the county website. She said he will have a semi-demo for the commissioners and her to look at.
Ware said, “Because Ali has been so involved in voicing some opinions, I have reached out to her and asked her to attend that meeting with myself and him just so if there is something that I am missing that she can maybe throw it out there as well.”
• Discussed repairing the gazebo and the roof at the courthouse. The commissioners decided that the county construction consultant Randy Page could work on the gazebo and they would put the roof out for bids again. Commissioner Jason Hightower said he thought it would be good to have Page in on qualifying the bids.
West said that he would like him to look over the bid specs before he put them out.
Discussion was held about getting with the state historical society before starting on the roof. West and Hamilton will be getting with the state historical society.
• Heard from Road Operations Manager Jesse Walton that Brandon Denman has completed his CDL training. Walton recommended that his salary be increased to $18.03 per hour. Walton also recommended that Anthony Nation’s salary be raised to $18. Walton asked the commissioner to approve the hiring of Curtis Brown as an Equipment Operator I at $17.03 per hour. The commissioners approved the three recommendations.
• Learned from Walton that the pipeline company Enbridge Energy was going to be doing some pipeline maintenance starting in May. He said they were gong to be working their way from Blue Mound to La Cygne Lake. He said there were four spots in that area where the pipe is just not at depth and they are going to be correcting that.
• Learned from Walton that the Lan-Tel fiber optic was completed.
• At the recommendation of Information Technology (IT) Director Chris Martin agreed to purchase a new Kyocera copier for the courthouse annex building. The commissioners approved the purchase from Modern Copy of a Kyocera at the price of $6,226. The county also received pricing $4,595 from a current vendor of Toshiba but Martin felt that Modern Copy Systems provided good support and the Kyocera seems to have better reliability and prints faster than the Toshiba. He said the toner has a higher yield and costs less.
• Approved for West to go out for bids for dust control and mowing.
• Approved an invoice for JRK Portable Welding for $6,975 for the repairing of a compactor box. West said that this container was in bad shape and is the second to the last container to be completed.
Before deciding on the approving the bid, discussion was held about whether how the bid was determined. Hamilton questioned whether there was just one bid for the repairs.
“We just had local fix them,” said Commission Chair Jim Johnson.
• Learned from West that the Lake Region Solid Waste Authority (LRSWA) will be meeting in the annex on Jan. 30 for their annual meeting.
• Discussed the pet policy at the senior centers. Hightower, who is the county’s representative on the East Central Kansas Area Agency on Aging (ECKAAA) board, said that he had talked to the Executive Director Leslie Rockers and she had told him that service dogs are allowed.
He said that Rockers pointed out that one of the dogs at the Pleasanton Senior Center is a registered service dog. Rockers told him that it is ECKAAA’s policy that that is the only way an animal can be in the building during meals and that is per a statute for the Kansas Department of Health. Hightower said that Rockers said that the ECKAAA could post a sign on the door about animals not being allowed.
• Johnson told Hightower the things that he would like Hightower to find out at the Southeastern Technical Academy for Rural Students (STARS) board meeting. Hightower serves on that board representing Linn County.
Johnson said he would like a copy of the budget, their financial report, and the memoranda of understanding with other entities like Fort Scott Community College and the school districts. He also said he wanted to know exactly where the money that Linn County gives them goes. Johnson asked if it went into any type of salaries because the county has nothing with them to say where it is going.
Hamilton asked if they could have and audit on their financial records and if Linn County could have a copy of the audit. She also wanted to know which employees working there are getting paid by Fort Scott or which ones are being paid by Linn County.
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