County to hire a sign person

By Charlene Sims, infor@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – After the weekly report from Linn County Operations Director for the Road Department Jesse Walton, Commission Chair Jim Johnson called him back for more questions.

Johnson asked Walton why a blade operator was putting up signs instead of grading roads. 

Walton said he couldn’t answer that except that they probably didn’t have anybody else to put up the signs. 

“Well, I personally think we should have the blades on,” said Johnson.

Walton agreed.

Hamilton interjected that the county did not have anyone in the sign department to put up signs since the previous staff person had left. 

Walton said that the road crew takes turns putting signs up throughout the weekends and throughout the week.

Johnson said, “I’m just saying blade operators are pretty important and (so are) the truck drivers.”

Hamilton asked where the county was at with hiring another sign person. 

Walton said that he needed to get that job posted. He said he had meant to add that to his report this morning, posting the sign job and posting for seasonal mowers. That season is coming up.

“Is the sign job a full-time job?” Johnson asked.

Walton said that he thought the sign position can be stretched into other things more than just signs. He said he thought that the sign person could have other responsibilities like tree removal and things of that nature.

Hamilton encouraged Walton to move along with getting the sign position filled. She said that she felt like people call often about signs.

Walton agreed, saying there were a lot of calls for signs.  

Johnson had another question about the 1077 bridge at Centerville. He said he had received a message about that this morning. He pointed out that the entrances to that bridge and the one on 1700 Road both needed work and both had been talked about previously.

Walton said that they had worked on the 1700 Road Bridge a couple of times. He said that the plans were to fix the approaches on several bridges. He told the commissioners that road and asphalt foreman Todd Moeller was getting the costs together for those bridges, one by the La Cygne power plant and one up by Parker. 

Johnson pushed, “When are we going to be looking to fix them, do you have any idea?”

Walton said that he didn’t know. He said that Moeller had been working on the prices for chip and seal and had brought them in the other day. He said they would be sitting down and going over the bridges end of it. 

He told the commissioners that Bettis Asphalt was going to be putting a temporary asphalt plant up by Fontana, so that would save the county from traveling so far for asphalt.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Approved the compactor agreements with Mound City, La Cygne, Prescott, Pleasanton, Parker and Blue Mound.                            

• Asked Public Works Director Shaun West to verify that the as-builts from internet service provider KwiKom had been received by GIS. The commission asked to have an attorney review them them before a decision was made on releasing the last payment to KwiKom.

• Discussed naming the old district court building at Hamilton’s suggestion.

• Discussed applying for a grant from the Kansas Historical Society that would pay for engineering and planning for renovation of the courthouse. The grant would build the basis for applying for a grant for the actual work on the courthouse. Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission will assist with the grant.

• Discussed looking at grants from the Kansas State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO) that were received in 2009 and 2017. Asked West to make sure that the grants were completed before the commission votes to close them out.

• Learned that County Construction Manager Randy Page will begin the work on the floor in the county clerk’s office starting this weekend.

• Approved hiring Scarecrow Farm Lawn Care to do the mowing at county buildings for $685 per mowing for 12 locations.

• Hired Jenny Cummings as a Clerk I in the Public Works department at the rate of $17.99 per hour.

• Learned that two road complaints had been turned in by Tanglewood residents. Hightower reported that he had attended a meeting there on Saturday.

• Heard from Tanglewood resident and former board member Jim Hendershot during public comment. Hendershot thanked Hightower and Undersheriff Bobby Johnson for attending the meeting at Tanglewood. He said he thought there was a good exchange of information. He asked that the residents be kept updated on the information and decisions made about Tanglewood.