BUTLER
COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Commission Chairman Randy Doll called the Butler County Board of Commissioners to order at 9:00 a.m. Present were Commissioner Bill Shriver; Commissioner Will Carpenter; County Administrator, Will Johnson Jr., and Deputy Clerk Barbara Day.
Chairman Doll made a motion to go into executive session for 8 minutes starting at 9:02 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. to consult with legal counsel. Commissioner Carpenter seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
Present were County Administrator Johnson, Chairman Doll, Commissioners Carpenter and Shriver, and County Counsel Norm Manley.
RECONVENE
Chairman Doll called the Commission meeting back to order at 9:10 a.m.
LEGAL
ADVICE ON NOTIFICATION FOR CUP PETITIONS
County Counsel Norm Manley was present with Todd Kennemer, Director of Planning and Development to discuss with the Board of Commissioners the Kansas statutes on notification for land owners on Conditional Use Permits.
Counsel Manley advised the Board of Commissioners that special conditions could be stipulated as part of the CUP permit. Mr. Manley advised the Commissioners per KS statute 12-757 the first time the approved CUP came before the Board of Commissioners from the Planning Commission, they can approve, override, make changes or return the CUP to the Planning Commission with recommendations. When the approved CUP comes before the Board of Commissioners the second time the options are to approve or amend.
Counsel Manley also advised the Board of Commissioners his recommendation would be to allow changes to the original petition during the 14-day window starting November 5 2002, if the Planning Commission approved the CUP. During this time any names on the original petition could be removed or added by submitting a request to the County Clerks office.
Commissioner Carpenter stated that he was under the impression that the petitions would stand with no changes. Mr. Carpenter wanted the petition to stand, because on October 1st at the Board of Commission meeting, the Commissioners were told they would only revisit the notification process of the four Greenwood County residents.
Commissioner Shriver stated that he thought the 14-day window should be allowed since the four landowners in Greenwood County were being notified and were not able to be included with the original petition.
Commissioner Carpenter made a motion to allow the original petition for Wind Farms to stand with no modification of signatures. Commissioner Doll seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-1 Commissioner Shriver voted against the motion.
MORATORIUM FOR WIND
FARM PERMITS
Commissioner Carpenter made a motion to approve Resolution #02-65 for a Moratorium for permits concerning Wind Farms in Butler County for 90-days. Commissioner Doll seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
Jim Roberts with Zilkha requested to address the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Roberts stated that he had requested the CUP for Zilkha be moved from November to December for the Planning Commission review. Mr. Roberts stated that he was advised that the CUP could be tabled and reviewed in December but if he pulled the CUP that he would have a 6-month waiting period to re-submit it.
Todd Kennemer, Director of Planning and Development stated that Mr. Roberts had requested that the CUP for Zilkha be tabled until December. Mr. Kennemer advised that the CUP can be tabled until December but if the CUP was pulled, that a 6-month waiting
period is required before he could re-apply to the Planning Commission.
RECESS
Chairman Doll called a recess at 10:28 a.m.
RECONVENE
Chairman Doll called the Commission meeting back to order at 10:32 a.m.
ADOPTION OF COUNTY
HEALTH CARE PROVIDER
Administrator Johnson presented Preferred Health Plan to the Commissioners for consideration to adopt as the County Health Care Provider. Preferred Health Plan is the plan recommended by the Insurance Committee. This plan will allow the employee to take HMO as the base plan or pay an additional amount for PPO coverage. Any new employees would have a 6-month waiting period.
Chairman Doll made a motion to approve Preferred Health as the authorized health carrier for the County for 2002-2003 years, with HMO as the base and PPO to be offered at the employee’s cost. Chairman Shriver seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
FLEX PLAN DOLLARS
Administrator Johnson advised the Board of Commissioners the Insurance committee recommends increasing the Flex Plan for employees from $2000 to $2500 per year do to
the increase in out of pocket health coverage.
Commissioner Carpenter made a motion to authorize the increase of Flex Plan from $2000 to $2500 per year. Commissioner Shriver seconded the motion.
Motion carried 3-0.
WHITEWATER RIVER
BRIDGE
Darryl C. Lutz, P.E., Director of Public Works requested authorization from the Board of Commissioners to solicit proposals for bridge design work and construction plans for the West Branch of the Whitewater River bridge on Parallel Rd. located North of Benton.
Mr. Lutz advised this project is in the KDOT Federal Aid 5-Year Plan scheduled for letting in April 2005. KDOT last week issued the project number and is advising Butler County to proceed with the design. The estimated cost should be $30,000 to $40,000 and will be paid from the Bridge Building CIP. Budget authority and cash funds will be available for engineering work in 2003 and 2004.
Mr. Lutz recommended that the Board of Commissioners authorize the Director of Public Works to solicit proposals for engineering and plan preparation work for KDOT Project No. 8C-3946-01, the west branch of the Whitewater River bridge on Parallel Rd. located north of Benton.
Commissioner Carpenter made a motion to allow the Director of Public Works to solicit proposals for engineering for KDOT Project No. 8C-3946-01, west branch of the Whitewater River bridge north of Benton.
BUDGET REVIEW/STATUS
Ron Roberts, County Clerk and Don Engels, Director of Finance, came before the Board of Commissioners to identify problem areas for the County budget for the remainder of 2002.
Mr. Engels presented a break down of the budget by departments showing revenues budgeted, remaining expenses, and cash balance. The three departments, which are in question, are:
1) Sheriff Operating Remaining Expenses: 593,925.69 Cash Balance: 438,480.55
2)Sheriff Jail: 109,997.13 -22,099.16
3)Department of Aging 98,312.42 -11,814.83
Connie Rausch, Director of Department of Aging advised that she had a quarterly allocation to the Senior Centers in September, which was the last one for this year. Ms. Rausch estimated approximately $20,000 operational money would be what she would need along with grant monies coming in for the rest of the budget year.
Mark Dick, Accounting Advisor for the County advised the Commissioners that they had three options.
1) Cut expenses
2) Apply for no-fund warrants
3) Use Capital Improvement Reserve
Commissioners requested that Sheriff Cox review his budget and look for realistic solutions to budget cuts for the remainder of the year, and to present these ideas to
Administrator Johnson.
Commissioners unanimously decided to table this item until next week until Administrator Johnson can come back with some budget amounts and recommendations.
TABLE
AGENDA #5
Chairman Doll advised agenda item #5 will be tabled to move into the PBC meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Doll made a motion to adjourn at 11:36 a.m. Commissioner Shriver seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.