BY KEITH LIPPOLDT
klippoldt@gbtribune.com
After not meeting last Tuesday due to inclement weather, the Barton County Commissioners met Tuesday morning with an expanded agenda.
County Works Director Chris Schartz led off the agenda items and addressed the commissioners with two items – the need for a new broom/sweeper in the County fleet as well as approving the Noxious Weed Eradication Progress Report and Management Plan.
The County is currently operating four sweeper brooms in its fleet. They did trade one off last year for a new one and have two older brooms that are still performing well.
“Currently, we’re using a 2002 CR350 Broce Broom, that has 3,567 hours,” Schartz explained. “We use those brooms to remove loose gravel, anything that’s trash that’s on the roadways – broken glass, nails, whatever it could be. This piece of equipment has been used beyond its useful life. It’s starting to cost us quite a bit for repairing it and for the maintenance on it. So it would be suggested that we replace it with a 2025 RCT 350 Broce Broom. That price is $74,300. I did speak with them about trading this old broom off. They would give us $10,000 for a trade-in. So it would be a total of $64,300 and that would be purchased from the GW Van Weppel Company.”
Commissioner Duane Reif questioned Schartz about the one they were trading, asking him to translate the 3,567 hours to mileage on a vehicle.
“I’d say 300,000 miles. I think that’s a pretty good estimation,” Schartz said. “Because of the conditions that they’re ran in, they’re in very, very dusty conditions. And after we seal the roads, you know, we normally seal around 95 to 100 miles a year, and we use all four brooms to sweep off the seal. And so they’re ran hard for about a month trying to get that seal off the road. It’s hard to determine an exact number because of the wear and tear that it takes. And when you’re running them, you have to run them at full throttle to make all the hydraulics and everything work on them. So they do take quite a bit of abuse.”
The machine would arrive ready to operate. All that would need to be done to it is apply the Barton County stickers.
Commissioner Donna Zimmerman made a motion to purchase the Broce Broom. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson. It carried 5-0.
Schartz then explained that the “Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) is responsible for laws aiding in the control and management of noxious and invasive weeds in Kansas. The KDA requires Kansas counties to submit an annual Noxious Weed Eradication Progress Report as well as a Management Plan.
“The eradication report is basically for last year, what we used, chemical wise, what we spent, and everything that we submit to the state. The management plan is for 2025, what we are planning on doing for that coming year, and what weeds we have to treat. And you know that’s changing, but at least what we know of now. So I would just ask for you to approve it and sign it so we can get it submitted to the Department of Agriculture.”
Reif made a motion to approve the report and management plan that was seconded by Commissioner Barb Esfeld. It carried 5-0.
Here’s a quick look at Tuesday’s BArton County Commissioner’s meeting:
• Approved an Accounts Payable Register for the period of Feb. 11, 2025 and ending Feb. 25, 2025.
• Heard from County Administrator Matt Patzner on Severe Weather Preparedness Week which will run March 3 through March 7.
“Severe Weather Preparedness Week is an effort to inform and to encourage personnel personal preparedness for severe weather events in Kansas,” Patzner said. “When the citizens of Barton county are personally prepared for severe weather, it empowers them to respond quickly and safely when severe weather threatens. In the 2024 storm season, a total of 89 tornadoes occurred in the calendar year within the state, almost double from 2023.
“Severe storms produce tornadoes ranging from EFU to EF3 - winds up to 165 miles per hour. Spring severe weather threats include not only tornadoes and flooding, but also drought, wildfires, hail, high winds, lightning and extreme heat and all events can produce emergency situations for individuals, families and businesses throughout Barton County. The 2025 Kansas statewide tornado safety drill is scheduled for 10 a.m. on March 5, and serves as an opportunity for all citizens to test their personal severe weather safety plans, or be reminded to develop one.”
Presented by the National Weather Service Wichita office, Storm Fury on the Plains storm identification presentation is scheduled for March 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Crest Theater.
• Approved the appointments of the open unexpired positions on the Center’s governing board. Jennifer schartz has applied for reappointment, and crystal trout has applied for appointment.
The County had solicited applicants for the for the Center for Counseling and Consultation Governing board via the Great Bend Tribune as well as social media.
• The County had voted Feb. 11 to to transition to “project-base economic development funding using a prioritized funding based on project section which includes the entirety of Barton County.”
“Hometown grants, has submitted an agreement for up to four grant applications during a 12 month period for $50,000 and so today, we ask you to consider approval of that agreement between Barton County and hometown grants,” Patzner said. The cost of the agreement is $50,004 for one year.
“I would say that we did interview two different grant writing companies. We looked at one out of Lawrence, and then we also visited with Hometown Grants, Christy Crews,” Commission Chair Tricia Sclessiger said. “I just feel like one of Christie’s missions is to bring as many dollars back to rural Kansas as she can. I think that she’s very versed in infrastructure grants, which is some of what we’re looking at for this. So I think she brings a passion to her grant writing, which I think is very important. I’m excited about the possibilities,”
Reif added “I’d say even 50,000 sounds like a lot of money, but I think we can double that amount by the grants that this should bring in. Everybody feels very positive about that.”
Hutchinson made the motion and Zimmerman seconded. The vote was 5-0 in favor.
• Transferred $15,208.19 from the Special Alcohol Fund to Central Kansas Community Corrections. By statute, “special alcohol funding shall only be expended for the purchase, establishment and maintenance of or expansion of services or programs whose principal purpose is Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention and Education Alcohol Drug Abuse detoxification intervention and alcohol and drug abuse or treatment of persons who are alcoholics or drug abusers are in danger of becoming alcoholics or drug abusers. So today we ask you to consider approval of that transfer,” Patzner said.
Reif motioned and Esfeld seconded approval for the transfer. The motion carried 5-0.
• Heard from Patzner that the $1,358,218.66 received from the sale of the Kansas Rehabilitation Tax Credits for theCourthouse HVAC system project has been received and placed into Capital Improvement.
• Met in Executive Session to discuss matters related to attorney/client privelege. No action was taken.
