BY KEITH LIPPOLDT
klippoldt@gbtribune.com
After spending the early portion of the morning canvassing votes in the County Clerk’s office, the Barton County Commissioners moved to their regular Agenda meeting Tuesday morning at the courthouse.
The commission discussed the annual Solid Waste Management Plan update, approving the 2024 plan, and heard from County Administrator Matt Patzner as he discussed the 2025 Authorized Positions List, as well as the contract proposal for the trash hauling service for the county buildings.
Solid Waste Director Jennifer Hamby reported that Kansas Statute 65-3405 had been completed and was ready for approval.
“Barton County is required to form and maintain a Solid Waste Planning Committee to develop and perform an annual review of the Solid Waste Management Plan,” she said. “It is then approved by the commission and submitted to KDHE. The committee has reviewed the Solid Waste Management Plan, and it is recommended that we update the major employer list to be made. So, I am just asking for your approval of the 2024 Solid Waste Management Plan with the major employer update.”
Commissioner Donna Zimmerman questioned Hamby that the only change was the Major Employer Update, which she verified. Commission Chair Barb Esfeld thanked Hamby for her efforts, saying “Thanks for taking care of it. We’re different than other solid waste, and we operate different. So, I’m sure your plan has much more detail than you have explained to us. I appreciate all the work you do.”
Zimmerman made a motion to approve the Solid Waste Management Plan with an update to the major employer list. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson and passed 4-0. Commissioner Tricia Schlessiger was absent.
2025 Authorized Positions Listing
In what was basically a housekeeping item, Patzner addressed the commissioners on the 2024-2025 Authorized Positions List for the county, which was last updated with the adoption of the 2025 operating budget back in August.
“At this time, it is suggested that a one-half, full-time position be added to both Road and Bridge and Noxious Weeds for both 2024 and 2025,” he said. “This brings the total number of full-time positions to 191 and allows for more efficiency in the county works and noxious weed departments. There was an employee that split time instead of being counted in both departments – he wasn’t counted in either department. So this is just fixing that and getting the authorized positions to match what we currently have in both departments.”
This sparked a conversation with Hutchinson, who stated that the county was at 195 employees, or even higher, at one point, so the number has been reduced by four full-time people from where it has been in previous years.
“So when we have allowed positions to expire through attrition, and a lot of people want to know how we’ve been able to lower the amount of tax dollars we levy for the last four years, this is how,” Hutchinson said. “By allowing positions to expire through attrition and asking more from those people that are remaining to step up and do more. Where does that show up if we’re not updating this authorized positions list? Are we just not removing those positions formally?”
Patzner replied that there may have been a department that has not filled a position in a long time and the authorized position list will still reflect that they have a position.
“It’s good to keep revisiting. That’s why we don’t do it just at budget time,” Patzner said. “This is a working document. We have an official count for all departments that way. If it needs to be adjusted mid-year, then we go ahead and do that. That’s really just a measure for transparency. It’s one of those measures in terms of saving budget authority and our attempts to keep the mill levy as low as possible. This is a measure that doesn’t just affect one budget year. It affects all budget years and purpose.”
“We need to give credit to our employees,” Hutchinson said. “We wouldn’t be able to do this if we didn’t have quality people that can take on more. The fact that we have quality people gives us the ability to do that, and we’re lucky in that regard.”
Hutchinson made a motion to approve the positions list and it was seconded by Commissioner Duane Reif. The motion passed 4-0.
Trash Hauling Service
Patzner reported that the county had requested proposals for trash hauling service for the county office buildings, to be picked up three times per week. Chism Trash Service was the only company that submitted a bid, but at a cost of nearly twice the current rate.
“We are recommending that we reject the only bid, which would allow Facilities Management Director Darren Williams to be authorized to begin negotiation with area vendors for a cost closer to what the county is currently paying,” Patzner said.
Hutchinson made a motion that was seconded by Reif. The motion passed 4-0.
