The City of Claflin will receive county assistance sealing certain roads, as it does every year. County Works Director Chris Schartz presented details at Tuesday’s Barton County Commission meeting.

“Claflin pays for the tanker of oil,” Schartz said. Claflin will also pay the county up to $6,000 for labor and equipment as an independent contractor.

The streets being sealed include Fourth Street and Park Street, along with Williamson from Sixth Street to Main Street, or as far as the materials will go.

Commission Chair Tricia Schlessiger commented on the cooperation between the city and county. “I think it’s good that we work together,” she said.

Commissioner Duane Reif made the motion to approve and it was seconded by Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson, with all voting yes.

Commenting on road sealing in the county, Schartz said Railroad Avenue is done and work on Claflin will be next.

Schlessiger said road closures are not on Facebook but they are posted on the Barton County website, bartoncounty.org.

However, Schartz added, “Sealing is a range, not a set thing. We do 6-7 miles a day.”

Hubbard promoted

In other business, Casey Hubbard was designated as the Assistant Administrator/Human Resource Director. This was unanimously approved on a motion by Hutchinson that was seconded by Commissioner Donna Zimmerman.

The appropriations for Sept. 9-23 were also approved.

The bulk of the meeting was a presentation by Commissioner Barb Esfeld, who spent two days at the Kansas Legislative Policy Group’s annual meeting in Russell last week. On the topic of roads, Esfeld said Barton County has more paved roads than any of the other counties represented at the meeting. She also said she tried not to brag too much about how Barton County has maintained a lean budget.

“We have a lot of department heads that wear dual hats,” she said, adding that contributes to the savings. “We do have the best county in Kansas.”

On Wednesday, Esfeld said she would attend the Southwest Developmental Services quality meeting. Schlessiger said she and Reif recently attended the Advancing Barton County Child Care meeting with Central Plains USD 112 concerning daycare service in Claflin. Reif added, “We saw a lot of enthusiasm.”