County still working on fixing the roads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Falcon road where Van and Linda Peters live. Van had to help a pull out a handicapped van that was stuck in the morning.

County Engineer Brice Goebel shared that his department went out to eight different companies to contract hauls (for rock) on Thursday and got offers back from five to do the local hauling.

“We selected two. One contractor is going to do two of the roads and the other is going to do the rest of them. It was surprising to me that many of them said they already had more rock to haul than they could manage. There is a big demand for it,” said Goebel. “We are going with Robinson and Ratzloff. They are going to start hauling next week.”

Goebel went back to a previous discussion about trying to use county right of ways.

“Some of them are going to be very obvious and some of them are not going to be very obvious. For some of them, we are probably going to have to go out and do a survey. If we are going to make people move crops, fields, fences and whatever else, we are going to need some sort of backing. Currently, we don’t have the means to do this. I would like to invest in the GPS or some means to do that, but it would be a substantial investment to do so,” said Goebel. “The other option we could do is go out and hire an independent contractor to go out there and do it and go out there and set those corner property posts. Most people I don’t think are going to have a problem with if we say we need to come back in and cut this out for drainage, but it does bring up the legal issue of the right of way. It is really tough. If we get to that point, I don’t know what you want to do. I think that is where the GPS route might be the easiest.”

Commissioner Dianne Novak argued that she didn’t feel it was necessary to do the extra expense and it wouldn’t be an issue. Commissioners Kent Becker and Jonah Goering both stated that they would feel more comfortable having a plan in place in case people do want to fight the boundaries.

Becker brought up a recent incident that had happened and pointed out how quickly costs could add up if there were legal issues.

The commissioners discussed it further and decided it might make sense to bring in a third party on a case by case basis.

“If there is an issue, get it solved by a third party, and then maintain the boundary,” said Gehring.

Goebel stated that he wasn’t sure it would even be an issue, but he wanted the commissioners to be thinking about it.

“I don’t want Brice to do all this (work on a property) and then the person to check us and find us in the wrong. That one little 1/8th mile can cost us a lot. I do know there is a whole lot of legwork that has to be done first before you even go out there and I don’t know anyone that is really qualified for that,” said Dallke. “I think we need to be really cautious.”

Goebel agreed and said he just wanted to go about it all the best way.

“That’s the last thing I want to do is get people riled up,” said Goebel.

Current Road Concern

Lehigh residents Van and Linda Peters arrived to the meeting around 10 a.m. and shared during the public comments that they had been an hour late due to their disabled daughter being picked up late because the handicap accessible that came to pick her up got stuck on their road. They live on Falcon in Lehigh.

“Our concern is that it is a school bus and EMS road,” said Van Peters. “If an ambulance needed to get down there, it couldn’t. And 16 people live on that road.”

The Commissioners listened to the Peters who shared that they had spoken with Goebel during a break and Goebel had heard them and was going to check into it.

“I know that the work is going to get attention,” said Gehring.

Public Comments

Linda Peters asked County Counselor Brad Jantz to clarify if comments that she had made a few weeks previously regarding a county employee’s performance had been inappropriate. She explained that her intention was not to question personal performance but to ask that all not lose sight of the important topic of the public roads. She stated that if she did do something personal, she wanted to apologize to the county commissioners.

Jantz said, “In a public setting, it is a very different set of rules than in a corporate setting. The (county) employee is expected to have certain similar privacy rights to anyone else. The public certainly has a right to come in and voice an opinion in the public comments section.”

He went on to explain though that the comments should be more directed to general departments and not to specific workers and employees—at least not in public settings. He went on to say that it could be done in executive session which a member of the public could even attend if invited. At that time, comments can be very specific.

Dianne Novak said that she wanted to praise the Marion Record for their editorial last week on the importance of freedom of speech. She went on to say that she felt that the public had the right to say things about employee performances in order to hold them accountable.

Jantz explained that it is the commissioners job as a body to hold the employees accountable for the citizens.

“So we as a body can say ‘we are not happy with your performance’?” asked Novak.

“Only in executive session,” said Jantz. He went on to explain that the employee’s privacy rights need to be protected.

“So in retrospect, can a person here ask for executive session?” asked Peters pointing to the public area.

“No, but there are several other ways you can go about it. Mainly, call your commissioner and tell them your frustration. You can pick up the phone and let them know anytime,” said Jantz.

Novak stated that she has had many people call her and complain and it just isn’t as effective as when it is happening in the public.

“What about if one of our employees address our citizens rudely? We need to decide how that is handled,” said Dallke.

Jantz explained it should be handled in the same manner in that the commissioner needs to call them in and address it as a disciplinary.

In other business, the commissioners:

n approved MFA Oil’s bid of $12,520.45 for transport fuel bid

n approved salary changes for two part-time seasonal workers for Road and Bridge

n discussed insurance options for county employees. The commissioners decided to review other options before the open enrollment period begins in order to determine if there is a cheaper option than the current costly option of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.

The last picture is from the afternoon and shows the impassable road. This road is one that school buses and EMS use.

 

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