Budget and Finance Officer, Johnette Shepek came before the commission, during Monday’s Riley County Commission meeting, to announce the budget process officially has begun.
Requests will be made from all the departments, and a few other organizations the county funds, throughout the next few meetings. The commission will hear requests from the following individuals in the afternoon:
-Community Corrections Director, Shelly Williams
-Register of Deeds, Debbie Regester
-County Counselor, Clancy Holeman
-Planning and Development Director, Monty Wedel
-Noxious Weeds Director, Dennis Peterson
-County Attorney, Barry Wilkerson
The commission wanted to remind the public, these budget requests are open for the public to witness. All are welcome to come and join in the budgeting process.
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A special election is currently taking place in Riley County involving a bond issue for USD 378.
County Clerk, Rich Vargo announced, advanced voting in person has begun, and just over 100 ballots were mailed out for advanced voting by mail.
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Nursing Supervisor, Linda Redding presented an item for the Riley County Health Department and requested approval.
The agreement with Kansas Action for Children is a program the department offers. It did not take much discussion before the commission unanimously approved to sign the agreement.
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Two bid openings were held during the meeting. Commission Chair, Dave Lewis opened each bid and read them aloud.
The first bid opening was for asphalt seal oil. Four bids were submitted, which were read as follows:
-Ergon Asphalt of Kansas City, KS:
Demurrage-$80/hour after 2 hours
Pump Charge-$60/load
Return Charge-$275/load
Per gallon-$2.49
-Vance Brothers Inc. of Kansas City, MO:
Demurrage-$70/hour after 1.5 hours
Pump Charge-$65/load
Return Charge-$650/load
Per gallon-$2.42
-Coastal Energy Corp. of Willow Springs, MO:
Demurrage-$70/hour after 2 hours (item #2 was same)
Pump Charge-$70/load (item #2 was same)
Return Charge-$875/load (item #2 was same)
Per gallon-$2.67 (item #2 was $2.73)
-Asphalt and Fuel Supply of Overland Park, KS:
They announced their name has changed to “Phillips 66” and submitted no bid
All of the bids were approved for submission to staff evaluation and recommendation.
The second bid opening was for crushed limestone chips. Two bids were submitted:
-Bayer Construction Inc. of Manhattan, KS: $18.50/ton
-Hamm Companies of Perry, KS: $21.59/ton
Both bids were approved to be submitted for staff evaluation and recommendation.
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Other presentations during the meeting included: Riley County Police Captain- Kurt Moldrup’s police update, Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce President- John Armbrust’s request for funding to the Governor’s Military Council, and Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Committee Member-Frank Beer shared Riley County’s legislative priorities for 2014.
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Afternoon Update
Community Corrections Director, Shelly Williams was the first department head to put in her budget request. She reviewed her five budgets-adult services, juvenile, juvenile supervision fees, juvenile detention, and county alcohol programs.
Register of Deeds, Debbie Regester reviewed the department and technology fund for 2014. The only changes were in personnel.
Both County Counselor, Clancy Holeman and Planning and Development Director, Monty Wedel had similar budgets to last year, with slight reductions.
Noxious Weeds Department Head, Dennis Peterson mentioned last year’s budget turned out to $418,338. They came in under budget as $427,000 was originally budgeted. His total request for this year’s budget was $607,242, which is around $1,300 less than last year.
County Attorney, Barry Wilkerson’s budget was also similar to last year’s budget. He did mention it is hard to anticipate the case load, so the budget is a rough estimate.
