The Atchison County Commission met Thursday, April 27, 2023. Present were: Presiding Commissioner Curtis Livengood, South District Commissioner Richard Burke and North District Commissioner Jim Quimby. Susette Taylor, Clerk of the Commission, was absent.
Presiding Commissioner Livengood called the meeting to order.
Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
Bills were reviewed and approved for payment.
The commissioners spent the morning inspecting roads in the county.
There being no further business to come before the commission, the commission adjourned.
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The Atchison County Commission met Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Present were: Presiding Commissioner Curtis Livengood, South District Commissioner Richard Burke, North District Commissioner Jim Quimby and Susette Taylor, Clerk of the Commission.
Presiding Commissioner Livengood called the meeting to order.
Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
Bills were reviewed and approved for payment.
Month-end department reports were reviewed and approved.
The commission met with Phil Graves, Troy LaHue and Bill Heitman, representing the Mill Creek and Nishnabotna Drainage Districts. Road and Bridge Supervisor Kamron Woodring was present for the meeting. The district had already purchased two new 40-foot tubes, which was the length of the old tube in the road. The way the set-back levee is designed and the width of the road now, Road and Bridge Supervisor Woodring reported that at least a 60-foot tube is needed to create the proper drainage and slope to the road. The commission agreed to have Supervisor Woodring see if the current tubes could be banded and spliced and what the cost to do so would be. Once this information is available, the commission will decide how to move forward.
The commission set a bid date of May 22, 2023, to open depository bids for the county. Clerk Taylor and Treasurer True will complete the specifications for the bid.
The commission met with Recorder Eliza Beasing. She expressed concerns about the salary for the recorder’s office being below the salary of other elected officials. The commissioners and Clerk Taylor reported that before 2015, Atchison County did not have a recorder’s office. When the commission voted to separate the offices, the circuit clerk remained a state office and the recorder became a newly elected county position. Statute reads that in any county where the recorder of deeds is separate from that of the clerk of the circuit court, each recorder of deeds shall be paid the statutory compensation provided for by sections 50.333 and 50.334. Clerk Taylor’s records show that Atchison County paid 100% of the base plus all cost-of-living increases from the time it became a county office. A legal opinion provided by Attorney Ivan Schraeder reads, “you have the ability to apply COLAs to separated recorder of any period after separation, but not before the separation and the separated recorder took office.” Clerk Taylor’s records reflect that the office did receive a COLA during the first year of being a county office and every year since then that one was granted. The other elected officials have all received prior COLAs due to their years in office and because those offices were always a county office. These concerns can be addressed at a future salary commission meeting, but if changed can only apply to a new term of office.
The commissioners, Clerk Taylor, and Road and Bridge Supervisor Kamron Woodring participated in a team call with APTIM concerning road use permits for re-powering Cow Branch Wind Generation. Following questions and answers it was agreed that APTIM would provide the road routes necessary for the project and the county and APTIM would work together to provide a timely agreement for the re-power. Participating in the call from APTIM were: Amber Burton and Richard Kowalski, APTIM; Brian Conrad and Timothy Clapp, Constellation Power; and Matt Brewer, Bennett, Brewer & Associates.
Clerk Taylor presented the 2023 miles of line for all railroads and utilities in Atchison County for certification of the Form 40. Clerk Taylor will forward all the information to the State Tax Commission.
There being no further business, the commission adjourned.
