Commission considers options of aging heating/cooling boilers
Staff reporter
Marion County Commission approved a one-year maintenance contract for $6,966 for the county's two boiler systems but may consider other options in the future.
KVK Inc. of Woodbine, formerly Wells Group of Salina, currently provides maintenance and repair services of the boiler systems located in the courthouse and jail. County clerk Carol Maggard said she had sought bids several years ago from other contractors for a maintenance contract but did not have comparable results.
Commissioner Randy Dallke asked the age of the boilers. Maggard said probably 25 to 30 years old. Dallke said the commission needed to look at efficiency issues and consider replacing the water heating/cooling systems with natural gas systems.
Maggard said she had explored other options such as central heat and air for the courthouse but it was not feasible because of the cost. She agreed to obtain more information for a future meeting.
In other business:
— Commission chairman Dan Holub asked the commission if there was anything to be gained by having an in-house computer programmer who could provide routine maintenance and solve technology problems.
He said school districts keep a full-time person busy and wondered if it would be more efficient for the county to do the same thing.
Maggard said didn't see a need for a full-time person and explained the county purchases "block time" at a reduced cost from Great Plains Computers and Networking of Marion.
More information will be presented at a future meeting.
— The commission approved the hiring of Meredith Butler as director of community corrections of the Eighth Judicial District.
Cecil Aska of the district said a committee had interviewed her, of which county representative Bob Maxwell was a member, and the Community Advisory Board also endorsed Butler.
Butler has been with the agency for four years.
— Transportation policies and procedures were approved by the commission for the elderly department. The guidelines were updated when the department changed from providing general public transportation to providing transportation for the elderly.
— Elderly department director Noreen Weems reported Fiennes Jantz has agreed to serve another term on the board of North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging. The commission will be asked to formally appoint Jantz at a later date.
— Holub had asked Weems to check into the possibility of opening a nutrition center in the Tampa area. Weems said it wasn't feasible to open another kitchen to prepare meals but was looking into options of getting meals to the elderly in that area.
Meals in the Ramona area are delivered by Herington and it's about the same distance from Hillsboro to Tampa as it is from Herington to Ramona, Weems said.
More research will be conducted as to actual numbers who would benefit from the meals.
— Teresa Huffman, county economic development secretary, was approved to serve on the executive board of SCKEDD (South Central Kansas Economic Development District) of which Marion County is a member.
The commission also approved her application to be considered a member of the class of 2007 of Leadership Marion County.
— Holub requested a five-minute executive session with Maggard.
The meeting reconvened with no decisions.
— Executive sessions also were requested and granted for county sanitarian and zoning administrator Bobbi Strait and county EMS director Darryl Thiesen.
The meeting reconvened following those individual sessions with no decisions.
The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday for pay day. It will not meet Monday. The next regular weekly meeting will be at 9 a.m. Dec. 11
