April 26, 2007

Minutes

Governing Board Meeting

Kansas Association of Counties

Friday, April 26, 2007

Lower Level Conference Room, 300 SW 8th

Topeka, Kansas

 

President Dennis Peterson called the meeting to order at 10:13 a.m. Board members present were as follows:

 

Michele Abbott-Becker, Marion County Emergency Management Director; Joe Connor, Unified Government Health Department Administrator; Ted Ensley, Shawnee County Commissioner; Shannon Francis, Seward County Commissioner; Steve Garten, Barber County Commissioner; John Miller, Norton County Commissioner; Sheila Biggs, Dickinson County Commissioner; Dick Works, Allen County Commissioner; George Pogge, Jefferson County Road Superintendent; Gary Post, Lyon County Appraiser; Dennis Peterson, Riley County Noxious Weed Director; Larry McAulay, Johnson County Director of Legal Services; Tom Wagner, Atchison County Commissioner.

 

Board members not present: Terry David, Rice County EMS Director; Tom Winters, Sedgwick County Commissioner.

 

KAC Staff and others present: Randall Allen, KAC Executive Director; Judy Moler, KAC Legislative Services Director and General Counsel, Sarah Meyer, KAC Conference/Meeting Planner.

 

Agenda Review and Approval. Shannon Francis moved, seconded by Sheila Biggs to approve the agenda as printed. Motion carried.

 

Minutes for March 16, 2007. Ted Ensley asked that minutes be amended to reflect that no action was taken as a result of the Executive session. Shannon Francis moved, seconded by Steve Garten to approve the March 16, 2007 meeting minutes as amended. Motion carried.

 

Approval of Bills and Payroll for April 26, 2007. John Miller, Finance Committee Chairman, indicated that the committee had met prior to the meeting to review the invoices. John Miller moved, seconded by Michele Abbott-Becker, to approve the bills and payroll dated April 26, 2007. Motion carried.

 

Approval of Monthly Financial Report for March, 2007. Randall presented the monthly financial report for March, 2007. He noted that the report was in a new form…easier to read and to work with. Dick Works moved, seconded by Joe Connor, to receive and place on the file the Monthly Financial Report for March, 2007. Motion carried.

 

 

Status of the 32nd Annual KAC Conference. Randall and Sarah briefed the board on plans for the KAC Annual Conference in November. A meeting was held with affiliate and associates to gather input on the conference and proposed changes. The conference will focus more on problem solving and less on skill building. The General Session will be held on Sunday afternoon and the Business Meeting Monday afternoon. The County Counselors will meet on Monday. The upcoming 2007 conference is the last annual conference to meet in the early part of Thanksgiving week. Beginning in 2008 and thereafter, the annual conference is scheduled for the week before Thanksgiving week.

 

Discussion and Action on Authorization of the KAC Employee Benefits Trust. Executive Director Randall Allen and Judy Moler presented the red-lined copy of the Declaration of Trust Agreement forward by Brian Johnston of Lathrop and Gage. There were a few minor changes by the Board as well as discussion. It was agreed that a formal motion to accept the document would be postponed until the final copy was sent by Brian Johnston, which could then be reviewed and acted on before adjournment (see page 4).

 

Update on Marketing of the Employee Benefits Trust. Executive Director Allen Randall reported that Rob Mahoney, Haake Benefits, had made presentations to the Northeast Kansas County Officials meeting in Emporia, the Northwest Kansas County Officials meeting in Colby, and had made a number of calls on individual counties about the new Employee Benefits Trust. Rob Mahoney and Rob Broomfield, United HealthCare, will both be on the agenda of the Kansas County Commissioners Association annual conference in Hutchinson. Randall said that a focus of Rob Mahoney’s presentations is to manage the long-term risk, and not merely manage the premium on a year-to-year basis. He said that there was growing interest in the wellness component of the new Employee Benefits Trust program.  

 

Consideration of an Engagement Letter with Summers, Spencer and Callison, CPAs to conduct an audit of the KAC’s December 21, 2006 financial statements. Randall presented an engagement letter for the firm to conduct the audit for the fiscal year 2006, at a cost not to exceed $5,500. He indicated that $5,800 was budgeted for the 2006 audit. John Miller moved, seconded by Dick Works, to accept the engagement letter from Summers, Spencer and Callison, CPAs and authorize the Executive Director to sign. Motion carried.

 

Report from the KAC Learning Ad Hoc Committee. George Pogge told the Board that the Learning Committee had met during the past month, with nearly all KAC affiliate and associate organizations represented. The committee is working to pull together educational requirements for the various affiliates and associates. The committee will meet again in August in Salina. Dennis Peterson, Sarah Meyer and Randall Allen are part of the committee.

 

Affiliate Information Sharing. Michele informed the Board of the recent APCO meeting in Hutchinson. Highlighted was the South Central Homeland Security plan and the South Central “back-up” group. Bill Cade, whose services to local public safety answering points (PSAPs) are funded from the wireless E 9-1-1 training monies, was one of the speakers. Much of the conference was underwritten by the E 9-1-1 training funds administered by the KAC and the League. Videos of the conference are available. Ted Ensley spoke of the no smoking ban recently adopted by Shawnee County. The ban is applicable to Shawnee County properties with few exceptions. Tom Wagner brought up concerns about future funding for JJA. He said that Atchison County is eager to host the KAC in Atchison for their June Board meeting. George Pogge announced the upcoming Kansas County Highway Association in Great Bend, May 7, 8, 9. Both Randall and Norm Bowers plan to attend. George introduced Norm Bowers to the board. Gary Post spoke to the group about the upcoming appraisers meeting in Lawrence, June 17-20. He also mentioned a Miami county property tax appeal in which BOTA ruled favorably for the county. Joe Connor announced that KAHLD’s mid-year meeting will be June 19-20 at the Old Town Hotel in Wichita. Larry McAulay said the County Counselors Association would meet June 29 in Salina. Sheila Biggs mentioned that EDAW is proposing a regional governance council that would include 7 counties around military installations (in their case, Fort Riley). Sheila raised concerns about the proliferation of groups who want to be regionalized, yet the regional boundaries do not coincide with any other existing region. John Miller said that Farm Service Agency (FSA) has backed away from some of their closings, but that there were still many counties who would be affected by the closing of offices still on the list and that, even if an office is safe now, it might be vulnerable to closing in the future. Steve Garten said that originally eleven FSA offices were scheduled to close, and the list had been pared to exclude offices in Barber, Gove, and Morton counties from closing. Steve said that Barber County continues to work in a group of six Kansas counties and three Oklahoma counties on a wholesale water district, and the region had recently engaged a consulting engineer to assist them with project planning.

National Association of Counties Report. Steve Garten, NACo representative, reminded the Board that the 2008 Annual NACo Conference will be in Kansas City, Missouri. This will be a good opportunity for counties to attend a NACo conference at much reduced cost. Of immediate concern is the failure of Phillips, Thomas and Woodson counties to renew their NACo membership.

 

President’s Report. Randall and Dennis have not had an opportunity to meet with Joel and Kathleen of TeamTech, Inc. to brainstorm ideas of funding the collaborative effort that has been going on with the KAC.

 

Legislative Report. Randall and Judy updated the Board on legislative issues and where the KAC issues were as the end of the session.

 

Executive Director’s Report. Randall Allen briefed the board and distributed background documents as follows:

 

Executive Director’s Report for April 27, 2007, concerning a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; a meeting with affiliate and associate presidents on March 30, 2007; efforts by Nationwide Retirement Solutions to be more transparent in identifying endorsement relationships with NACo and organizations like the KAC; a recent review process for regional pilot quality improvement projects in local health departments; recent activities surrounding the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the resolution of conflict in county government; and exhibitors for the upcoming 32nd Annual KAC conference. 2) Additionally, Allen informed the board about a recent meeting with staff to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback and discussions about the New Homestead Act and the Second Chance Act (the latter of which Senator Brownback is a sponsor); a letter from U.S. Representative Jerry Moran concerning their investigation into concerns the KAC identified about tax treatment of county take-home vehicles and county-issued cell phones; and upcoming courses in the Kansas County Government Institute. Randall recently traveled to Geary County for a meeting with commissioners and department directors, as well as to Thomas County for the Northwest Kansas County Officials meeting. Meanwhile, Judy has been in Sedgwick County speaking to county clerks and in Neosho County, where the Southeast Kansas County Officials recently met.

 

Declaration of Trust Agreement. Following receipt of an amended Declaration of Trust Agreement, Ted Ensley moved, seconded by Michele Abbott-Becker to reaffirm its earlier approval of the Declaration of Trust establishing the KAC Employee Benefits Trust which was drafted by Mr. Brian Johnston of Lathrop and Gage, and previously approved on April 26, 2007. Motion carried.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:43 p.m.

 

 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                        ________________________________.
                                                                       
Judy Moler

                                                                        Legislative Director and General Counsel

 

 

Approved:

 

 

___________________________________.

Joe Connor, KAC Board Secretary

June 15, 2007