June 15, 2007

Minutes

Governing Board Meeting

Kansas Association of Counties

June 15, 2007

AmericInn Hotel Meeting Room

Atchison, Kansas

 

President Dennis Peterson called the meeting to order at 9:00 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; Terry David, Rice County EMS Director; Tom Winters, Sedgwick County Commissioner; Dick Works, Allen County Commissioner; 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: George Pogge, Jefferson County Road Superintendent; Sheila Biggs, Dickinson County Commissioner.

 

KAC Staff and others present: Randall Allen, KAC Executive Director; Judy Moler, KAC Legislative Services Director and General Counsel.

 

President Dennis Peterson asked Commissioner Tom Wagner to introduce the Honorable Marianne Estes, Mayor of Atchison, to give a welcome statement. Commissioner Wagner welcomed the KAC Board to Atchison County and then introduced Mayor Estes, who welcomed the KAC Board to the Atchison community and thanked the board for holding its meeting in Atchison. She recited many reasons for which Atchison citizens are proud of their community, including the many historic homes and the childhood home of Amelia Earhart, famous American aviator.

 

Minutes for April 27, 2007. Steve Garten moved, seconded by Larry McAulay to approve the minutes of the April 27, 2007 meeting as presented. Motion carried.

 

Approval of Bills and Payroll for June 15, 2007. John Miller, Finance Committee Chairman, indicated that the committee had met prior to the meeting to review the invoices and there were no flags or items of special concern. John Miller moved, seconded by Tom Winters, to approve the bills and payroll dated June 15, 2007. Motion carried.

 

Approval of Monthly Financial Report for April, 2007. Randall presented the monthly financial report for April, 2007. He noted that revenues for the first four months of 2007 exceeded revenues for the same period in 2006 by approximately $142,000 while 2007 expenditures exceeded 2006 expenditures for the same four-month period by almost $48,000. The 2007 revenues include $100,000 received from the Kansas Department of Transportation, of which $50,000 is for the Rural Road Engineer service initiated in March, 2007, and $50,000 is for the Transportation Breakthrough Team of The Kansas Collaborative. The expenditures report shows the beginning of expenses ($3,260.39 through April 30, 2007) for the Rural Road Engineer program, as well as a draw-down of $30,000 for the Transportation Breakthough Team project of KDOT. Shannon Francis moved, seconded by Terry David, to receive and place on the file the Monthly Financial Report for April, 2007. Motion carried.

 

President’s Report. President Dennis Peterson thanked Commissioner Tom Wagner for hosting the board meeting in Atchison and for arranging the tour and dinner the day preceding the meeting.

 

National Association of Counties Report. Steve Garten, NACo representative, reminded the board of the upcoming NACo Annual Conference in Richmond. There was board discussion about the election of the next NACo 2nd Vice President. Candidates include Teresa Altemus of Virginia and Glen Whitley of Texas. Steve indicated that he wanted to encourage Kansas counties to budget funds in their 2008 budgets to send county officials to the 2008 NACo Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and had written an article for the County Comment expressing this recommendation.

 

Update: Kiowa County and Greensburg Tornado Recovery.   Terry David gave an overview of his experiences immediately following the tornado in Greensburg. He felt that his experience of Kiowa County and its residents underscored the vital importance of NIMS training for county officials.   He agreed to write an article for the July County Comment emphasizing this. Michele Abbott-Becker said that the regional backup system for E-911 worked well in the Kiowa County tornado and that it proved to be a very good investment. Steve Garten reported that the $20,000 check for Kiowa County from the KCCA was delivered to the Board of Kiowa County Commissioners.

 

Consideration/Approval of a Professional Services Agreement with GeoComm related to wireless E-911 deployment in certain Kansas counties. Judy presented a proposal with GeoComm to visit the counties not yet ready to move to Phase II in E-911 deployment. The fee, not to exceed $12,000, will be paid by the E-911 training fund monies. Michele Abbott Becker moved, Terry David seconded to approve the professional services agreement with GeoComm. Motion carried.

Executive Director’s Report. Randall briefed the board on the following topics:

  • Kansas County Government Institute workshops – a schedule of summer and fall workshops prepared by Sarah Meyer was distributed. Additionally, a list of the 53 Leadership Academy graduates (county commissioners) from 2000 to the present was distributed. There has been a decrease in the past two years in the number of graduating commissioners from the Leadership Academy and the KAC is trying to restore enthusiasm and participation in the program. Randall pointed specifically to the Leadership Academy workshop, County Government and the Law, which is being offered in Wichita on July 26.
  • Randall indicated that planning for the 32nd Annual Conference in Wichita is proceeding, and that to date, 21 vendors have purchased exhibition booth space for the conference.
  • The Employee Benefits Trust Board initial meeting will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, June 28, 2007, immediately following the first 2008 Legislative Policy Committee meeting. Both meetings will be held at the KAC office.
  • Mike Smith, former KAC legal intern, has been hired as the Senior Legislative Director, effective July 9, 2007, at an annual salary of $51,000. In addition to ensuring the smooth transition of the legislative program upon Judy’s retirement in October, 2008, Mike will gain and retain the necessary insurance credentials (licenses) to enable the KAC to receive premium revenue from United HealthCare and Delta Dental of Kansas, through the Employee Benefits Trust programs.
  • Randall has written a plan to market the KAC’s deferred compensation program (administered by Nationwide Retirement Solutions) in consultation with Joyce Hall, state NRS director and Lisa Cole, Enterprise Services Director, National Association of Counties. The plan is at NACo for final review. Development of a marketing plan is a condition of the KAC receiving the royalty payments for marketing the program. These payments total about $15,000 annually.
  • A draft proposal has been sent to the McKesson Company, which sells medical supplies to many county health departments, hospitals, and emergency medical service departments, with the KAC offering to market McKesson’s medical supplies to county entities (e.g. health departments, ambulance services, county hospitals) in exchange for McKesson paying the KAC 1% of receipts. The county entities would be able to purchase medical supplies at a favorable cost, under the MMCAP contract negotiated by several states, including Kansas. As such, the agreement would allow counties to buy medical supplies at reduced costs, while providing some revenue to the KAC for use by the Medical Supplies Breakthrough Team of The Kansas Collaborative.
  • Executive Director’s Vacation Plans. Randall indicated that he is going to take some time off in the months of June and July and distributed a calendar summarizing the time he plans to be away from the office.
  • The Kansas Health Foundation intends to grant the KAC $50,000 for the purpose of developing and holding a “summit” meeting of local health directors and county commissioners to discuss functional consolidation among regions for local public health services. Randall indicated that accreditation of health departments is coming, and along with it, the presumption that federal funding may at some point be tied to health department accreditation. He said that there are currently no existing service design models for rural, less populous counties to provide the 10 essential public health services to constituents on their own. Kansas will be a leader in development of such an approach.
  • Randall has received word from the Mayor/CEO’s office in Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas of a concern that the 2008 annual conference of NACo is proceeding without much communication with Johnson and Wyandotte counties in the metropolitan Kansas City He said that he has sent an email to a NACo staff person who reports to NACo Executive Director Larry Naake about the concern, and will keep the board informed of developments.

KAC Affiliate/Associate Information Exchange.

 

Dennis Peterson announced for Joe Connor (who had to leave early) that the KALHD meeting is next week in Wichita. Dennis said that the summer training conference for the County Weed Directors Association of Kansas (CWDAK) is in mid-July in Butler County.

 

John Miller told the board that Norton County had been informed of a pending 22-25% premium increase for employee health insurance from Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

 

Larry McAulay announced that the County Counselors Association of Kansas (CCAK) would be holding its summer educational meeting in Salina on June 29. Topics include annexation law; conflict resolution with county employees; and changes in ethics laws.

 

Michele Abbott-Becker spoke about the possibility of working with wireless cell phone companies to provide free tower space for emergency services. She also said that we may need to take a new look at mutual aid legislation due to the regionalization of services which is occurring.

 

Steve Garten reported the possibility of developing a wind energy project in Barber County.

 

Shannon Francis said that Seward County is working to convene a “council of governments” in Seward County, similar to the model of Harvey County, which was explained in some detail at the May meeting of the Kansas County Commissioners Association (KCCA).

 

Gary Post said that the state assessed valuation reports for the 2007 tax year are due out today.

Terry David told the Board that the KEMSA mid-year meeting is August 16-19, 2007 at the Wichita Marriott. It is the intention of KEMSA to discuss hiring a lobbyist at that meeting.

 

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

________________________________.
Judy Moler

Legislative Director and General Counsel

 

 

Approved:

 

 

___________________________________.

Joe Connor, KAC Board Secretary

July 27, 2007