Walsh meets with county commission

Cloud County Attorney Robert Walsh met with the county board of commissioners during its regular meeting on Monday and reported that after researching Attorney General opinions, the County of Lincoln vs. Nielander case and KSA 19-805, it was in his opinion that the board would need to create a full-time nurse position at the Law Enforcement Center for a classification change to occurred.
Walsh said that elected officials and department heads must follow the county pay plan that is passed each year.
Highway Department Andy Asch met with the board during the meeting. He presented a classification change and utility permit and reported that the graders went out at 4 a.m. Sunday to clear county roads and that trucks went out at 6 a.m.
Commissioner Bill Czapanskiy requested that the roads south of the Catholic Center be looked at for possible repairs.
The board approved the wage change for Richard Stromberg, equipment operator, from $14.44 to $15.02 effective March 3 due to his introductory period ending.
Granting a utility permit for Northern Natural Gas to install a pipeline  .15 miles north of Highway 23 on 240th Road was approved by the board.
Solid Waste director Mike Hake reported to the board that he had talked to Saline County officials about the possibility of transferring solid waste to its facility.
Saline County does not have tippers, which would require Cloud County to purchase different trailers.
Hake also reported that he had visited with the recycling center in Abilene, and would like to build bins similar to theirs. The board did not see a problem with that.
Susie Haver, Cloud County Convention & Tourism director, presented committee placements to the board for approval.
Appointed to the Tourism board were Jeannine Branfort, Clyde Hotel; Scott Seifert, Clyde Chamber of Commerce; Betsy Reed, Kansas Creek Inn; and John Paul Breault, Brown Grand Theatre. The terms run through December 31, 2021.
Lyle Pounds was appointed to fill the unexpired term of  Florence Girard, Cloud County Historical Society Museum.
Haver also presented a review of 2018 to the board.
The Tourism Office gift shop had total sales of $12,473.45. There were 43 tour groups in 2018, totaling 936 visitors. Additionally, there were 113 small tour arrangements, including 415 visitors generating 68 overnight stays. Those included people from 16 different states and Canada. One tour from Colorado involved arrangements for the courtesy car at Blosser Municipal Airport.
The Tourism center had 5,312 visitors. It is one of 22 community travel information centers approved by Kansas Wildlife, Parks & Tourism. The center had 20 organizations borrow tables, chairs, public address systems, projector and a screen.
The Tourism Office participated in over three promotional events or programs and particpated in 19 events.
Marketing endeavors included billboards on U.S. Highway 81, U.S. Highway 24 and Interstate 70 and print ads in 20 regional and national publications.
In addition to Haver, the office staffs two part-time employees and welcomes volunteers to help in a variety of ways.
Also during the meeting, the board requested that department heads turn in their preliminary budgets by April 1.
The board approved payroll deductions and benefits totaling $192,124.32 and the following payroll expenses totaling $156,704.61:
General Fund, $85,420.12; Appraisal, $5,082.94; Noxious Weed, $1,676.46; Solid Waste, $4,586.98; Road & Bridge, $43,003.59; County Health, $16,462.69; and Election, $1,461.92.