A rural county resident visited the Monday, Aug. 25, Cloud County Commission meeting, where she asked questions regarding topics ranging from sealing projects to trash fees.
With a short agenda in front of them, commissioners Ron Copple, Dannie Kearn and chairman Mike Cleveland commenced the meeting at 9 a.m. and first asked the visiting resident to introduce herself.
The resident identified herself as CJ Tobald from Glasco, stating that she had a few questions about the solid waste billing system and how it will change for next year. Cleveland told Tobald that solid waste director Mike Hake will be visiting the meeting later in the morning, and said that the commission could chat with her regarding the subject then.
County highway and weed administrator Rod Michaud was the first appointment for the meeting, one of only two appointments, and began discussing current road repair projects.
Beyond regular sealing plans and other patchwork projects, Michaud said he’s happy with the work done at the bridge on 100th and Wagon roads. Michaud said even though the work is done, he and an engineer have yet to conclude inspections on the bridge.
“It looks good,” Michaud said. “It’s a lot better than what it was. It’ll open probably later this week.”
Michaud spoke about two other bridges as well, which included the Glasco bridge and the Ross Doyen Memorial Bridge, sometimes called the Union Pacific (U.P.) Bridge. According to Copple, there may need to be further Kansas Historical Society involvement, which Michaud said he would take care of.
Tobald asked about work for Jamestown Road, which Michaud said the road was on his schedule for repairs next year.
Once Michaud finished his department update with commissioners, Hake arrived for his solid waste and recycling update. Before getting into his operations updates, commissioners opened the floor for discussion about the county’s new billing system.
The new solid waste billing structure will move the solid waste fee that is billed to residents on a regular basis to include the fee on property owners’ tax statements each year. Tobald said she had a few questions about this new structure, since she owns multiple properties for farming or other purposes.
She first asked about how this billing would work, just in an overview, which Cleveland helped clarify.
“What’s happening is as we convert over — ‘cause I’m rural too — you’re always paying behind, not ahead, so what we’re actually paying for right now is the first half of the year,” Cleveland said. “The second half will be billed as a special assessment on your taxes in December, and moving forward you’re going to be happy because it’ll be a year at a time then.”
This led Tobald to ask about how the county would calculate these special assessments, since she only produces minimal amounts of trash each year.
“That’s the question — how is the special assessment being put on the taxes?” Tobald said. “Because, we own a lot of land, so are you putting a special assessment on every plot of land? Everybody is wanting to know.”
Cleveland said that it will be a set fee for landfill use, and if there aren’t any structures that generate trash, it will not be included on the special assessment. For example, crop or range land will not be included on a landfill special assessment unless it hosts a building that is regularly used and generates waste.
After some further discussions about properties and what would qualify on the special assessment, the commission told Tobald that they are still ironing out fine details in the new billing structure that would accommodate landowners like Tobald.
Hake’s solid waste and recycling update then followed this discussion, where Hake reported that the recycling center sold almost 43,000 pounds of cardboard at $80 per ton, and a little more than 43,000 pounds of assorted paper at $140 per ton.
Once commissioners asked a few questions about the solid waste transportation agreement with Republic County, Hake finished his short report and the commission moved on to discuss routine business.
Commissioners unanimously approved the previous meeting’s minutes, approved a corrections hire and approved a fund transfer. After reporting the meetings the commissioners attended, Cloud County Health Department Home Health Administrator Kendra Annon visited the meeting and held a 15-minute executive session, where they took no action after.
Cloud County Clerk Shella Thoman then began discussing the upcoming county-wide training day on Monday, Oct. 13, with the regular county commission meeting to be held a day later, on Tuesday, Oct. 14. County facilities will be closed for this training day.
The meeting then adjourned at 10:50 a.m., with the next Cloud County Commission meeting set for Tuesday, Sept. 2, due to the Labor Day holiday.
