Commissioners closer to signing contract

Allen County Commissioners are expected to decide next week on an amended contract for Iola to provide countywide ambulance service.
For the past several months, the county and city have negotiated new contract terms after the city asked for more funding from their original pact that took effect in January.
The last sticking point — using on-duty staff from neighboring communities to serve as backup if an ambulance is dispatched, but leaving those ambulances where they are unless needed — appears to have been resolved.
“In other words, if both of Iola’s are out, we don’t automatically call Humboldt up here,” County Counselor Alan Weber told county commissioners at their regular weekly meeting..
The new policy would help the city alleviate overtime costs, particularly while the Iola Fire Department — which mans the service — is shorthanded. It also calms fears from residents in other parts of Allen County that their service area is not being short-changed for Iola’s benefit.
The long-distance transfer clause also was clarified. Moran and Humboldt’s ambulance crews will take turns transporting patients on long-distance transfers — such as to Wichita or Kansas City — while Iola will be used on short-distance transfers, to places like Parsons.
The new pact would have the county pay Iola $1 million annually, up from the current $750,000.
The county also will pay an additional $189,000 before the end of the year to cover half of a projected $378,000 budget shortfall facing Iola.
The county is expected to vote on the new EMS pact at its meeting next Tuesday. The city will vote that night.
As with the original contract, the new pact will run for five years, with a six-month out clause.

COUNTY commissioners gave approval to a group of Southwind 4-H members to host a “cow patty bingo” game as part of a fundraiser during the Farm-City Days celebration.
A portion of a sidewalk near the courthouse will be cordoned off while a 500-pound bucket calf roams the designated area.
“We’ll see if it will ‘bingo’ on a certain number,” said Jerry Dreher, whose daughter, Caitlyn, is one of the 4-H’ers hosting the event.
Southwind District will send teams to a pair of upcoming events, the North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville, Ky., in mid-November and the National Western Livestock Show in Denver in January.
The youngsters earned the right to compete at the events by earning superior marks at recent competitions, Dreher said.
The county’s only concern is that the bingo game not impede other activities for foot traffic while the festival is in full swing, and that any droppings are cleaned up promptly. Dreher assured the commissioners that both will be done.
In a related matter, commissioners approved use of the courthouse lawn for the Farm-City Days car show after several years of having cars parked instead along West Street.
The car show was held on the lawn for years until recently, when the county asked it instead be held along the street to prevent damage to the lawn.
However, Works noted such a policy was unfair because other booths and food vendors were given open access to the courthouse lawn with large trucks and other vehicles.
The car show will be returned to the street if it rains within the week prior to the Oct. 18 festival.

Auditor Rodney Burns of Schlotterbeck and Burns LLC, gave the county a clean audit, with a few minor errors.
There were no violations in the cash-basis law, although the county was dinged on three errors regarding budget publishing, Burns said.
Likewise, Burns noted an employee within the Allen County Sheriff’s Department was ordered to stop cashing personal checks out of the department’s cash funds, and a $340 deposit from a vehicle inspection in April 2013 is missing, Burns said.
The issue was first noticed by County Treasurer Cricket Maley, Burns said.
Commissioners approved extending the Chanute firm’s contract another year for auditing and budget publication services.

Dick Horton, representing the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program and Project 17, an economic development initiative covering southeast Kansas, including Allen County, spoke to commissioners as part of his “listening tour,” to discuss needs among the specific counties.
Horton’s feedback from other areas was sobering.
While southeast Kansas has several strengths, the lack of high-speed Internet access remains an issue across a large swath, he said.
Horton said employers have expressed frustration about being unable to attract employees who have (1) a strong work ethic; and (b) can remain free of drug or alcohol abuse.
Commissioner Jim Talkington asked Horton about Project 17’s outcomes. Are there any economic wins the program can boast of?
“To answer your question in one word, ‘No,’” Horton replied. “I don’t know in terms of sustaining the Project 17 initiative, how long it can go on if there aren’t outcomes people like you are asking for. That’s a real question that will be addressed.
“That boils down to local concern,” Talkington said. “If we don’t see any regional wins, we have to take care of ourselves, so it’s going to be us versus them, to assure we win. But if we win, southeast Kansas wins.”