Allen County will have a newer secondary crusher in its quarry southeast of LaHarpe within a few days.
Commissioners gave Bill King, director of Public Works, the go-ahead to pay $125,000 for a 10-year-old unit from Berry Tractor, Wichita, if “it looks OK once they get it out of the (Bourbon County) quarry.”
King examined the unit Monday, which would be used to produce small-dimension pea rock in Allen County, and said at first blush it appeared to be in good shape, although “it will take some work” to mate it to the county’s larger primary unit.
“But, it can be done and it will save us money,” King said.
Crusher components in good used condition are difficult to find, he said, saying if the one under consideration slips away it may be hard to find another.
“Can we? Yes, but it might be in Georgia or Tennessee and it might cost a quarter of a million dollars,” King postulated. “You seldom find one 40 miles away.”
Berry sold Bourbon County a new crusher, and offered the secondary unit from the older one to Allen County, knowing it was in the market.
“Berry will give us $10,000 for our old secondary,” King said, but proposed keeping it on hand for a while as a backup until the newer unit is up and running.
Allen County’s crusher was installed in 1993. The primary was new then, the secondary 10 years old. In recent years the secondary has been down for repairs with increasing regularity, including most of the past two weeks.
STANDARD & POORS, a financial services company in New York City, will rate bonds for a new Allen County Hospital.
Cost of $17,000 is about “what we anticipated,” said Alan Weber, county counselor who has had a lead role in all to do with the hospital project. He thinks the county will be given an attractive rating.
“All is going well, we have low debt and while we’re a little low on cash (in hand) that will change when the hospital bonds are issued,” Weber said, and the general fund is reimbursed about $700,000 that has been spent to date on the project.
He, Commissioner Dick Works, County Clerk Sherrie Riebel and Treasurer Sharon Utley will huddle by conference call with Standard & Poors representatives starting at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 16. Outcome will be the bonds’ rating.
THE COUNTY’S payroll will go paperless in 2012.
Riebel sought and was given permission to make the change.
The county has 132 employees and all except about 40 are paid by direct deposit now. Starting with the Jan. 5 payroll, salaries and wages will be deposited directly in whatever accounts an employee prefers, or in a one established at Great Southern Bank that employees may access through a pay card, essentially a debit card.
Riebel said the change would make payroll delivery more efficient and result in savings with discontinuance of paper checks.
WEBER WILL request financial records of Elm Creek Rural Water District.
Three members of the district, Dennis Wall, Terry McDonald and Mark Freimiller, told commissioners they had asked to “look at the books but nothing has been produced for us,” McDonald said.
Each of the districts’ nine members has paid a $25 a month meter fee the past five years, plus $4.50 per unit used, but were told the district’s coffers are empty, Wall said.
Charles Sellman is the district’s manager.
Weber said the squabble should be settled quickly with a formal request by the county. Being a public entity, the district is subject to provisions of the Kansas Open Records Act, which requires a response within three days. Five years of financial records will be requested.
