County considers purchasing radio tower

Kansas Broadband has offered to sell a radio tower near Circleville to Jackson County that would reportedly improve emergency radio communications in the area.

For more than 20 years, the county has been leasing a portion of the tower, located near the intersection of Kansas Highway 79 and K Road, for $10,000 a year. The county’s radio equipment is located 250-feet up on the 300-foot tower but could be placed higher if the county purchased the tower, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse. 

Sheriff Morse, along with Undersheriff Darrel Chapman and Sherri Ladner, 911 administrator, met with the Jackson County Commissioners recently to discuss the benefits of purchasing the tower from Kansas Broadband at a cost of $7,000. 

Morse initially contacted Kansas Broadband to see if the company would be willing to sell the tower to the county. 

Kansas Broadband acquired the tower in December 2008 from Doug’s Electronics after the company sold, it was reported. 

 “This is a prime area for the county, and it makes a lot of sense to move forward with this,” Morse said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It would save the county money, and it would give us a better signal.”

If the tower is purchased, Kansas Broadband’s equipment, which provides Internet to rural customers, would be moved lower on the tower to 250 feet, and service for customers is not expected to be disrupted, Morse said. Kansas Broadband representatives have also requested to remain on the tower rent free for 15 years. 

“For the county to build its own tower, it would cost about $100,000,” Morse said.

The land that the tower sits on is under contract until 2068, it was reported. 

If the tower was purchased, Morse said he would like to move the county’s FireComm repeater, which is currently located at 206th and K Roads, to the top of the tower.

FireComm is the radio repeater used for communications for all fire department and EMS personnel.  

“They are all on that channel,” Morse said. “We have hundreds of employees and volunteers that we page out and communicate through FireComm.”

Morse told the commissioners that a generator that automatically switches on when the electricity fails would need to be purchased if the county took ownership of the tower. 

Currently, when power is out, sheriff office personnel have to individually take generators out to specific towers or repeaters in the county that aren’t operating. 

“We have to devote a lot people to those sites as they run around and check on all the generators,” Morse said. “Usually this is during an emergency, and we have other problems that we need to attend to.”

The commissioners questioned the liability associated with owning a tower, and Morse said that the tower would have to be insured. 

Kansas Broadband representatives are drawing up the contract for the purchase of the tower with their in-house attorney, and it will be submitted to the county soon for review, it was reported. 

Emergency personnel in the county communicate through the statewide 800 MHz system. FireComm and sheriff office communications can be heard using a digital scanner and tuning to 155.955 (FireComm) and 155.625 (sheriff’s office).

In other business, according to the unapproved minutes from July 13, the commission:

* Accepted the low fuel bid of $17,706 submitted by Haag Oil Company. The other bids were $17,716 submitted by Knotty Pine Oil Company and $17,800 submitted by Jackson Farmers Inc. The bids were for 2,000 gallons of regular fuel and 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel. 

* Met in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss a personnel matter. No action was taken back in open session. 

* Met with Holton/Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Director Carolyn McKee, who requested funds for the annual Jazz On The Square event. McKee said that the county is given eight free general admission tickets for sponsoring the event.  

The commissioners agreed to donate $1,000 in county funds to the event, which is being planned for Sept. 12. 

* Met in executive session for 30 minutes to discuss a personnel matter. No action was taken back in open session. 

* Learned from Dan Robinson, noxious weed director and solid waste manager, that the truck used to haul the recycling trailers is having difficulty shifting into reverse. Robinson said he would like to take that truck to the landfill and trade it with the white Ford used at that location. 

* Heard a weekly report from John Kennedy, Banner Creek Reservoir director. Revenues at the reservoir for the week of July 5 were $2,600. 

Kennedy reported that maintenance staff will be working on restrooms in the next few weeks, including painting the interiors and exteriors, upgrading the plumbing, sealing of the shower walls and repairing or replacing entry doors.

He also reported that a surface drain will be installed across the walk at shelterhouse #3. This will eliminate the rock and fine sand from washing into the shelter during significant rains. A grate will be placed over the drain and there will be a tube placed under the drain to catch and relocate the running water.

* Learned that a new trash policy is in place at the reservoir. Trash barrels will be removed from the camping areas and each camper will be given a 13-gallon trash bag to place trash in. The bags will be distributed by the camp host as the campers arrive at their site. 

When a bag is full, the camper can place the bag at the roadside for staff to pick up and a new bag will be given to the camper.

Kennedy said that the new policy will hopefully decrease the amount of waste placed in dumpsters, eliminate a lot of the heavy trash bags, save money and make it easier for the campers. 

* Discussed options for purchasing sand for the swimming beaches at the reservoir. 

* Met with Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller to discuss her department’s budget for next year. Miller said her biggest budget concern is the trial expenses, as well as witness fees. 

Commissioner Janet Zwonitzer suggested increasing the witness fees and trial fees. The commissioners and Jackson County Clerk also discussed how diversion money is spent. 

* Met in executive session for 10 minutes to discuss a personnel matter. No action was taken back in open session.

* Heard a weekly report from Eric Fritz and Earl Bahret, road and bridge co-supervisors, who reported that work has begun on chip-and-sealing 254th Road. 

An additional $90,000 is being requested by Fritz and Bahret for the county rock budget for next year. Zwonitzer said she thought it was a reasonable request. The commissioners said they need to review the entire county budget befor making a decision. 

* Discussed with Fritz and Bahret the infeasibility of trying to re-chip-and-seal the mile of 254th road east of U.S. Highway 75, which has seen lots of damage. 

P Road was also discussed. Zwonitzer said she is concerned with the number of semis using the road. Fritz said that 110th Road is experiencing some damage from large trucks as well. 

* Learned from Zwonitzer that Jeff Rogers called with a concern about the reseeding of the ground that the county used when building Gilliland Drive. 

Fritz said he did not take the sprayer off the county right-of-way but agreed there was probably several bare spots that could be seeded. He said that he did run the seeder over the fence line to replenish the land that was used for building the road. The fence within the hedgerow was removed and replaced during the road building process. 

* Agreed to allow the road and bridge department to sell the green posts that the county uses for signposts to the Jackson County Fair Board at cost. 

* Signed a lawn use request to allow LifeCare Fitness Center to use the Courtyard for a Chris Schuetz Memorial Run/Walk on Aug. 15. 

* Received a draft of a letter from Morrissey to send to member of the county’s fire boards. The commissioners want to meet with all fire board members to discuss each fire board’s bylaws and to receive updates on the boards.

* Met in executive session with Morrissey for 10 minutes to discuss a matter of attorney/client privilege. No action was taken back in open session. 

* Learned from Jackson County Appraiser Larry Reynolds that he doesn’t have any major changes to his department’s budget for 2016. Training on the GIS mapping system is being paid for out of 911 funds. 

* Discussed the boundary lines of properties on and against Banner Creek Reservoir. A plat of the reservoir was provided that showed the property lines. 

* Met with Hoyt Fire Chief Ed Kester who said he was concerned about a Jackson County EMS bill sent to a woman involved in an accident in the fire district. 

* Signed a request and petition to allow CenturyLink to occupy a county right-of-way to relocate a buried telephone line in the county. 

* Adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m. All commissioners were present. 

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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