The Morris County Commissioner meeting was called to order on Tuesday, June 30th, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Commissioners Jim Barber, David Fox and Wayne Kohler were present. Chelsey Schmidt, County Clerk, and Bill Kassebaum, County Counselor, were present.
Others present: Billy Kryger- Pastor Berean Baptist Church Commissioner Kohler (Fox) moved to approve minutes from the June 23rd, 2026, Commission Meeting. Motion carried.
Commissioner Kohler (Fox) moved to approve the accounts payable vouchers as presented; in the total amount of $101,948.93. Motion carried. The breakdown by fund is as follows: General: $6,223.36 Road & Bridge: $8,396.26 Noxious Weed: $55,536.36 Ambulance: $49.09 Solid Waste: $8,243.86 Equipment Reserve: $23,500.00 Kelsey Sharr, County Treasurer, gave a report on the Treasurer’s Of-fice. The department’s 2027 budget request was presented as follows: Treasurer: 2026 Budget Salaries-$193,000.00 Commodities-$2,000.00 Contractual-$21,450.00 Capital Outlay-0.00 Total-$216,450.00 -- Treasurer: 2027 Budget Request Salaries-$193,00.00 Commodities-$1,500.00 Contractual-$18,500.00 Capital Outlay $00.00 Total-$213,000.00 The requests will be considered during the county’s budgeting process.
Commissioner Fox (Kohler) moved to approve payroll liabilities as presented; in the total amount of $149,882.16. Motion carried.
Commissioner Fox (Kohler) moved to authorize Chelsey Schmidt, Morris County Election Officer, to destroy ballots from the 2022 Primary Election, 2024 Presidential Preference Primary, and the 2024 Primary Election according to K.S.A. 25-2708. Motion carried.
Commissioner Barber left the meeting at 11:20 p.m.
Shelly Lautt gave the following public works report for the week of June 15th- 19th: Road & Bridge: Asphalt patching was done on 2600 Rd. and BB Ave. from 29003200 County creek gravel was placed on 1000 Rd. from 950-950 Shoulder work was done on 2600 Rd. from V-X and Q Ave. from 2200-2400 Rock was retrieved from ditches on J Ave. from 2400-2500 Trees and brush were cut on Y Ave. from 1700-1800, 1700 Rd. from Z-AA, 2450 Rd. from AA-BB, X Ave. from 2500-2600 and on Diamond Springs Rd. Sign maintenance work was done across the county Mowing was done on the Kelso Rd., 4 Mile Rd. detour route and ar- eas on the Dwight route QSI started building the new storage shed Shelly attended the KEMA Meeting in Topeka for our Emergency Manager Shelly and Brett Wright attended the District 2 Meeting in Salina Transfer Station: The Transfer Station will be closed July 3rd and July 4th White City, Dwight and Alta Vista routes will be picked up on Wednesday, July 1st The Council Grove route will be picked up on Thursday, July 2nd Recycle: A load of recyclables is waiting to be picked up Noxious Weed: Wind has prevented Caleb from spraying He has been out checking on calls for Musk Thistle, Johnson Grass and Teasel Emergency Management: The county’s Emergency Operations Plan has been submitted to KDEM Communicating with the cities that have tornado sirens; the county continues to do the test on the second Tuesday of every month; it is the responsibility of each city to determine if the sirens are working and report to the Emergency Manager; repairs and maintenance of the sirens are each city’s responsibility Preparing for the upcoming LEPC Tabletop Exercise that will be held in January Discussion was held regarding the county’s fuel tank monitoring system that was struck by lightning during the May 18th-19th storms. A claim has been filed with the insurance company.
Commissioner Fox discussed the county’s storage of road materials and rip rap on the west side of the Community Building and the low hanging tree limbs by the picnic table area.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m.
--Meeting minutes will be published on the county website: www. morriscountyks.org.