[{"_1":2,"_110":-5,"_111":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,98],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6564757,"mediaKeyId","3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42","parentId",3272502,"title","Linn County commissioners approve routine hires, claims, RFP recall and grant return; allow interim overtime","audioSeconds",3249,"startMs",436000,"endMs",3685000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42&start=436&end=3685","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42/thumbnail_436000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6564757/Linn-County/Kansas/Linn-County-commissioners-approve-routine-hires-claims-RFP-recall-and-grant-return-allow-interim-overtime","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6564757-99a646a0f1c6d957780b98cbde0bc652/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196533&Signature=ldKb2qtZWND2mfBzrk580seXbXqJvI1Pazimcn8SV6pOVBjzsNmlD45tiNf6SJuGYHIRRmipFInopO19fK6WWypZIMDf1zQpDfCBCRNgtgvqmrGROBT1rhhwVOesvInx8jLqrBhK~si1c7Yv2DfYHb9-XbUP9k003~qSyaIkAsEyfVBpqBVJAyhFlNz4fESQwF4UWwD-QmwGKQ8kNFYx9fyQvcGN~IHjdQSZnaDqKrBg3a1tXLoGkpFYcSZ9IidHyad1socaqPZpJ6-u5GFWHAgKuCXqZjTDRfxYGv6ptpdsM0xYHAF2v-Ij3hFx2HzhftO6UVf-wfEbo-ZbsnA7fw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Linn County Kansas","date","2025-05-12T17:40:58Z","article","The Linn County Board of County Commissioners took a series of routine administrative and procurement actions during its May 12 meeting.

Key actions approved by voice vote or unanimous voice consent:
- Approved minutes and claims: The board approved the meeting minutes and claims totaling $130,941.65 by voice vote.
- Hired county appraiser: The board approved hiring April Umpenhauer as an Appraiser I at the posted rate (noted as \"8A 17.9905 Appraiser 1\" in meeting materials). The motion passed by voice vote.
- Hired probationary firefighter: The commissioners approved hiring Easton Anderson as a probationary firefighter at Pleasanton Station 920, contingent on preemployment physical and drug screen. Motion passed by voice vote.
- Recalled and reissued website RFP: Staff asked to close and recall the original website-request-for-proposal (RFP) after the initial bids were noncomparable. The board voted to recall/close the original RFP and then voted to advertise a new RFP to open May 21 for two weeks; both motions passed by voice vote.
- Returned CDBG grant for STARS program: The board approved a motion directing the chair to sign a letter returning CDBG grant 23PS028 (STARS youth job training) because the county could not document 51% low/moderate-income beneficiaries from returned surveys. Motion passed by voice vote.
- Approved public-works overtime: The board authorized interim Public Works Administrator Jesse Walton to approve overtime on a week-to-week basis. Motion passed by voice vote.

Where meeting record shows only voice votes with unanimous “aye” responses, no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript. Commissioners asked staff for follow-up on selected items: public-works staffing and procurement for the KDOT safety grant; additional documentation for the STARS program and the county match; and photographic and VIN details for surplus equipment the sheriff’s office and emergency services wish to advertise.

Ending: Commissioners handled routine administrative and procurement items and asked staff to return with clarifications and supporting documents where necessary.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Linn County Kansas Live Stream","oneSentenceSummary","At the May 12 meeting the Linn County Board of County Commissioners approved minutes and claims, hired a county appraiser and a probationary firefighter, recalled and reissued a website RFP, signed a CDBG grant return letter, and authorized interim public-works overtime on a week-to-week basis.","taxTitle","Linn County, Kansas","taxId",64338,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6564761,"County staff review KDOT safety grant for striping, rumble strips and resurfacing; agreement due June 5",268,8840000,9108000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42&start=8840&end=9108","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42/thumbnail_8840000.jpg","/articles/6564761/Linn-County/Kansas/County-staff-review-KDOT-safety-grant-for-striping-rumble-strips-and-resurfacing-agreement-due-June-5","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6564761-7955744fb694ce7b2edbaa4d05bfeea2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196533&Signature=NlkE17FYvIu1Yb44qJ9NyHPHqelNqwAMyc4wVmdzSwALb5TW9wd7g-fWVlmh8LW6posbcqt2rEOGOh318iFk5uWxzuhMEhTSIUDsiqCMllVducHsABaWpzq5-RO5LvwbRY45SGY5WEC3XSbhLR1snkbLClzoZLIP4kjaFKPmmtP8XKYXbE9lgbFd7WWu7mrriSAedgqxPw7YjjMlihqhC6cSmyxqkpLbqtQIySHFZDsKC6-99JYvFavwAebTEMf2fctfsuBUHPbAld-UijSfb5JllPMvTMqdGGSofuL5DlPJwrc6BRL0P7C8PZvLcUk8MVRQLbk3qzfy3tIvSzBtsQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","County public-works staff briefed the Linn County Board of County Commissioners May 12 on a Kansas Department of Transportation safety grant worth up to $370,000 for striping, rumble strips and related safety improvements on a county roadway. Staff asked commissioners to review a formal agreement from KDOT and return it by an approaching June 5 deadline.

Katie Peppercorn (project coordinator) told the commissioners the grant would pay up to $370,000 for safety improvement items but that the county is responsible for certain nonparticipating surfacing items and construction inspection costs. She noted the project estimate shows nonparticipating surfacing costs of about $464,756.60 on one estimate line and explained KDOT’s participation is capped at the grant total; any costs beyond the grant amount will be the county’s responsibility.

“The agreement needs to be signed by June 5,” Peppercorn said, asking whether the commission wanted more time to review the contract; commissioners asked staff to put the item on next week’s agenda and to coordinate with county public-works staff and the county’s LPA (local public agency) coordinator. Peppercorn said parts of the surfacing work could be done in-house by county crews to reduce contractor costs, and she flagged that the county will need to arrange construction inspection through a qualifications-based process.

Commissioners asked for a week to review the documents with public-works staff and legal counsel. Staff also noted the project includes road-closed gates for high-water sites and that those closures will be configured as warning barriers (single-side deployment) rather than chained full closures to avoid landlocking properties.

Ending: Commissioners requested the agreement be returned for consideration at the next meeting; staff will follow up with the LPA coordinator on the construction engineering agreement and provide cost estimates for county participation items and inspection.","Linn County staff reviewed a $370,000 Kansas Department of Transportation safety grant for rumble strips and striping on a county route; the agreement obligates the county to cover nonparticipating surfacing and construction inspection and must be returned by June 5.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":46,"_47":92,"_49":93,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6564766,"Linn County signs letter returning $125,000 STARS youth job-training grant after income-verification shortfall",346,3339000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42&start=3339&end=3685","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42/thumbnail_3339000.jpg","/articles/6564766/Linn-County/Kansas/Linn-County-signs-letter-returning-125000-STARS-youth-job-training-grant-after-income-verification-shortfall","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6564766-22a4e20984ebe6bada2320bc804b52f1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196533&Signature=oAx685JlBpua9UQ7yPbDfEKuxvpNZ2O1TB4yPRze37qfuN4nbVVOeZD4HMaOfU076lMi5td~fGDMOCYusf5JURUdTzNJW3lh5CT5f22QGzX7CrXBkgmSHcAViKyqgp-~1~N2hnHIfjNhDN0Le1dgI7G8VMhRL-IbseXgwmXR8IzZShSrWNAJ7NlmxAP19OkwcjICm0enmL0LZg-pvvFtggxs3OnAH5VLTyoxyCOoDWYFygrNtgqchh9ItO0LzYD9BR79bM~eYpOzqFJ7Hfy1r3jSWgPYUZ4kDBF153tW6a1CnqQZ3FMKprp5XA35IheHZzmMffId6qHw1GgxOkimJg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Linn County Board of County Commissioners voted May 12 to sign a letter formally returning a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award tied to the county’s STARS youth job-training program because income surveys showed the required 51% low- to moderate-income threshold could not be verified.

Carrie Spoon of the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission told the commissioners the award—$100,000 from CDBG and a $25,000 county match budgeted for administration—had not been drawn down and must be turned back because not enough income surveys were returned to certify the required beneficiary income level. “No grant funds have been drawn down for this,” Spoon said. “We did not get enough of the income surveys back … so the grant needs to be turned back.”

Commissioners moved, seconded and approved a resolution instructing the county commission chair to sign the return letter. The motion passed on a voice vote recorded in the meeting as “All in favor, say aye.” No roll-call votes were taken.

Commissioners asked staff to follow up on implications for the STARS program, including whether the county’s $25,000 match (previously budgeted) remains committed and how the county’s prior budget actions affect future payments. An administrator said the county’s contribution had been budgeted from contingency and that STARS had not requested the county check because the STARS board remains in transition with Fort Scott over an MOU.

Spoon advised that returning this single CDBG award would not preclude the county from applying for other CDBG-funded programs in the future, although there may be caveats if the county applies again specifically for the same STARS project.

Ending: The county returned the CDBG award and county match for the STARS program; staff will follow up with the STARS program and the clerk’s office on the county’s budgeted match and any contractual questions about continued county support.","The county approved a formal letter to return a $100,000 CDBG award and the county’s $25,000 match for a STARS youth job-training project after insufficient income survey responses prevented meeting CDBG low/moderate income requirements.",{"_33":99,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":100,"_41":101,"_43":102,"_45":103,"_47":104,"_49":105,"_51":106,"_53":107,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":108,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":109,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6564770,"Linn County officials weigh mutual-aid terms as Pleasanton considers its fire department’s future",1028,872000,1900000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42&start=872&end=1900","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3272502-790e5359b3810df2d719bc25dffb3c42/thumbnail_872000.jpg","/articles/6564770/Linn-County/Kansas/Linn-County-officials-weigh-mutual-aid-terms-as-Pleasanton-considers-its-fire-departments-future","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6564770-dccacae6301cc182146ea23f7bfd3dde/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196533&Signature=CykN9vBaPcs1v6k492ycrXQZK1xF8KTU4mibrvRSs5qmxzO~JAsHdkLdA666brQuwNgJdySGAB-pj7pYDxIIisxt5MMWKfz0WmZ6G74yQNLynQ9MGR64xtku3BhnQjNMYSAUSbZovRytPBAmOuoFiX8B8AQNhbnLHrtpUEHkoFNdBhM7KKTmr4irTUxALNvwWETjdsfDOeDobLzj0m2xbpAAA9j0rBMqrmVNKuz7H86V4JnRzAxQ-ah3qaj8GJIrobSqI5Fg~hRpIfmDY7lyCa5aHUGfD2ZAd3yUQKaNtO2kTHD8DuuqjWvtFz8Y-4XFpX2CeGMXzyJL7O3oSxJGWw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Linn County emergency management officials and the county commissioners spent more than an hour on May 12 discussing mutual-aid and automatic-aid relationships with the county’s three municipal fire departments as Pleasanton’s city council considers whether to keep its fire department.

Randy Higwell, Linn County emergency management, told the Linn County Board of County Commissioners that automatic-aid agreements that had expired in 2018 have been replaced in draft form by mutual-aid agreements the county sent to the three cities—Pleasanton, Lacine and Lynn Valley—for review. He said the county is responding to calls in the towns when paged and that dispatch standard operating guidelines (SOGs) currently page the three closest stations for structure fires regardless of municipal boundaries.

“Since automatic aid expired in 02/2018…we started working on automatic and mutual aid agreements,” Higwell said, describing drafts he said the cities are reviewing. He briefed commissioners on response tallies to show how often county crews have been responding in the last three years: in 2023 Pleasanton was paged to 26 calls and responded to 4; the county responded to 20 of those calls. In 2024 Pleasanton responded to 10 calls and the county to 18; through the first part of 2025 Pleasanton had run 6 calls and the county 10. Higwell said those figures reflect changes in dispatch SOGs and cancellations when responding crews are not needed.

Higwell and the commissioners drew a clear distinction between automatic aid—where the county would be paged to almost all calls in a town—and mutual aid, which can be tailored in writing to specify which types of incidents trigger a county response. “Automatic aid is we’re running their fire department…no matter what they get paged to, we’re getting paged,” Higwell said. “With the mutual-aid agreement, you can tailor it to fit what you need.”

Mayor Matthew Young of Pleasanton, who attended the meeting, told commissioners Pleasanton requested information about what responding county crews cost because city residents asked why county crews were answering many calls. “If the county’s the only one responding, then we feel that that’s just not appropriate,” Young said. He requested copies of the dispatch SOGs and other documentation to inform Pleasanton’s council discussion.

Commissioners and staff discussed deadlines tied to state budget and tax cycles if Pleasanton chooses to dissolve its department. Higwell advised that Pleasanton would need to formally ask the county to absorb the area into the Linn County Rural Fire District before July 1 to allow the district to take effect Jan. 1, 2026; if the city delayed until after that date, an absorption would take effect Jan. 1, 2027 because of budget and tax calendar rules. Higwell described that timetable as tied to tax and budget cycles rather than county discretion.

No formal action to approve either an automatic-aid or mutual-aid agreement was taken at the May 12 meeting. Commissioners directed staff to continue negotiations and to bring the draft mutual-aid agreements back to the board after the cities provide feedback; they also scheduled a follow-up legal review and asked staff to send copies of the dispatch SOGs and statute references to the affected cities.

The discussion also noted potential operational and financial steps the county could take, including inserting billing provisions in aid agreements that would allow the county to recover costs if a municipality declined to respond and the county covered the call. Higwell said the state mutual-aid statute (referenced in the discussion) allows for mutual support but does not itself impose billing requirements.

The commissioners said they would discuss the differences between automatic aid and mutual aid in a legal work session soon and asked staff to return with proposed language and deadlines for the cities to respond.

Ending: The board did not adopt any agreement at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to return the draft mutual-aid agreements and legal analysis for formal action once the cities reply and to continue coordinating with Pleasanton officials on the July 1 timetable.","Linn County emergency management and commissioners discussed renewing mutual-aid agreements with three city fire departments, distinguishing mutual aid from automatic aid and noting a July 1 deadline if Pleasanton dissolves its department.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Linn County commissioners approve routine hires, claims, RFP recall and grant return; allow interim overtime

County staff review KDOT safety grant for striping, rumble strips and resurfacing; agreement due June 5

Linn County signs letter returning $125,000 STARS youth job-training grant after income-verification shortfall

Linn County officials weigh mutual-aid terms as Pleasanton considers its fire department’s future