[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-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],{"_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",6669885,"mediaKeyId","5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3","parentId",5024585,"title","Votes at a glance: Neosho County commissioners approve vehicles, contracts, bridge payments, hires and budget transfers","audioSeconds",7462,"startMs",4718000,"endMs",12180000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3&start=4718&end=12180","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3/thumbnail_4718000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6669885/Neosho-County/Kansas/Votes-at-a-glance-Neosho-County-commissioners-approve-vehicles-contracts-bridge-payments-hires-and-budget-transfers","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6669885-f756cfba407dfda748299577956d937e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771144211&Signature=BSa2~cjpj9cvr-MO6O2ZI4tUu1-TgfSJXFpVuqze1rUtuACGelCkSPeWo32C2wSsXKtmtch0ljxU~d6lYngDaENuHk4Ymfjk~11xHHKeaZ6RbvEP9ql~zw-UTMhVSwIQr173gHJETdKz25m-CCzvL8qNPLGyKouwRDg8wb8KcRj4zC7CH-FmUxfZWLSGhYDLqZ~0v6e1f8OH~nBBfqR7RuBHrgQVKrUQLz-OaG5AokJkEMGXJuVwE5zohuwplMYnIt~aIMKpOVWhQBKuh6GlbsSn~LI4ceA67tDNLIRXeUQtic2zkDdJlNpP98Te6XptWEEvN9R-4uruT2M26A22LQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Neosho County Commission","date","2025-06-17T22:31:45Z","article","At its June 17 meeting the Neosho County Board of County Commissioners voted on multiple procurement, payment and personnel items. The board recorded unanimous approvals for equipment purchases and contractor payments, several bridge and road pay estimates, a hiring, and budget transfers from the county's wind-farm pilot fund.

Votes at a glance (selected actions)
- Sheriff vehicle: Approved sheriff purchase of a tradesman crew cab through state contract (Davis Moore Chrysler, Wichita) for $44,454. Motion made and seconded; vote recorded as 3-0 in favor.
- TNT security service agreement: Approved county service agreement with TNT Systems for $74,492; motion seconded and passed 3-0. The agreement was charged to the county security budget line reported by staff.
- Uplink LLC (Thayer School tower) Wi‑Fi radio: Approved payment of $520 to Uplink LLC for tower climb and attachments for the county digital radio project; taken from the pilot fund; motion passed 3-0.
- Krogan internet installation (Stark site): Approved payment of $800 to Krogan for Internet installation needed for the digital radio system at Stark; paid from the pilot fund; motion passed 3-0.
- Portable/mobile radios: Approved purchase of 10 additional portable radios ($50 each) from Anderson County for volunteer fire departments and approved issuing two mobile radios to Chanute Fire Department at no cost; motions passed 3-0.
- Final payments for road overlays: Approved final payments on Grady Road overlay ($38,054.85) and Seventh Road overlay ($96,161.95); motions passed (votes recorded as unanimous).
- Elk River bridge project payments: Approved payment application No. 10 to Bridges Inc. for the Elk River Bridge replacement in the amount of $450,243.13 (charged to the Special Bridge fund); motion passed 3-0. A separate CFS construction-services invoice for $35,397.90 on the same project was also approved 3-0.
- Quarry blast and equipment rental: Authorized Explosive Contractors Inc. to perform a blast of the county quarry, amount not to exceed $50,000 (road and bridge operations); approved 3-0. Also approved a Foley rental for a D6 dozer at $15,954 to remove overburden prior to the blast; approved 3-0.
- Hiring: Approved hiring two 911 dispatchers (effective 06/16/2025) following an executive-session personnel discussion; motion passed 3-0.
- County appraiser appointment: Approved Resolution R-25-G appointing the county appraiser for a four-year term ending 06/30/2029; motion passed 3-0.
- Budget transfers: Per the adopted 2025 budget the commission approved transfers from the wind-farm pilot fund: $1,000,000 to the Special Bridge account; $200,000 to the special equipment reserve; and $522,341 to the general fund. Motion passed 3-0.

Why it matters: The approvals commit county funds to capital projects, security infrastructure and staffing. The Elk River bridge payment and the transfers from the pilot fund move significant sums toward infrastructure work already under way or budgeted.

Sources and procedural notes
Most motions were moved and seconded during the meeting; roll-call tallies were announced as \"Aye\" with unanimous 3-0 approvals for the items listed above unless otherwise noted. Several items were described by department directors during the meeting: Road and Bridge director Mike Brown presented road pay estimates and bridge payments; Lori Nally presented the tower/wireless items and pilot-fund purchases. Commissioners did not take up further amendments to the transfers at the meeting but discussed timing and reimbursement procedures for bridge-related state funds.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","June 17th, 2025 Regular Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","At its June 17 meeting the Neosho County Board of Commissioners approved a package of purchases, contractor payments, hirings and budget transfers including a sheriff vehicle purchase, bridge contractor payments and transfers from the pilot fund into bridge and equipment reserves.","taxTitle","Neosho County, Kansas","taxId",70769,"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},6669890,"Consultant presents pay-study options to Neosho County, shows multi-year cost scenarios",1515,2024000,3539000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3&start=2024&end=3539","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3/thumbnail_2024000.jpg","/articles/6669890/Neosho-County/Kansas/Consultant-presents-pay-study-options-to-Neosho-County-shows-multi-year-cost-scenarios","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6669890-d27ec58071621c87a1b9624ee2e19f29/orig.mp4?Expires=1771144211&Signature=XuceIApQ4lzt~zeWQuBgtlSHbINlK~00u~A4GcJXQ2OdoL7T~EpU~mcxOuK0ZjjAumONf-rX61fFkVPoxY04iDR7ZMBHOp~t3AP4jKCsGbSMPoh3FMxm-PlgCRuDgpKAGJZ9ohkWXBfwxmWi3DE9bzP8l-UqCUnKUDmBfkpSJzwamVCA4RN9fpghNBy2echGkeIoSjfPMN8j6SWeABJbzVEARzDVYZO6USOsGcpMQJeblJe~qoy4Y42~zglbo2rP~j6twfpRkDgYOXl5ccWL~KdPf6Lk-l2o8-GCbeL7HI3~--aCpH2kSAesQdM7Dzy71utwgU2DNoID--UjpcI-zw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A consultant from the Honor Group described a countywide compensation review and presented implementation options and cost estimates to the Neosho County Board of County Commissioners on June 17, saying the package includes job evaluation, market benchmarking and a step-based salary structure intended to improve recruitment and retention.

\"The retirement cliff that is looming for a lot of employers in the public space\" was identified as a key risk by the presenter (Honor Group consultant, identified in the meeting as Philip). He said the firm uses a \"C3 compensation blueprint\" that combines an objective point-factor job evaluation with national, state and local salary benchmarking.

The consultant presented three implementation options and projected budget impacts:
- Option A: Address pay-line compression and align scale minimums; estimated gross cost presented in the discussion was about $415,000 (the consultant said that figure includes a fuller cost-of-living and compression adjustment; benefit/ employer-tax impacts would raise the final fiscal-year cost).
- Option B: A small cost-of-living adjustment plus compression and minimum adjustments; presented total roughly $433,000 when combined with the same compression adjustments and initial COLA estimate.
- Option C: A smaller up-front package intended to be phased; the consultant presented a first-year net cash impact near $214,000 with a remaining compression correction of roughly $218,000 carried to a subsequent year.

Commissioners asked for additional detail on employer benefit and tax multipliers. The consultant said benefit and employer-cost add-ons were currently estimated in the 33–36% range but that final numbers depend on the county's benefits package and would be refined once commissioners chose a preferred scenario. \"It's really just a matter of how do we best find that balance and that alignment between kind of the competing, limited dollars,\" the consultant said.

Why it matters: county officials were shown that 65 employees would require pay alignment to eliminate internal compression, with seven employees below the proposed minimums; the consultant said the average adjustment for those affected employees would be several thousand dollars annually and that the most impacted individual gap presented was about $7,900.

No vote or implementation decision was made. Commissioners and staff asked the consultant and county HR for department-level impacts, a precise employer-benefit multiplier, and a schedule for phased implementation. County staff said they would return to the commission with additional cost breakdowns by department and options to phase the work over multiple years.

","The Honor Group consultant presented a C3 pay-study to Neosho County commissioners outlining internal job grading, step structures, and three implementation cost options; commissioners asked for benefit-cost detail and departmental impacts before any decision.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6669894,"Southeast Kansas Mental Health, Ashley Clinic describe integrated care model and county support request",1346,490000,1836000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3&start=490&end=1836","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5024585-5b68567c331dbf0e3477b5542016fcb3/thumbnail_490000.jpg","/articles/6669894/Neosho-County/Kansas/Southeast-Kansas-Mental-Health-Ashley-Clinic-describe-integrated-care-model-and-county-support-request","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6669894-52c94ccdb70af969f97aec656001259f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771144211&Signature=lCK4fROgtIzhzSaUOBtvKRD6hSDHxccvSBZprc-MnkCZqkVSX8X1IZ-eKLEUKY6zgg6aZ4VWy~kE823QHcLB2dbCLtlLYX40bf3FV25saWFnrammrHa5qi4dv8765j8YD7cwP1dSU5Rq6Ap1cssYYut4fkwqVxvwHKnMlIp~-TjqpE1tHYtGSd6yNW6jAov8Nqvkr6Ya2Oh68GGU~nLn8ktH3ykJKrnCv0bqnCAW9dN9duXLQC8cDm2gmssXKZbtmXZz--6x3OzAXGn1Qh9BsWiKsgC~mjRNEADRy9Ffqba~8zclodv6ZyDL~5ICcWyUrd40W-KFZkD~Izaf6h7u~g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Southeast Kansas Mental Health and leaders from Ashley Clinic told the Neosho County Board of County Commissioners on June 17 that combining behavioral and primary care has improved patient access and outcomes and asked the county to consider continuing financial support for care for residents who cannot pay.

The presenters said integrating therapists and medical providers at the same clinic improves follow-through for patients with mental-health and chronic medical needs. “Somebody who is suicidal is much more likely to show up to their medical doctor than the therapist,” said Doug Ryde, identified in the presentation as chief operations officer for Southeast Kansas Mental Health. “When you integrate services… you can kind of impact those people that are at risk.”

Commissioners were given examples of warm handoffs between clinic physicians and therapists and told the combined approach has produced measurable referrals and service connections. “I was able to walk him hand in hand down the hallway to our therapist, introduce him to her, and sit down with him and start that process,” said Dr. David Guernsey, a family physician at Ashley Clinic, describing one patient whose treatment adherence improved after the clinic merged services.

Why it matters: presenters said integrated care can detect and treat behavioral health issues earlier and support better management of chronic physical conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They described in-school services and other community programs developed by Southeast Kansas Mental Health as part of a broader effort to address rural service gaps.

Details presented to commissioners
- The organizations described a sliding-scale fee structure intended to make both mental-health and primary-care services affordable for residents who would otherwise not access care.
- Commissioners asked whether the organizations had made a written funding request. Officials indicated the previous year’s county allocation was $88,002.90 but that a precise request or breakdown for the current year either had not been included in the meeting packet or was “not specified” in the presentation.
- The presenters said county funds are targeted to patients who “have inability to pay” for mental-health treatment and that those dollars help connect such patients to reduced-fee medical care across the hall.

No formal county action was taken at the meeting. Commissioners asked follow-up questions about budget lines and whether a specific dollar amount to request from the commission had been submitted; presenters said more detail could be provided later.

Background and context
Southeast Kansas Mental Health described grant-supported work over several years to become a certified community behavioral health clinic and said that designation supports integration with primary care and other services. Ashley Clinic leaders said the clinic’s practice environment and financial pressures on independent physician practices made the merger with the mental-health center a practicable step to preserve local services.

What’s next
Commissioners indicated they want a clearer written request and budget detail before making a funding decision. The presenters said they would provide more detailed budget and program information for the commission to review at a later date.

","Southeast Kansas Mental Health and physician leaders at Ashley Clinic described an integrated “whole-person” care model to the Neosho County Commission and discussed county support targeted to residents unable to pay; the groups did not present a specific dollar request at the meeting.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Votes at a glance: Neosho County commissioners approve vehicles, contracts, bridge payments, hires and budget transfers

Consultant presents pay-study options to Neosho County, shows multi-year cost scenarios

Southeast Kansas Mental Health, Ashley Clinic describe integrated care model and county support request