Neosho County Commission approves treasurer appointment, fuel contracts, broadband support and other motions

The Neosho County Commission on Dec. 17 approved multiple formal actions including the appointment of a new county treasurer, awards of fuel purchase contracts split between two vendors, authorization of changes to bank signature cards, and a letter of support for a broadband grant application.

The commission voted to accept the appointment of Gabrielle (Gabby) Sands as Neosho County treasurer following correspondence from the county Republican Central Committee and then completed a public swearing-in at the meeting. The body also approved updates to bank signature cards allowing Gabby Sands, Deputy Treasurer Keely Dodge and County Clerk Heather Ellsworth to appear on county accounts and removed previous employees from those cards.

On procurement, the commission split the county fuel award: MFA Oil was approved to supply up to 45,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline at $2.5354 per gallon and Producers Co-op (PCA) was approved to supply up to 30,000 gallons of undyed (No. 2) diesel at $2.75 per gallon. Commissioners voted to include all applicable taxes and fees in the award.

The commission approved the county’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program update for 2025, which would move review and oversight for new applications to the county level and which also noted that Chanute and other cities could maintain active, existing plans.

Other formal actions approved at the meeting included: - Signature-card updates to add treasurer and deputy treasurer names on multiple Bank of Commerce accounts and to require two signatures from different departments on certain accounts. - Authorization for the maintenance director to bid up to $6,000 on a used vertical lift through the Purple Wave auction and for a special accounts-payable payment process if the county wins the auction. - A letter of support and approval to sign documents for a Pinnacle Broadband grant application under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. - Acceptance of an auditor representation/engagement letter for the county audit. - Adoption of a fee schedule for extracting 9-1-1 recordings and related records.

Votes at a glance (selected items): - Appointment of Gabby Sands as Neosho County Treasurer: motion passed (unanimous recorded as “Aye”). - Signature-card changes (multiple Bank of Commerce accounts): motions passed by voice vote. - Split fuel award: motion to split award to MFA Oil (unleaded) and PCA (diesel) passed by voice vote. - Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) update (2025): motion to adopt the NRP as presented in the hearing passed. - Pinnacle Broadband: motion to approve letter of support and application participation passed. - Purple Wave vertical lift bidding authorization (up to $6,000) and special AP procedure: motion passed. - Auditor representation letter for James Ford & Associates (2023 audit): motion passed. - 9-1-1 fee schedule (recording extraction $25/hr; CD $20; CAD copies $0.50/page; certified postage as needed): motion passed.

The meeting included separate, smaller votes on project pay estimates and contract payments for Road and Bridge projects and bridge engineering invoices. The commission also heard a presentation of audit findings from the county auditors and discussed ongoing reconciliation of multiple bank accounts before approving a series of signature-card changes to enable bank transactions and transfers.

Commissioners noted that some items will require follow-up (wire transfers and bank reconciliations) and that routine administrative work remains to be completed in January to finalize several year-end transfers and payments.