Changes in the lease agreement on Tri Rivers Stadium prompted action by the Saline County Commission on Tuesday.

Saline County is donating all of the rodeo equipment, bleachers, and fixtures that are at the Tri-Rivers Stadium to the Tri-Rivers Fair board.  As of December 31st Saline County will no longer operate or hold a lease on the stadium.  The Fair Board is in the process of obtaining a lease from the City of Salina to continue the use of the stadium.

In other business:

• Commissioners signed an agreement with Uptrust.  Community Corrections will now be able to implement the platform that will push out notifications to their clients on upcoming court dates and appointments.  Community Corrections will launch the program with their juvenile, Drug Court, and Pre-Trial clients first.  This platform will also allow for Central Kansas Foundation (CKF) to push out notifications to Community Corrections clients that they work with and to their client’s supervision officer.  The first three months of the subscription costs are being covered by Coronavirus Relief Funds and after that will be paid for with Community Corrections reimbursement dollars.
• Commissioners voted to approve the expenditure of $19,669.16 for the purchase of 28 laptops to increase telework capabilities for several Saline County Departments.  This purchase is a part of the County’s Direct Aid Plan for the Coronavirus Relief Funds.
• Commissioners approved the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) grant for the Health Department for $264,269.  This grant covers the cost of the administration and operation of this program.
• Commissioners also approved a $133,500 grant through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity grant to expand COVID-19 testing.  This grant is not required to be expended until November of 2022 which will allow for staff to continue to develop specific strategies with partners such as Salina Regional Health Center and Salina Family Healthcare to develop a robust plan of action that will extend further into the future for testing.
• Commissioners voted to adopt the resolution to create the Saline County Public Building Commission as part of the steps to issue debt financing for the County’s public safety radio communications system.  As part of this resolution, Phillip Smith-Hanes, County Administrator, told Commissioners to begin thinking of who they would like to appoint to this Commission as appointments will need to be accomplished next week.  As part of a series of actions, Commissioners also voted to approve the resolution to request that this newly-created entity issue up to $6.5 million in bonds, and declaring the Commission’s intent to enter into a lease or lease purchase arrangement to provide for the repayment of those bonds.
• Commissioners then heard from Jamie Doss, County Clerk, on three requests for road vacations.  One is a portion of S. Niles Road south of Tinkler Road, second is a portion of Schilling Road west of Halstead Road, and third is a portion of the Frontage Road in the Commerford Track which is located on S. Old 81 Highway (S. 9^th Street) near Dauer Implement.  These three requests were brought to the Commission as information only at this point.  The County Clerk will proceed with the publications and notifications of landowners and other interested parties before it is brought back to the Commission in a formal Request for Action and public comment.
• Phillip Smith-Hanes, County Administrator provided his weekly update reporting on the Coronavirus Relief Funds.  The committee meets again on Wednesday, September 30^th at 2:30 pm.  As of today, approximately 20% of the funds have been expended.  Phil also reported on items learned at a recent virtual conference and the increased cost to repair a 1997 motor grater for Road & Bridge.

As we transition back to regular operations but maintain social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, please be advised that there is limited public seating for County Commission meetings, and citizens are required to follow the City of Salina’s mask ordinance.  County Commission meetings can be viewed on Access TV, either via Cox Cable Channel 20 or online at www.salinatv.org.