The deteriorated steps on the south side of the courthouse warranted a traffic cone when this photo was taken on Aug. 7. The new steps on both the north and south entrances to the courthouse are a much needed improvement, however, the county commission did not follow its own bidding procedures. (Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)
By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – On Monday, Sept. 30, the Linn County Commissioners approved invoices for work done on the courthouse steps. They approved paying Ryan Walker Flatwork $5,000 for the front steps and $7,000 for the back steps.
Commissioners also approved a claim of $5,000 for JRK Portable Welding for installing the railing on the north steps. No other bids or notices were taken for these projects.
JRK is also scheduled to replace part of the south steps railing, and Walker will do more work on the south ramp at a later date.
However, the commission apparently did not follow county and possibly state regulations in ordering the repairs.
The Linn County policy on purchasing services state that for purchases under $5,000 there is no specific requirement for bidding or seeking quotes.
The county handbook also says that bids $5,001 and over shall go through the bidding process.
It also says that contracts should not be knowingly staged or separated into smaller units or segments solely for the purpose of evading competitive bidding requirements.
In the county handbook under general policies in the purchasing section, (C), it states that for "Purchases between $5,000 and $25,000: At least three vendors shall be contacted to determine the best source for the purchase. Quotes can be obtained from interested vendors in writing or verbally. All quotes shall be documented on the purchase requisition (each quote containing vendor name, vendor contact name, date, and telephone number) and submitted to the Purchasing Section of the Administrative Services Department (County Clerk)."
The handbook and statute do allow exceptions to going through the bidding process if the situation is an emergency. The handbook states, “Exceptions to the (request for proposal) process are emergencies declared by the county commission.” State regulations say that emergencies are when a building is deemed unusable.
No emergency was declared for these projects, and the condition of the stairs on the south side of the courthouse has been a subject for discussion for more than a year.
Linn County Treasurer Janet Kleweno, who's office is by the south entryway, complained to the commissioners about the stairs and needing a handicapped accessible door to the back entrance to the courthouse on April 22, 2024.
No action was taken about the stairs until the August 19 meeting when the commissioners voted to accept a bid from Ryan Walker Flatwork for $12,000 to repair and replace the stairs. No request for proposals or other notices were published about this project. The railing for the stairs was handled the same way.
The claims were signed and presented by Commission Chair Danny McCullough to County Clerk David Lamb. McCullough apparently contacted the flatwork contractor and portable welding company to perform the work.The claims for that type of work are usually presented to the County Clerk David Lamb as a claim by the public works administrator but they were not because that administrator opted to not sign and present them. Lamb presented them as separate invoices.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved allowing a $1,200 bill in the claims from J & J Termites for work at the the Linn County Park after discussing the bill with Public Works Director Shaun West. Commissioner Jim Johnson was critical of the bill because he thought that the county’s Noxious Weed Department personnel could be used to spray for termites.
However, West said the treatment was for a pest other than termites.
• Heard from West that the county was waiting for Pleasanton to do a lot split agreement at the airport.
• Learned that West and Public Works Administrative Assistant Joyce Hall had met with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and were going to meet with them again on Nov. 18. West said the meeting was very informative about the process and the paperwork and the things they were going to have to go through and the documents the county will have to provide.
• Discussed hours spent on ditching for roads and determining whether that time could be broken down into number of hours the county pays for employees.
• Learned that the road crew was starting training on grading roads on Tuesday. West said the first day would be in the classroom, the second day on a section of road and the third day working with the Bourbon County graders.
• Decided to run information pass legal to direct KwiKom on what was needed before paying out the 90% payment for installation of fiber optic cable on the west side of the county. McCullough pointed out that the commission does not have an attorney currently. Commissioner Jim Johnson said he would call County Attorney Burton Harding to see if he would help with this.
• Discussed road equipment that was down and had been repaired. McCullough asked about leasing a short-term extra grader to use while equipment was down. Commissioner Jason Hightower said he would be in favor of this if the equipment was going to be down for a long period of time. West will look into this.
• Learned that the Wi-Fi and televisions had been installed at the cabins at the Linn County Park, but not all of the television have been programmed for use.
• West reported that the new reservation service that was going to be used at the Linn County Park for cabin and space rentals required each lot to be measured and have the amenities (electric, water, sewer) noted. The park staff is working on that.
• Discussed getting the roof repaired on the gazebo on the courthouse lawn before a group of history curators visited the courthouse. The commissioners determined that the gazebo needed to be repaired before the roof was completed.
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