Alva Review-Courier -

The Woods County Commissioners discussed security at the courthouse during their meeting Monday morning, April 17. Present for the meeting were Chairman John Smiley, David Hamil and Randy McMurphy. Jason Perks, first lieutenant for District 1, attended the meeting for the first time. Hamil expects to have surgery soon, although the date is not set, and will have a lengthy recovery time. Perks will attend meetings and can sign some of the paperwork during his absence. Also at the meeting were County Clerk Shelley Reed and Commissioner Assistant Amy Grimsley.

One item on the agenda was discussion and possible action regarding courthouse security for the court clerk's office. Court Clerk Staci Davey was notified it was time for that item, and while the commissioners waited for her to arrive, they discussed security. Reed said other offices have been discussing security, too.

McMurphy said perhaps the county needs to hire a security officer and close off all but one of the entrances. Currently there are north and south entrances to the main lobby plus two entrances on the east side from the parking lot. The entrance on the south and one on the east are handicap accessible, and McMurphy said one of those would need to be open. He thought it might be more cost-effective than trying to secure each of the county offices.

Davey arrived and presented her request for bullet-proof glass at the counter of the court clerk's office with an opening for documents. She also wanted keycard access to the staff area, and a buzzer so staff could let attorneys or others into the records area.

Steve Foster, who is in charge of maintenance at the courthouse, attended the meeting. He had an estimate on the bullet-proof glass of $5,000 plus installation. He said he could assist on the installation to reduce that cost. The courthouse already has a keycard security system for some areas so that could be expanded.

Davey said the county treasurer also would like more security, and Reed said with the windows in their offices, it would be fairly easy to secure the county clerk, treasurer and assessor offices with a pass-through opening for documents and a keycard for doors.

McMurphy commented that to secure the whole courthouse with a security guard, probably one or two people would need to be hired and trained. He said the cost for securing each office would probably be less than a year or two of salaries to have a guard on duty.

No action was taken, but Foster was directed to measure and get specifications and quotes for all the offices, including the district attorney, and bring them to a later meeting.

Asbestos Abatement

Jennifer Schafer arrived with six bids for asbestos abatement. The bids ranged from just under $67,000 to almost $350,000. Of the six bidders, Stronghold Environment was the only one who did not do a walk-through before bidding.

AMX Environmental LP bid $66,880; Asbestos Handlers Inc. bid $199,900; Crystal Creek LLC bid $108,590; Environmental Action Inc. bid $347,278; Stronghold Environmental bid $153,099; and Tec-An, Inc. bid $379,750 plus an alternate/addition of $64,500.

With such a range in bids, the commissioners took no action to allow time to study the details before making a decision.

Road Crossing Permits

Select Energy submitted five requests for road crossing permits. All are for water, and all are in District 3. Each permit requires a fee of $500 to the county. The permits are for the following:

• 35-24-13to 24-24-13

• 35-24-13 to 24-24-13

• 35-24-13 to 24-24-13

• 3-23-13 to 24-24-13

• 3-23-13 to 24-24-13

Other Business

The commissioners approved a transfer of appropriations from General Sales Tax M&O, Assessor Visual Inspection Travel and Capital Outlay to Visual Inspection M&O in the amount of $55,550.

The account for rural fire is down to $3,500, said Reed, so a transfer was on the agenda to help finish out the remainder of the fiscal year. The commissioners approved a transfer of $25,000 from General Sales Tax M&O to Sales Tax Rural Fire.

An inventory resolution was approved by the commissioners to record the sale of several pieces of

equipment from District 3 that had been declared as surplus. After an 8 percent sales commission by Graham Auctioneers, the amounts received were $5,520 for a 2016 John Deere mower CX15 Flexwing; $8,280 for a 2017 Land Pride RCN6615 Flexwing mower; and $7,360 for a 2005 Chevy 2500 4x4 pickup with flatbed.

The monthly report for the Election Board of a $7,518.19 balance was approved. The commissioners also approved minutes of the last meeting and blanket purchase orders.

New Business

Under new business, the commissioners heard from Dr. Kay Decker who had patiently waited through the proceedings. She said Freedom West will be building an affordable residence in Alva on a vacant lot. However, the non-profit needs assistance in getting concrete slabs, bricks and rocks removed. She asked if the commissioners would handle the removal as they have in the past, and she presented a letter of intent to be signed. The commissioners could not take action because the item wasn't listed on the agenda. They said they will add it to next Monday's agenda.