The Barton County Commission on Tuesday authorized financial assistance with a road to the childcare facility being built in Claflin. The county will reimburse Advancing Barton County Childcare Inc. $9,808 for the cost of building the road that will provide access to the new building.

County Administrator Matt Patzner presented the recommendation, based on the county’s goal of supporting economic development through targeted projects. “I believe that childcare is critically needed throughout the county,” he said.

Commissioner Tricia Schlessiger said the county did contribute some rock for the project but chose not to build the road.

“When we were first invited to a meeting with ABCC and USD 112, up there at Claflin, they were wanting us to participate with building the road,” she said. Instead, that work was done by Eakin Enterprises, based in Larned.

“We looked at this as Economic Development, rather than Road and Bridge,” Commission Chairman Duane Reif said. “We’re not in the business of building roads.” All were in favor of helping reimburse the cost, however.

“It looks great,” Reif said of the new facility. “They’ve made quite a bit of progress.”

Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson commented on plans for a needed childcare center. “This is a solid, permanent facility.”

Rebuild ordered for Landfill Compactor

The commission approved repairing the 2015 826 Caterpillar Landfill Compactor using Foley’s certified rebuild program. Foley offers a five-year, 6,000-hour warranty on the powertrain and hydraulic system at an estimated repair cost of $638,061.

Solid Waste Director Jennifer Hamby said the 2015 compactor that is used to push and compact trash has “major mechanical issues.” A new compactor would cost $1.3 million. At this time, the old compactor has a trade-in value of $90,000 or less. After the rebuild, the value will be $850,000. This will be the second rebuild for the equipment, with the work needed after every 10,000 hours of operation.

“Basically, they change every nut and bolt,” Chairman Reif said of the rebuild.

Hamby said about $73,000 of the cost will be to re-tip the four wheels.

The equipment is at Foley’s Kansas City, Mo., facility and it will take four to five months to complete the work. The landfill should be able to get by with its other compactor and a dozer for backup.

Meeting at a glance

Here’s a brief look at other action taken in Tuesday’s Barton County Commission meeting:

• The conditional use land permit was renewed for a salvage yard at 514 SW 20 Road, owned by Larry and Sheree Marshall, doing business at Marshall Towing.

Environmental Manager Judy Goreham said Marshalls have met all conditions stipulated in the permit, and submitted satisfactory soil and water tests.

• Three members of the Barton County Planning Commission were reappointed for another three-year term. They are Junior Welsch, Chad Ehrlich and J.C. Bosch.

• A contract for digital information storage was renewed with Wasabi Cloud Storage for $8,226. Information Technology Director Dereck Hollingshead said no local vendors can offer this service.

• The commission rejected all bids for contracted cleaning and custodian services county offices for the next year, at the recommendation of Facilities Manager Darren Williams. The county received five bids and the lowest was $21,732 from a Lenexa company. The second-lowest bid was from a Florida company and there was also one local bid, he said. The commission will work with the county administrator to hire a local firm.