Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf is concerned about the growing mental health issues present at the Geary County Detention Center.

Wolf explained that the detention center has seen an influx of individuals with mental health issues coming into the detention center, and his staff is not prepared to handle those types of issues.

“Quite frankly my staff are not mental health professionals. They don’t have the training to care for these people, and we needed to get someone in here that has an idea of how to deal with these folks,” said Wolf.

Wolf has contracted with the detention centers medical contractor, Advanced Correctional Healthcare, to bring in a specialist for about six hours a week.

“This is a Psychologist who will work with certain inmates that we have identified who may have possible issues. They will work with these folks. When I say work with them, they will work on getting medications lined out for them, getting them on a regiment for these medications and any type of counseling that they can give them while they are here.”

If issues do persist and are severe enough Wolf said that there would be avenues that they can take to transfer the inmate to a location that can better care for them.

Wolf said that within the last month they have had at least three individuals come into the detention center with severe mental issues.

“One of our biggest fears is that some of these people who come in with these mental issues are violent, and I don’t want my staff to get hurt, I don’t want them to hurt the individual, and this is a way we can work around that.”

Wolf had updated the County Commission on the issue during his weekly report this past Monday.

 

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The Junction City Commission has approved a negotiated agreement with the C. L. Hoover Opera House Foundation for management of that facility.

The city’s chief financial officer, Cheryl Beatty, said this has been in negotiations for two years. “But a negotiated agreement in which they would 100 percent take over the management for a set amount of dollars per year to manage that facility on our behalf to the best of needs to happen for the community and make that a greater place for the community to enjoy and use.”

Under the agreement the City will provide $60,000 for the C. L. Hoover Opera House operations for the remainder of this year, and $160,000 in 2016. The amount for 2017 has not yet been negotiated.

The Opera House Foundation will appoint their own board members, and the City will not manage or supervise the facility. The City will still have the capability to use the building.

Barbara Craft, Foundation Board Chair, thanked the City Commission. “I want to thank you on behalf of the foundation board and the management board. We’ve had two boards until today, and today the management board goes away with the approval of the management agreement. So we will be one new board. We’ll grow slightly. We’ve had seven members on our board, now we’ll have eleven.”

Craft addressed the City Commisison during their meeting Tuesday Night.

The Geary County Commission passed a proposed 2016 budget for publication Monday that included a 6.651 mill increase to the property tax levy.

Commission Chairman, Ben Bennett confirmed the proposed increase Monday.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t take it down further, we’re all still looking at ways to do that,” said Bennett. “We’ve reduced it from the original ten mills down to a six plus mill levy increase.”

The increase would increase the property tax levy to 67.478 mills.

Bennett added that,”the general fund is up four points, health department is 1.4, the ambulance increase is one and a half mills.”

State funding reductions have been cited as one reason for the increases.

 

Commissioner Florence Whitebread further explained that they are continuing to look for cuts to the budget, but it’s going to be hard to find a considerable amount.

“We just don’t have different departments that have that big of a budget,” said Whitebread. “It takes $235,000 to even reduce at a mill, so it’s pretty hard to find that in a budget.”

Once the budget has been published it can be reduced, but cannot be increased any farther. The budget will now go to publication and a public hearing will be held Monday, August 31st.

 

The annual facilities tour for the Geary USD 475 Board of Education included a stop to view new construction improvements completed in the school district during the summer months.

They began with the new field turf at Al Simpler Stadium and then made stops at different schools. In Junction City the Board looked at new playground and front entrance improvements at Franklin Elementary School, playground, walking trail, and new wing improvements at Washington Elementary, and ongoing classroom construction and new smart boards at Westwood Elementary School. From there the tour went to Fort Riley to Seitz Elementary School, and then to the new Fort Riley Elementary School.

Here are some of the pictures.

 

The blue green algae “warnings” for Zones A and C, and the “watch” for Zone B at Milford Lake will remain the same following the results of samples collected on August 10th.

RJ Harms, Corps of Engineers Project Manager at Milford Lake explained that cell counts did improve greatly at the Milford State Park beach area, but north winds moved the algae concentration across the lake to the East Rolling Hills area where cell counts and toxin levels were above the “warning” level, keeping Zone A under a “warning”.

“Zone B was still ok, a little bit elevated but not up into the “warning” status. Zone B includes the Milford Beach area, Acorns Resort, Flagstop, all that area is in Zone B so that actually looks pretty good. Then Zone C remains high, as typically does here at Milford. We have some pretty high counts in Zone C, up by Wakefield still,” said Harms.

As a result of the “warning” status in Zone A, designated beaches operated by the Corps of Engineers and Milford State Park will be closed until further notice.

With the “Warning” status body contact with the water (swimming, skiing, tubing, jet skis) will be strongly discouraged but wording on the signs provided for 2015 will not prohibit the activity.

Harms did confirm that Saturday’s “Float Your Boat” Cardboard Boat Races put on by the Geary County/Junction City Convention and Visitors Bureau should go on without any problems at Flagstop RV Park in Milford, which is in Zone B.

“As far as the samples they took Monday, we don’t have any issue with toxin levels in that Zone B area, which is around again areas such as Milford, Acorns and Flagstop area. We’re hoping and crossing our fingers that will remain that way through the week and we’ll have a good weekend up there for the event.”

The Cardboard Boat Races will kick off at 2 p.m. from the Flagstop RV Park swimming beach. Flagstop will be opening their gates and will not require any admission charges.

The Walmart Neighborhood Market currently under construction on Junction City’s west side is expected to open November 11th.

It was announced during Thursday’s Economic Development Commission Advisory Committee meeting that Walmart officials were in Junction City last week and informed EDC staff of the opening date.

Ben Kitchens, EDC Chairman explained,”November 11th is the date that they came in and told us. The new manager wants to be a part of the community and really looking forward to giving the west side of Junction City some shopping opportunities, in terms of food and things when they’ve had to drive some distance in the past.”

The proposed 41,000 square-foot Neighborhood Market will include a pharmacy and fueling station and is being built on the southeast corner of Highway 77 and McFarland Road. It is expected to create up to 100 new jobs.

Twenty one teachers at Geary USD 475 were recognized Wednesday for their years of service to the school district.

Of the 21 teachers 13 of them have been with the school district for 25 years, seven of them for 30 years and one of them for 35 years.

“I will tell you, looking at this list, I envy you,” said Dr. Corbin Witt, Superintendent of USD 475. “Because showing a dedication to a district for this long of service is pretty amazing, and it’s not really found too often anymore.”

Witt is entering his second year with the district but his career in education spans 27 years, and reflecting back on those years he said,”wow I wonder what it would have been like if all 27 years had been in one location. How that would feel, and what I’d be doing. It got me thinking that it would be pretty nice.”

This year the district recognized Linda Howerton for her 35 years of service to the district. Over those years Linda has held many different roles including a chapter one teacher at Grandview Elementary for seven years, tutor and 1st Grade teacher at Ware Elementary for 20 years and eight years in special education at Westwood Elementary. This year Howerton will be serving in a new role tutoring tier two and three students.

Her favorite memory over the past 35 years,”just working with a lot of different people and different changes. Just a lot of good people in the district.”

Others recognized include :

25 years – Montika Allen-Atkinson,  Pamela Been-Redeker, Ronda Cook, Brian Hagemeister, Terry Heina, Angie Hook, Tina Kausler, Traciann Petite, Janelle Russell, Karin Searles, Doris Steffens, Susan White and Nikki Wolf.

30 years – Lori Chesterman, Maureen Conn, Curtis Gray, Jolynn Henry, Rebecca McMillin-Beckman, Anita Rogge and Renee Rook.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

That was a phrase from an  innovator in modern management, Peter Drucker, that was qouted by Geary USD 475 Board of Education President Brian Field, when he spoke to the entire staff of the school district Wednesday.

The occasion was the district’s General Staff Session at the Shenk Gym at Junction City High School.

Field, who is a graduate himself of Junction City High School,  took time to recognize several of his former teachers, administrators, coaches, and teammates during his school years. Then he focused on the culture. “All the people that I have mentioned are part of the culture of USD 475 past and present, and so is everyone in this room and throughout our district. We all know the unique challenges that we face as a school district, but what makes us special is this:We embrace those unique challenges every day. And long as we embrace those challenges and understand our culture we can employ our strategies.”

Fields added among those strategies is the desire to not just create great academic students but well rounded citizens, people prepared to meet their own challenges when they leave the school district.

“Every one of us is a part of that legacy.  We carry on that tradition. So let’s go out and make a difference in the youth of our community, because we can do that and we do it every day here in USD 475.”

The general session is an annual event held just prior to the beginning of classes in the school district. Students return to the classroom next week.

 

Geary County Commissioners are pushing back their 2016 County budget hearing to August 31.

An increase in the property tax levy is very possible, but the proposed spending plan is still a work in progress.

Ben Bennett, Commission Chairman, stated, “Right now there’s going to be an increase in the County budget. I don’t know how much. It’s been as high as 10 mills but we’ve really come down from that. Hopefully it won’t be too much. We’ll have to figure out where we are with it, and what it will be.”

One of the factors  has been the reduction in state funding for counties.