County employees propose pool for sick leave
Staff reporter
A decision to allow a sick leave pool for county employees was put on hold Monday by Marion County Commission.
Members of a committee presented a proposal to the commission regarding employees with 480 hours or more of sick leave sharing up to 40 hours with other employees.
The criteria will require the request be approved by the department head, and the employee making the request must qualify for family sick leave which is approved by the commission.
Commissioner Randy Dallke said he was concerned about allowing the additional time off with pay for any kind of sick leave which could include normal child birth.
The proposal also would designate who would receive the extra compensation. If not all of the sick leave was used, it would be part of a pool for future use.
County employee Norma Kline spoke for the group and said other counties (Jackson, Kearney, Coffey, Crawford, and Rooks) have implemented a similar program.
"A great deal of research went into this proposal," Kline said.
Dallke said he was not against the program, just some of the criteria. He said he would rather see a pool that could be used by anyone who qualified rather than a specific person.
Diana Carter-Frantz, county appraiser, said some employees may not be inclined to donate their time if they don't know who's going to receive it.
Commissioner Dan Holub said he was concerned about department heads not approving it for some reason. He said the supervisors really don't have much choice but to approve it.
Dallke asked the group how each department would budget for the expense. The response was it couldn't be budgeted but it wouldn't be used that often.
The commission will review the proposal at a later date and make a decision.
In other business:
— County transfer station manager David Brazil reported a one-inch by three-inch hole in the cement tipping floor. An engineer inspected the damage and said the structure was not cracked. However, he recommended further analysis.
Brazil said constant scraping with a metal blade has worn down the floor. He suggested rubber be attached to the blade like a squeegy to reduce wear on the floor.
The commission instructed Brazil to get cost estimates for repair.
— Brazil requested and received a 15-minute executive session to discuss personnel. Maggard also was in attendance.
The meeting reconvened with a 30-day family leave being approved for an employee of the county health department.
— The commission approved training for county noxious weed director Bill Smithhart. The training will be for a weed-free forage inspection program.
This program would address the spreading of noxious weeds through contaminated forage.
Kansas Department of Agriculture will reimburse the county for time and mileage for Smithhart to attend the free training.
— A letter of support for a transportation operating assistance application was approved by the commission for the county department for elderly.
— Noreen Weems, director of the department for elderly, reported former county commissioner Howard Collett will be a candidate for the silver-haired legislator in March.
— Information was distributed to the commission regarding the county's support of Kansas Legal Services.
The county provides $2,000 per year for legal services for county residents.
A representative from the entity will explain the services at a future commission meeting.
— A final report regarding the ambulance billing situation will be presented to the commission in a written form rather than in person or by telephone.
Scot Loyd, auditor with Swindoll, Hawk, Janzen, & Loyd will provide the information.
The commission also decided to have Loyd talk with each department head regarding department budgets for 2006. The information then can be compiled and presented to the commission.
Previously, individual department heads came to the commission with budget requests.
The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Monday in the courthouse.
