Refinancing saves county $500K

The Shawnee County Commission approved a refinancing arrangement Thursday that will save the county more than $500,000.

Commissioners Bob Archer, Bill Riphahn and Kevin Cook voted 3-0 to approve the issuance of general obligation bonds to receive lower interest rates while refinancing GO bonds the county issued to finance multiple projects in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

The refinancing will save the county $513,487.44, said Bob Perry, the county's bond counsel.

"Good job," Cook told Perry.

"Wow," said Archer.

Also on Thursday, commissioners voted 3-0 to authorize corrections department director Brian Cole to arrange for two division manager's jobs in his department's community corrections division to be classified positions instead of unclassified, as they had previously been.

Archer said he was glad to see Cole's department had been working to increase the community corrections division's efficiency and effectiveness since commissioners made community corrections part of the corrections department in April.

Cook noted that separate boards consisting of community volunteers oversee community corrections operations for adults and juveniles, and asked what members of the public could do to serve on them.

He was told that they could contact the corrections department's deputy director, Tim Phelps, who can be reached at tim.phelps@snco.

In other business, commissioners voted 3-0 to:

• Enter into a contract with various participating political subdivisions ensuring that resources will be available for the 2019 Kicker Country Stampede, which will take place from June 20 to 22 at Heartland Motorsports Park. County emergency management director Dusty Nichols spearheaded the creation of that agreement, commissioners learned.

• Enter into a contract with Washburn University that arranges for the county health department to continue to be able to use its Petro Allied Health Center to dispense medical services to the public, if needed, at no cost to the county.

• Award the bid to Fry and Associates, submitted the lowest of the four bids the county received, to build concrete foundations and steel shelters at Shunga Glen Park, Collins Park and Skyline Park locations at a cost of $64,415.

• Approve a change order increasing the costs by $14,336.10 to develop the East Topeka Learning Center at 2014 S.E. Washington, where ribbon-cutting ceremonies to celebrate its opening are scheduled to take place June 21. The economic development organization GO Topeka is reimbursing the county for the project costs.