Hay Bid Opening 5:35PM
Commissioner Samuel Tran opened 2 bids, saying there was no bid for 225th and Native Road.
The first bid was for $5 for 255th at the Radar Tower. The other bid received was for $600 on 1999 Prairie Road, Fort Scott.
Bids were accepted as received.
Approval of Minutes 04.13.26
Milburn Kee took issue with the vote on coming out of executive session, saying she voted for no action.
She also wanted it on record that the employee payroll discussion contained incorrect statements.
Department Updates
Jennifer Hawkins, County Treasurer
Taxes are due May 10, which is a Sunday, so May 11th will be the last day to pay without penalties. The Treasurer’s office will be open 7AM to 7PM on Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8. Hawkins will be doing remote tax collections throughout the county per the schedule linked here: Property tax reminder from the Bourbon County Treasurer.
Hawkins reminded everyone that there are no statements mailed for the second half of property tax payments due for 2025.
The online tax portal is now open to pay taxes online. The link is in the slip that came in each property owner’s tax statement.
Klenda Austerman is the attorney’s office that handles tax sales for Bourbon County. They are currently doing title work to prepare for a property sale in August or September. Hawkins said that they are working with multiple counties and auctioning off many parcels in the state Kansas.
Executive Session B1 for non-elected personnel regarding sick leave, called by Beerbower. The meeting included all commissioners and the employee and was held for 20 minutes.
After returning to regular session with no action, they voted to return to executive session for the same purpose for an additional 10 minutes.
They returned with action. Beerbower moved to continue the precedence set with the employee on his time to end in one week. Commissioner Gregg Motley seconded. Commissioner Joe Allen abstained.
Motion carried.
Public Comments
Mike Wonderly: Appreciated the joint session between Fort Scott Commission and Bourbon County Commission. He said that the growth of the county is encouraging, mentioning growth at Lake Fort Scott.
“My main concern here is Elm Creek Lake and the rock quarry,” he said. He mentioned the amount of activity that lake attracted in the past. Turning it into a rock quarry would remove the lake as an option for recreation.
Todd Miller: Ordained elder and county employee. Spoke to the commission as an elder. He thanked the commissioners for stepping up and trying to be part of the solution. “There’s not a long line of people who want to step up and sit in these chairs,” he said.
He also thanked them for opening their sessions with prayer. He said that many people in the county are counting on them to listen to the Holy Spirit they call on in those prayers.
He also reminded them that as leaders and elected officials, they are held to a higher standard than common citizens.
He mentioned Chairman Tran using the Lord’s name in vain twice during the April 13 meeting, which he found very discouraging.
“Are we just praying just to get the prayer over with and then to move on, or are you actually really wanting help from God and the Holy Spirit to move forward through this? I’ve never seen a council that needs the Holy Spirit more than this one…You guys are going to need as much help as you can get,” said Miller.
He then asked Tran to publicly apologize for using the Lord’s name in vain. He also suggested that Tran ask God to forgive him, as Miller said he himself has done when he made mistakes in the past.
Tran then interrupted Miller, telling him he had reached his time limit.
SEKCAP Representatives: This organization provides housing vouchers throughout counties in the region. They are currently applying for a grant to enable them to expand the housing assistance they currently offer with rapid rehousing services. They are planning to combine it with their tenant-based rental assistance program that helps with homelessness prevention.
They asked the commission for a signed letter of support to assist with the grant application process.
They also mentioned the transportation services they provide and their concern with being able to keep it going. They have received enough support from the community to continue services. Now they have realigned their calendar year to match the county’s fiscal year.
He gave documents to the commissioners information about their current use throughout the county.
Commissioner Gregg Motley asked for a general breakdown of how they are funded. The core of their funding is a federal block grant. The transportation services they offer are funded 30% locally, 30% by the state, and 40% federally.
They are seeking a total of $24,000 from the entirety of the county, including Bourbon County, the City of Fort Scott and other sources, to keep operational.
Old Business
Planning Commission – Milburn
Brian and other committee members brought a report.
There were five firms who responded to the RFP. The range of cost is $38,000-$117,000. After consulting their mentor, they recommend interviewing three firms: Confluence at $105,000, MPC at $95,000, and Foster and Associates at $38,000 with some addition expenses possible.
Foster and Associates is the least expensive with the narrowest scope. Confluence seemed to have the most comprehensive scope, followed by MPC.
They each offered a 12-18 month time frame.
Milburn-Kee asked if the board had a favorite. Brian responded that the three they’ve chosen seemed like the best fit.
MPC, based in Nebraska, has done work in many counties in Kansas. Confluence, out of Kansas City, had a comprehensive presentation. Foster and Associates is based in Wichita. They did the zoning for Labette County.
The planning commission will be meeting later this week. Brian asked for a budget. He asked for the county commission’s approval to schedule the interviews and for their presence at that meeting.
Motley said he preferred to leave it in the planning committee’s hands to choose their preference.
The commissioners thanked the committee for their hard work thus far and noted how much work they will be doing going forward.
Juvenile detention -Sheriff Bill Martin, Angie Eads, Director of Sixth Judicial District Juvenile Corrections, and James Crux, County Attorney.
Eads offered data about the number of juvenile detainees from Bourbon county from 2018 through March of 2026. She also distributed a copy of HB 2029 and a brief about it in regards to detention stay changes.
Eads attended a meeting with Johnson County Community Corrections. They stated that their study shows a marginal increase in detention stays will most likely result from HB 2029. Eads agrees with their assessment. She also mentioned the provision for juvenile stabilization centers, the details of which have not been outlined yet, but could affect time spent in juvenile detention centers.
Crux said there was a total of 1225 billable days for Bourbon County juvenile detainees for the six year span from 2019-2024, and 543 of those days were one individual. Most of those days were spent on four juveniles.
“Most of the days we’ve had this year are outlier days. They’re not the norm.” said Crux, referring to an out of state runaway that was housed through Bourbon County juvenile detention.
He said Bourbon County does need a detention center somewhere.
Juvenile’s are those over 10 years old and under 18.
There’s no real consistency to the number of juvenile detention billable days from Bourbon County.
Johnson County charges $150 per day.
The county paid $134,000 in 2025 as part of their contract with Gerard. It’s a flat rate regardless of days used.
Martin said he doesn’t see an increase in juveniles needing detention and he wants to save the county money. He also mentioned the principle of getting kids back home as soon as possible.
Tran said that the county should create a slush fund to fund juvenile detention. He asked to do a work session to collect information and “do a deep dive,” so they can “put this to bed once and for all.”
Vacation & Sick Leave Resolution – Beerbower
Last week, the commission tabled the resolution to give the commissioners and legal advisors time to look it over. Beerbower said he made some changes based on feedback.
Changes include a change to the scale of vacation days allotted based on years of service. He also changed the rules to allow payout of unused vacation balance after 10 years of employment. He also added a provision to freeze employees current vacation accumulation until the amount banked matches the new schedule. He also wants to change accrual to begin at the beginning of the calendar year, not based on hire date alone.
Beerbower said he would not have brought the resolution if there was not a problem. His goal is to simplify the process.
Regarding sick leave, Milburn-Kee expressed concern about paying out sick leave to employees who leave before retirement age.
Beerbower said that he wants included FMLA leave in the sick leave hours.
Commissioner Joe Allen brought up the idea used in school districts of “discretionary time” which can be used for sick leave or dependent care.
Milburn-Kee read a statement of her opinion about the proposed resolution Beerbower introduced saying, “If the goal is to reduce complaints, I’m not convinced that it will be achieved.”
Tran said that he did “a deep dive” to help a number of employees with issues and never found any evidence that leads him to believe the system is faulty. “We need to work to give it a chance,” he said of the Payentry system.
He asked the commissioners to look over the information that Milburn-Kee brought to the table before voting. Milburn-Kee said that the documentation provided by County Clerk Susan Walker in last week’s meeting is inaccurate.
Milburn-Kee said that some employees were on accrual and some on front-loaded vacation and sick leave.
After some heated discussion, Tran called for a 3 minute recess and encouraged Beerbower and Milburn-Kee to calm down.
The commission came back after the recess and continued the discussion. Tran suggested that Beerbower do a deep dive on each of the employees who claim to have a problem with their vacation and sick leave hours. He also said that there’s a place for policy exemptions, but a full policy change is not going to fix the problems people have been having.
Beerbower said that gathering all that information isn’t going to gain anything for the county. Putting off passing the resolution will just prolong the problem.
Tran asked for one more week to go over the information.
Beerbower said the only thing he is in favor of is passing the resolution now.
Allen said that he came in as commissioner in the middle of the issue. He said that everyone on the commission is passionate about their jobs and it’s time to swallow pride and stop blaming the past and move forward.
“We’re just beating this dead chicken around the table, and we’ve gotta go somewhere,” he said.
“I just want one thing: whatever anybody thought they had on 12/31/2025, I want that restored. I don’t care how it got there,” said Motley. “I don’t care how it’s done, it just needs to be done, cause it’s not their fault.”
“A lot of them have already self-corrected,” said Milburn-Kee.
“A lot of them is not all of them,” said Motley.
Allen said he would like time to go over the changes that Beerbower made to the resolution before voting.
They decided to table the issue until next week.
Executive Session B4 to discuss contract negotiations with five commissioners and Bob Johnson by phone.
Returned to regular session with no action
Elm Creek Quarry Discussion
Tran said that the Elm Creek Quarry has enough rock in it to last a generation. The lake is leaking. If they use it as a quarry, they can produce their own rock, they’re not in danger of loosing a lease, and it’s good rock. It was approved under a previous commission’s administration.
Milburn-Kee said that she has been told that the lake was put into Bourbon County’s hands for the enjoyment of the people. She moved that they hold it. Motion was seconded.
Beerbower said he was against using it as a quarry back when it was approved by the previous commission. He said there is other land in that area that the residents have expressed interest in leasing.
“There’s a lot of potential at that lake,” said Beerbower. He suggested an RV park may be a good idea and that a rock quarry would hurt that. He said he is more interested in working on making the lake a tourist attraction than in using it as a quarry. He questioned the financial benefit of the county quarrying it’s own rock, suggesting a deep dive into whether or not it’s profitable.
Motley asked Mike Wonderly why the lake isn’t as popular as it used to be. Wonderly said that Fort Scott lake is closer and bigger.
Allen said he grew up in the area and it was very popular when he was growing up. He still takes his kids out there fishing and he suggested camping with RV hookups would be good for development.
New Business
Resolution for Disaster Proclamation
Tran read the proclamation stating a state of local disaster emergency exists covering all of the county as of April 17, 2026. This will remain in effect for 14 days unless terminated early.
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