August 23, 2022 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with the three Commissioners
and the County Clerk present.
Clint Walker, Don Hutchison, Rob Harrington, Susan Bancroft, Shane Walker, and Matt
Quick were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim announced Clifton had a flat while driving in. He will be in momentarily. Nelson
made a motion to approve minutes from the last meeting. Jim seconded. Both
approved.
Eric Bailey gave an update on asphalt. We have ½ mile left in the Uniontown area.
The water pump went out in the laydown machine. Should have it fixed and be back
out there later today if not tomorrow. We moved the rock crusher last Thursday to
Blake. While our dozer was being repaired; and having the landfill kit put under it,
we rented a dozer. We took that dozer out to Shepherd Quarry and cleared out some
overburden. We are almost ready for another blast. Culvert crew had a great week
last week. 145th between 54 and Osage they went in and re-ditched and added some
culverts and got the area cleaned up a little bit. Tomahawk and 185th to 195th we did
some more ditching and built the road up. 145th and Poplar, they did some culvert
and ditch work there. 145th & Range culvert and ditch work there. 135th & Range and
135th & Tomahawk and then Poplar & 95th culvert and ditching in that area. Andy
Johnson, in our Noxious Weed Dept, has resigned and taken another position pursuing
another career. We’ve got some interest internally. We have a shipment of
chemicals in if anyone needs to get their fall chemicals. BNSF called yesterday and
they are going to closing 230th between Grand and Hackberry tomorrow from 8am to
5pm to do some crossing maintenance. We had our field check on the bridge at 160th
& Fern and everything went well with that. We are moving forward with that project.
KOBIP Program with funding to be able to repair bridges that are located on RS roads
and off system roads. Rob and Emily have worked hard to get paperwork put together
for bridge 518 which is between Valley and 215th that goes over the railroad tracks.
With this program it is a 90/10. Our part would be the 10%. We are clarifying some
information that we heard from some of the KDOT people that were there for the
field check and we have some bridges on our inventory program that are old metal
truss bridges that actually have bridges located right next to them. We have 4
identified now. They are on Yellowstone between 35th and 65 Highway; 225th
between Poplar and Quail; 255th and Yale; and 265th between Xavier and Wagon. With
this program they have an incentive to remove the bridges from the inventory list and
they will provide $1,000 per linier foot per bridge. This would include bridge 2.0 B.1
Yellowstone 35th and 65 Highway; bridge 21.0 J.8 on 225th between Poplar and Quail;
bridge 24.0 B.0 255th & Yale; bridge 25.0 D.0 265th between Xavier and Wagon. I think
we may have more but those are the ones we would be interested in at this time.
Clifton made a motion to remove the bridges from inventory as stated by Eric. Nelson
seconded. All approved. Jim asked about the money on the big bridge if that is
Federal or State money. Eric stated Federal brought down through the state. Jim

asked about the off system roads is the also 90/10. Eric stated that off system is
100%. We would like to look at the one at 160th & Grand for sure as the farmers have
made a path to the west of it to get around. Eric stated there is no guarantee we
would be awarded the grant but I believe we should apply. Jim stated that once we
get the big one locked in money-wise I would like to look for money to rehab the
metal one on the blacktop down by Garland. Eric stated this is going to be an ongoing
program. Clifton made a motion that the money received from the inventory bridges
be used toward other bridges. Jim seconded. All approved. Nelson asked if Public
Works would be responsible for dismantling the bridges. Eric said we will take them
off of our inventory list and then he would need to work with Justin and see if we can
find someone who may want to purchase the bridges.
Greg Post asked about the possibility of annexing Timberhill into Mapleton so that we
can get some revenue. Justin stated if the landowner and the city agree then they
need permission from the commissioners. Justin stated that legally we would have to
have a resolution to do this. Justin stated it would mean additional taxes for the
landowner. The commissioners were ok with working on the annex.
Bob Reed stated that as of last Friday, at 5pm, all inmates are back. Hopefully, in
two weeks we will be fully staffed. Jim stated he appreciated the hard work from
Bob Reed to make this happen. Bob thanked his employees, those that stayed and
rode out the storm. Thank you to those who have come forward and taken a job.
Clifton thanked Bob Reed.
Matt Quick stated that he has 3 vehicles in his fleet right now. Was going to try and
make it through this year with the 2007 brown chevy. The field appraiser was out in
it and stepped on the brakes and heard a clunking noise and brake pedal went to the
floor. She found the brake pad on the ground. It’s wore out. Want to get approval
to purchase another vehicle to replace that one. We have the money in our vehicle
reserve. Jim stated that we want to shop local. Nelson asked if they buy brand new.
Matt said new or as close to new so that there is a warranty on them. Also, want to
buy something we can work on local. The brown chevy has been in our fleet for over
10 years. Stock is hard to find. They are just getting their 2022 vehicles and they
should be getting the 2023’s. Nelson asked if the equipment reserve account county
wide. Matt said this account is just for his office. Clifton made a motion to approve
Appraisers to use his equipment fund to purchase a vehicle up to $35,000.00. Nelson
seconded. All approved.
Rob Harrington asked for executive session. Clifton made a motion for executive
session KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets
of corporations, partnerships, trust, and individual proprietorships for 20 minutes
including 3 commissioners, Justin Meeks, Rob Harrington, Susan Bancroft, and Shane
Walker returning here at 9:49am. Nelson seconded. All approved. Clifton made a
motion to resume normal session at 9:49am. Nelson seconded. All approved. Clifton
made a motion to go back into executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data
relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust, and

August 16, 2022 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners
(including newly appointed Commissioner Dist #1 Nelson Blythe) and the County Clerk
present.
Robert Harrington, Anne Dare, Jason Silvers, Susan Bancroft, Bill Martin and Clint
Walker were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim started the meeting by welcoming Nelson Blythe, the newly appointed
Commissioner for District #1.
Clifton made a motion to approve the minutes from August 9th. Jim seconded. All
approved.
Eric Bailey stated that the information he read states the commissioners shall sign for
new culverts. It was determined that the culvert permits would be brought in once a
month for signature from the commissioners. Eric stated they had a surprise
inspection in the Noxious Weed Department and passed with flying colors. Andy has
done an outstanding job. Eric continued discussion with asphalting. We are west of
Uniontown. We did not asphalt yesterday due to three dump trucks being down. We
got one back up and going so we are asphalting today. It probably will be the middle
of next week before we are finished in that area. Eric thanked Commissioner Blythe
for coming out last week and helped lay some asphalt and rode the screed. Eric
continued stating we are experiencing several breakdowns. It is diesel, exhaust, &
fluid (DEF) related. We are not able to repair those DEF issues so we have to send
them off. We’ve got two dump trucks and a side-arm mower down with it. Our other
side-arm mower has the gear drive bearings out on it but are in the process of getting
that put back together. Grader #14 dropped a valve. It’s at Foley getting repaired.
The lay-down machine was delivered to Van Keppel. Regarding the belly dump, I will
hold off till late fall to see where we are with the budget. Eric gave a copy of the
fuel cost spreadsheet to each commissioner. Jennifer has done an outstanding job
putting this together for us. Bulk fuel saves us. We are doing a field check meeting
Friday on the bridge project at 160th & Fern. KDOT, Schwab Eaton will be there. Eric
stated the sign requested for the “s” curve on 207th off of Jayhawk is in the process.
Eric said they would use a side-arm mower to get it trimmed up and ready for the
sign. Nelson stated he received a call regarding Hackberry Road between 80th & 95th
the low water bridge is bad on the south side. Eric said they would take care of it.
Jim asked about the bus route regarding mowing. Eric said they are on it.
Lynne Oharah talked about one of the agreements we do every year. Another
discussion regarding the chillers at the hospital. Design Mechanical services our
chillers every year. Last year our total package for servicing the chillers was
$10,806.00. It’s down this year because we are not servicing as much equipment.
The price for this year will be $$6,940.00. Nelson asked if this was the same people
who have taken care of it in the past. Lynne said yes. Clifton made a motion to

approve the service agreement paying a quarterly payment. Jim seconded. All
approved. Lynne continued discussion regarding the chillers and stated that every 5
or 6 years they crack them open and actually clean the coils. If you don’t, there is
build up and it starts deteriorating. The last time it was done was well over 6 years
ago. Lynne said he would come back at a later date and have a serious discussion on
whether we are going to do this or not.
Anne Dare spoke about EDF Energy stating they are coming to NW Crawford County.
Anne was contacted by someone from Crawford County and wanted to know what
could be done to fight this. I was given a few paragraphs of the contract and it was
shocking to read that if the leased land is ever sold, EDF has first rights at buying it
among other things. Anne asked the commissioners to seriously consider
implementing a special use permit for new industry coming to the county. Clifton
stated that previously the commission was asked to sign something that we would not
infringe on people’s property rights at all. “I agree with that. Are you asking me to
infringe on people’s property rights?” Anne stated that she did not believe asking
industry, whatever it might be, in this case wind energy, the land owner that is
approached would still have the right to put this in place, but it also establishes
something for the protection of commissioners and something stronger to establish a
negotiating process. Jim stated that he has been a supporter of special use permits
and still are somewhat because I understand, being a codes guy and zoning
administrator for the City of Fort Scott for many years, but by doing this special use
permit we have the option of saying yes or no. If we say no, we are going back on
what we voted on just a few months ago. Nelson stated he doesn’t even like the
sound of special use permit just from it doesn’t sound very conservative. I
understand your concerns, I will look at it, but I don’t know how you can only target it
toward the wind industry and if put in place any other industry would have to go
through that as well. I don’t want any more barriers to bring industry into Bourbon
County. Clifton stated that we have setbacks already. Justin Meeks stated that there
were already setbacks. Justin stated that you can’t restrict one industry and not
another or you would run into lawsuits. Anne asked that the commissioners take a
look at and consider a permit.
Transient Guest Tax (TGT) – Nelson stated that he contacted one of the businesses in
the county and they weren’t even aware that people were talking about the TGT.
Nelson stated that he would want to meet with the people that own the Airbnb’s to
ask their opinion. Jim stated that he would like Susan to look into it to see how it can
be structured to help the County. Jim stated I would be in favor of it if the property
owner supported it and if the money stayed in the County to be used to promote
tourism. Mark McCoy stated the Tourism Director should market and merchandise and
advertise not just the city of Fort Scott, but the entire County. As a former business
owner, we survive together, not alone. The subject was off set for 60 days.
Sheriff Bill Martin – a couple of weeks ago a citizen put through a KORA for an
ammunition report. Nick Trim will present this information. Nick gave information
regarding his previous experience and training certificates. Nick stated that he is a

August 9, 2022 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with two Commissioners (Jim Harris and
Clifton Beth) and the County Clerk present.
Susan Bancroft, Michael Hoyt, Teri Hulsey, Trace V. Evans, Austin Bahr, Alvin Metcalf, Kevin
Davidson, Bill Martin, Jason E Silvers, Mark McCoy, Matt Quick and Brian Allen were present
for some or all of the meeting.
Clifton made a motion to approve meeting minutes from July 18th, July 26th and July 29th. Jim
seconded. All approved.
Eric Bailey stated that the asphalting on 55th to Yellowstone to Zinc is finished. We are now up
on Maple 45th and Native area west of Uniontown. We are working on base coat and then we’ll
put the leveling coat on. Update on compost permit. I got an e-mail from Emery and he said I
received no comments regarding the addition of the compost facility so he is going to begin the
processing the application to go through concurrence to get signed permit which requires 8
signatures plus the signed permit. If he forgets to update me on the signature process, he said to
feel free to contact him. That tells me we are going to be a little while yet. Prairie Pathways
have been in touch with me regarding signs. You approved the signs going west and now they
are ready for the signs going east. Clifton made a motion for sign placement. Jim seconded. All
approved. Eric provided an updated map of roadside mowing and an update of where they are
with that. Eric stated between Tomahawk 205th and 185th have done some crossroad tubes and
are working on some ditching. Kansas west of Hwy 3 is the same thing with crossroad tubes,
one entry tube and ditching there as well. The stop sign at 240th & Jayhawk has been replaced.
Jim thanked Eric for including him in on the meeting with Van Keppel Equipment we are on our
way to a new engine for our paver at a very reduced cost. Jim asked Eric what his thoughts were
on a belly dump. Jim stated that when you’re asphalting, you’re not hauling any gravel. We’ve
been lucky but if we get into a wet winter, we’re in trouble. Eric said he had no problem with
buying another belly dump but wanted to set down with Susan and see where we are with the
budget. Fuel has been very hard on us this year with the fluctuating prices. Clifton said that he
was in Crawford County on gravel roads recently and our roads are no better but no worse. Our
roads are as good or better than the roads I was on.
Bill Martin stated a couple of weeks ago there was an individual questioning the investigation in
regards to some drugs that were seized and questioning the ability. I’ve invited Deputy Metcalf
and Kevin Davidson that are the drug detectives for the sheriff’s office and they will explain how
this process works. Kevin Davidson said he was here to clear up the fuzzy number’s
information. We’ve brought documentation to clear up the fuzzy numbers. I have the KSOR
(Kansas Offense Report). This report is open to public record. At the bottom it lists the property
that was seized. You can verify that there was 8.4 pounds enlisted in the property. The second is
the compliant information on the case. I brought a copy of the Kansas Statutes where it can be
verified through KSA statutes. The charging and what it’s for and quantities for charges listed.
The incident originated just inside the Bourbon County line approximately a mile inside of
Bourbon County it did end inside the city limits of Fort Scott. I can’t go into much more detail
than that. As far as official weight on any drug seizure, it’s not official until the KBI weighs it.

Anything and everything are presumptive positive until it is verified through the KBI. Any drug
seizure falls under that. We weigh it here, but KBI gives the official testified weight. They also
give the final say on whether it’s meth, marijuana, we send it as a white crystal substance, clear
liquid or green leafy substance. We don’t pretend to be chemist or botanists. Kevin stated that it
is very frustrating to be perceived as slandering when it’s said a certain department has fuzzy
numbers when you don’t know how the department operates. Jim thanked them for coming
forward and answering questions and taking care of the KORA request. Kevin stated that
Deputy Trim will be here next week to address the ammunition concerns.
Bobby Reed stated no promises but I’m hoping by the end of the month all of our Bourbon
County inmates will be back in Bourbon County. We’ve hired some people; a couple back. We
will lose another one soon. He’s been with me for 2 ½ years. If we keep on the same track that
we’re on we should be pretty good employee-wise; have everybody trained and get the inmates
back.
Teri Hulsey, Director of EMS gave an update. July call activity we had 210 calls for service; 78
were 911 transports; 7 to other ER’s (going directly from the scene to other ER’s); two were
flown from the scene; 35 transfers that went straight to Pittsburg from our ER here; 21 transfers
went to other facilities; 55 dry runs (12 were cancelled prior to arrival on scene). At this point
for this month, we’ve already had 56 calls. If things continue, we are on point to have 200+ this
month. We made an update and change to our transfer policy. At this point, we are not taking
any non-emergent transfers after the hours of 0300 to 0700. We will only be taking stat transfers
during those hours. I have updated the policy and Dr. Burke, our Medical Director, signed off on
it. If it is a true stat transfer, they need to be contacting flight services. I and Jon Lowery have
offered, if they are busy, we will contact flight services for them. If flight services are grounded
due to weather or pilot out of hours, we will take the transfers. At this time, I want to introduce
you to Trace Evans and Austin Bahr. They recently graduated Paramedic school and have
passed their test and are now operating as Paramedics. They’ve also been in touch and been
working closely with Osage and they are going to discuss with the possible remount of two of
our trucks. Austin stated that a lot of people don’t know the difference between EMT and
Paramedic. EMT is a basic level providing basic life support. ALS is advanced life support.
More of a level of an RN. We can actually bridge to RN back and forth. We can hand off to a
nurse and receive from a nurse. It’s a great asset to the community and hope to do a good job for
you. Clifton expanded on the paramedics. I am a nurse. EMT’s are great, but Paramedics are
better; they can literally save your life. More so than probably most RN’s to be honest. Austin
stated that we are only as good as our equipment. We have two ambulances that are getting up in
miles; less reliability. One of them has been in the shop 3 times already this month. Three times
in approximately a week. What we are looking at are remounts. You can get a remount which is
where they take the box and refurbish and put it on a new chassis. New engine, new frame and
get more life out of your box. Some boxes can be remounted 4 or 5 times depending on taking
care of it. We take very good care of our boxes. The guy from Osage that has come and talked
with us has expressed that as well. They give you a kick back from that. Susan stated that
approval from one remount was made previously. I told them it is good for us to discuss it and
we’ll see if the funding is available through ARPA funds. Trace stated that they did approve one
but that bid is outdated. They only last around 30 days. Austin stated they are looking at three
possible options. One is upgrading from a type 3 chassis to a type 1 chassis. Trace stated the