The Bourbon County Zoning Recommendation Committee presented its report and recommendations to the county commission.

Old Business

Zoning Recommendation

“It is this committee’s recommendation to proceed with limited zoning for Bourbon County, Kansas,” read Brian Ashworth, presenting to the commission for the zoning recommendation committee.

The committee, made of members from throughout Bourbon County, met for 6 weeks and held three town halls as well as other communication with county residents as they researched and formed their recommendations.

The report reads, “The implementation of zoning will help preserve productive farm and ranch lands from unfettered development of large-scale industrial and commercial projects.”

The report also says that zoning policy needs to be forward-thinking and comprehensive.

The committee proposed three types of zones: Agricultural (A1), Large Commercial (C1), and Large Industrial (I1). It also acknowledged that there could be a need for transitional zoning around the cities.

The committee reports recommends that the county begin by zoning all of the county A1. Outside of agriculture, residential, personal use, or small local business, Conditional Use Permits (CUP) or rezoning would be required. Landowners will need to submit to the zoning commission for a CUP or zoning change to use the land for anything above a certain threshold.

The report also recommends limited, comprehensive zoning to protect personal property rights, saying that checks and balances need to be put in place to avoid unnecessary expansion of zoning regulations.

All current land uses should be grandfathered in with no phase-out clause, per the report.

People do not want codes and are concerned that they will need a permit to build barns or other structures on their property. No building codes should be implemented beyond those required for large-scale commercial and industrial projects, said the committee.

Citizens are concerned about the environmental impact of solar panels and batteries near their properties. The committee recommends that the county incorporate environmental and property value studies into the requirements for large-scale industrial and commercial developments. They also recommend including reasonable set-back and visual barrier requirements and a thorough review and standards set. Safety concerns, property encroachment, loss of property value all should be considered.

The committee also recommends that the county consider establishing a limit on the amount of land that may be allocated for large-scale industrial developments in the county.

They also recommended using a reputable planning firm to limit the cost of zoning to the county.

Addressing the concern about the loss of tax revenue that may occur if zoning drives business away, the committee said that zoning should be business-friendly, and studies may need to be done on how to encourage economic growth.

Zoning should not create a barrier for temporary events.

Resources the committee used and recommended to the commission include the American Planning Association website and the Kansas Practical Guide to Zoning and Land Use Changes website.

Commissioner Samuel Tran thanked the committee members for their diligence in forming the recommendations.

Commissioner David Beerbower also thanked them and said, “we will not take the recommendations lightly.” The commission will move forward with work sessions and public hearings as they decide what will happen in Bourbon County regarding zoning.

New Business
Truck Bypass Route

Matthew Wells, city commissioner for Fort Scott, spoke to the county commission on behalf of the city of Fort Scott about some proposed projects. He said that they have been working on a TEAP (Traffic Engineering Assistance Program) Study of truck routes in and around Fort Scott. As a result, KDOT is recommending a truck bypass on 240th Street out to JayHawk, putting in a roundabout  using KDOT funds. KDOT also want to build a train overpass funded by federal, state, and railroad funds

KDOT is looking into how much it would cost to make those changes to handle truck traffic, especially during flooding that closes the highway and train traffic causing truck backups.

Currently, there is no bypass truck route in Fort Scott.

Precinct Legal Descriptions-Susan Walker

County Clerk Susan Walk, who is also the elections officer explained to the commission that the redistricting caused the need for eight new precincts within the townships, affecting how the people vote. Legal descriptions need to be completed in July and approved by the state of Kansas. They also must be published for three weeks in a row before the next election.

The commission approved her request for time with GIS to try to create the maps.

Commission Comments

Commissioner Mika Milburn, speaking about perception, said it varies from person to person regarding how to get the county where it needs to be.

“I believe all the moves the commission is currently making is in good conscience to move Bourbon County in a healthy, sustainable direction,” she said. “You can trust me to be authentic and lean on morals.”

“This job has blessed me with a greater resilience,” she concluded. “Thank you Bourbon County.”

“The people in this county are amazing,” said Tran. He said he is working with a great team at the county and the people of Bourbon County should be proud of their neighbors.

He also said that people watching the meetings see the decisions that the commissioners make, but they don’t see the choices, or lack thereof.

The Bourbon County Commissioners received the 2024 audit report for the county from Emily Frank of Jarred, Gilmore & Phillips.

Bourbon County has chosen to follow the Kansas Regulatory Basis of Accounting instead of General Accounting Principles and received an “unmodified opinion,” which means the audit was clean. The county had no cash or budget violations in the 2024 audit.

The county started 2024 with $4,149,000 of unencumbered cash. Total receipts for the county in 2024 were $17,949,000, and expenditures were $18,414,000, resulting in an ending unencumbered cash balance of $3,686,000.

Frank gave the commissioners information to help with budget creation for 2026.

She recommended that the general fund have at least 90 days’ cash on hand to be safe. “But a little bit extra would be better,” she said.

“The last two years you guys have had some pretty big decreases in your general fund,” she said, $120,000 in 2024 and $167,000 in 2023. She said that the commission will need to find ways to increase income and decrease spending to prepare for emergencies, as they go through the process of creating the 2026 county budget.

The Public Safety fund also needs watching, she said. It was at an unencumbered cash balance of $268 at the end of 2024. “This fund probably is going to need some help over the next couple of years to kinda get to a little bit more comfortable position,” said Frank. The Public Safety fund was supplemented with transfers from the general fund in 2024.

Road and Bridge also had a low cash balance of $12,000.

In 2024, several funds were amended, including Road and Bridge, Bridge and Culvert, Appraiser, Election, Employee Benefit, Landfill, and the Emergency Service Sales Tax Fund.

County bonds and lease debts total $3,824,000, and the county paid $235,000 in interest in 2024.

Executive Session for personnel matters of individual, non-elected personnel resulted in a vote to approve a deviation from policy to allow the public works director to work HR, as explained within the written documentation for this one occurrence.

Old Business
Juvenile Detention

Commissioner David Beerbower moved to cancel the county’s membership with the Gerard Juvenile Detention Center and adopt juvenile detention with Johnson County on a case-by-case basis.

Commissioner Mika Milburn asked if the county attorney had weighed in on the contract.

The item was tabled until next week, when the county attorney’s opinion can be given.

District 4&5 Term Limits

County Clerk Susan Walker told the commission that they need to pass a resolution regarding the changeover from 3 to 5 commissioner districts. One of the new district commissioners will serve a one-year term, and the other a three-year term. This is so that in an election cycle, either 2 or 3 of the commission seats will be up for re-election, but no more.

Milburn, who currently represents District 3 will be representing District 5 after being re-elected. This means that District 3’s seat will be vacated and require an appointment at the beginning of 2026.

Commissioner Samuel Tran said that switching out people too quickly causes a loss of historical knowledge. The commission has been in turmoil lately. Tran wants to keep at least one person in for a longer term to build continuity.

Tran made motion that district 5 commissioner will serve a three year term and district 4 will serve a one year term.

Both the candidate for new districts 4 and 5 are running unopposed.

The commission approved Tran’s motion as resolution 2125, Milburn abstaining.

SEK Mental Health Resolution and Letter of Support

Resolution 2225 will repeal the old resolution funding SEK Mental Health and have the commission sign a letter of support for SEK Mental Health. The resolution passed.

Courthouse Repairs

Tran looked over repair recommendations and saw a lot of maintenance that had fallen through the cracks with a price tag of more than $1 million.

He thinks the number may be high and wants a much more detailed proposal so the commission can verify the numbers and make better decisions.

“It’s ultimately by job to be a steward of your money,” Tran told the audience.

“Even if the county could or would fund this amount, doing so without a line-item bid is not recommended,” he said. He also said the county should have an on-site project manager for the work that needs to be done. Tran also wants to get input from the people who use the building.

“We need to break this down. We need small bites,” he said.

Tran expressed the need to formalize how the county procures goods, services, and equipment.

Milburn moved to give Tran the authority to go through the building with a hand-picked team of volunteers to see what’s needed to care for the county buildings to report back to the commission on Aug. 4. The motion was approved.