• Commissioner Mika Milburn’s goal was to lower the mill levy, proposing a 10% cutoff.
• Commissioner Gregg Motley’s goal is to restore trust in the employees, the public, and the financial market.
• Commissioner Joe Allen agreed with both of those positions.
• Commissioner David Beerbower’s goal is to reduce property taxes by 15% and to rebalance the county’s services, including proactive road maintence and adding a recycling center.
• Tran wants to maintain current tax rate, add in a cost of living raise for county employees, modernize the county’s procedures and processes, modernize equipment and standardize the county’s inventory, modernize staffing, modernize zoning and codes, and streamline the budget process.  In addition, he said the commission should be keeping track of all that is presented at their table.

BOURBON COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA

03.23.26 Agenda

Public Comments

Clint Walker: Walker said he has been attending county commission meetings for decades and is distressed by the condition of the flags at the courthouse. They are in shreds.

“You all set the standards. You all let me down,” he told the commission.

County Clerk Susan Walker: Walker addressed the commisison about personnel records. Citing Attorney General Opinion 94121 on whether an individual commissioner has statutory authority to look at “otherwise discretionally-closed personnel records,” she said that  the authority to do so is given to the board as a whole, but not to individual members. The opinion continued by saying that elected officials in the state of Kansas have the right to keep their own personnel files, which are “often exempt from public disclosure requirements.”

In addition, Attorney General Opinion 2003-15 talks about the authority of county commissioners to adopt budgets, but says that they should not be allowed to micromanage the employees of other elected officials, which would render those officials’ authority meaningless. If the commissioners target the pay of an individual employee in elected office, intending to improperly affect the employment status of the particular employee, it would exceed the county commissioners’ authority, per the Attorney General’s opinion.

Walker then requested that all past and present personnel records be forwarded to her office. She will send any payroll changes to the payroll clerk.

Sheriff Bill Martin: Asked for permission to speak to Payentry directly about issues with his employees.

Department Updates

EMS Update: Teri Hulsey, EMS Director

KRI has removed what they want from the building that EMS is supposed to have access to. It still has a lot of stuff that needs to be moved out to make it usable. Commissioner David Beerbower said there are plans for an auction forthcoming.

Cintas

A representative from Cintas came to discuss providing the hygiene products in the courthouse bathrooms. He said he can save the county 10 percent over the current provider, Osborn. This would be in addition to the mat service Cintas already provides for the courthouse.

Commissioner Mika Milburn said she would be in favor of letting the building maintenance crew make the decision.

Vending Machine

Bernard Streeter, operator of SNS Vending in Fort Scott, manages vending machines on the second floor of the courthouse near the county attorney’s office. He said he is loosing more products on them than he is making money. He wants to pull them and suggested putting a combination machine on the first floor instead.

The commission decided to collect information and work on the issue in the next meeting.

Old Business
Sewer issue

Kaety Bowers spoke with the commission about the communication she has received for the state of Kansas regarding sewage seeping into and in some cases being drained directly into the lake. She represents an HOA spanning two counties, Bourbon and Lynn, at the lake.

Bowers  said there is only one septic pumping service on the lake. There are 30-40 homes in the neighborhood that are not getting pumped. At least one is draining directly into the lake. KDHE is pushing the HOA to do something about it, but they have no authority to assess code violations. Because of their bylaws, the soonest they can make any changes is 2033.

KDHE is adamant that Bourbon County needs to prosecute, she said.

Based on the $200/day fine currently in place, there is potentially $7,000 per day in fineable sewer violations in Bowers’ neighborhood alone. She said that adds up to $2.5 million over the course of one year.

Commissioner Gregg Motley said that the solution is for the commission to ask the county attorney to enforce the state statute.

Bower ssaid she recognizes the challenge of enforcing codes in the county.

Tran confirmed Bowers’ information regarding the unpumped homes.

“As county officials, we need to make sure that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing to safeguard the lives of people in this county,” he said.

“Sounds like we need to work on our resources, quickly,” said Beerbower.

“We will try to do something about it,” said Tran to Bowers.

Audit RFP

Tran passed around a draft of an RFP (Request for Proposal).

Motley and Beerbower each requested to table it for a week to evaluate it and make the decisions about details of the RFP. The point of contact is the commission’s administrative assistant.

They voted to table it until next Monday.

Salary Resolution – Gregg Motley

There was a transposed number on one of the salaries. The correction was made.

CIC Hardware Support

Computer Information Concepts provides the accounting software for the county. The commission approved paying the cost of $2,500 annually to cover the installation and maintenance on all machines at the county that need it.

Auction update

Commissioner Joe Allen said he is planning to come through the county building and confirm with everyone that they have marked the items currently stored in the basement that they want to keep for their departments. Then he will look at ways to auction the remaining items.

“I’m assuming that by doing this auction, we’re going to open up space,” said Allen.

“I need to identify how much stuff we have to do an auction,” Allen said.

New Business
ADM Agreement

Public Works Director Kenny Allen said the transfer station doesn’t have the equipment to turn the beans and cover the trash. The tractor has been at the repair shop since last June, and they have been making do with a backhoe.

Allen suspects that they are being given more beans then they need. Allen said they loose money when transferring tires.

The commission discussed changes that need to be made to the county’s contract with ADM and updates the landfill needs.

Allen will come back next Monday with information for the commission about the suggested changes and updates.

Property Tax Relief – 1111 Beech

Voted to approve 100% of the value of the structure for abatement.

Title IV-E County Reimbursement Opportunity

Commission moved to have Motley look into it and report back at the next meeting.

Commissioner Comments

Mika Milburn thanked the board for their willingness to work together.

Joe Allen said he thought communication went well this week within the county.

Samuel Tran thanked everyone for working together to get the county’s business done.

BOURBON COUNTY COMMISSION

agenda-packet 03.16.26

When approving the accounts payable, Commissioner Mika Milburn moved to change the listing for $54,542.03 called Commissioner’s Wages to be labeled as Walker Settlement, since that’s what it is.

Jennifer Hawkins, County Treasurer and Susan Walker, County Clerk, both explained that it cannot be changed because it’s already been processed and the name of the account the money is paid from is called Commissioner Wages.

“It’s run through accounts payable because you process payroll outside of accounts payable. So you would have to void it and reissued it,” said Walker.

Commissioner David Beerbower said he had received questions from constituents about the same item in the accounts payable.

“We make about $4,000 between the five of us in a pay period,” Beerbower said.

Commissioner Samuel Tran offered to clarify, saying that the payment is not commissioner’s wages, but a pay out of a settlement.

Public Comments

County Clerk Updates

Susan Walker read a statement to the board and the public. She welcomed a review of the claims made against herself and her office. She said she welcomes transparency and they will fix any clerical errors that are found.

“You will not find manipulation of numbers and you will not find my office illegally processing payments,” she said. The allegations of illegal activity are unfounded and serious, especially when made to law enforcement.

Walker went on to explain that she has documents and recordings pertinent to the allegations of the commission, but advised that they be heard in executive session. (PDF of documents presented.)

 Mike Wonderly

Wonderly said he does not believe cutting the commissioner’s pay is the right thing in light of all that is going on in the county. He offered respect to Beerbower for standing by his original position.

“Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we don’t always need to go with the lowest bid,” he said. He said that the amount of time involved in serving as a county commissioner deserves adequate pay.

“I am concerned that reducing the pay of commissioners could discourage good candidates from running in the future,” he said.

Owensby

Owensby thanked the commissioners and other courthouse people for their patience. He thanked Motley for bringing forth the comprehensive audit plan, which will build public trust.

“Please keep up the honesty, the transparency, and the try,” he said.

He invited those who are critical of the commission to run for the office themselves.

Executive Session K.S.A. 75-4319 (b)(1)

Five commissioners and Laura Krom, 10 minutes, returned to session, no action.

Department Updates
Public works- hard surface road plan

Milburn expressed concern about the lack of a hard surface road plan this year, in light of the county’s 1% hard surface road tax.

She said the commission needs to offer Public Works Director Kenny Allen help and support since he is new to the position and no longer has a second in command who is familiar with the county.

Beerbower said that the previous Public Work Director brought his hard surface road plan to the commission for approval in late April of 2025.

Since the county was unable to complete most of last year’s hard surface road plan, Milburn suggested they start with that plan and modify it as needed for 2026.

Commissioner Gregg Motley said that the 1% tax represents the priorities for the county.

Tran said the county’s asphalt tank is not repairable, which has taken some months to find out. Thus the county can either purchase asphalt somewhere else or lay down chip and seal.

Motley and Commissioner Joe Allen said they would like to see last year’s hard surface roads plan.

They decided to schedule a work session with Kenny Allen.

Old Business
108 w 2nd listing

Beerbower moved to lower the selling price of 108 W. 2nd and adjacent property to $170,000. Motion carried unanimously.

Salary Resolution

Commissioner Joe Allen brought up some information he collected from six different counties similar to Bourbon County:  Lynn, Allen, Neosho, Anderson, Cherokee and Labette counties all have three commissioners. They all offer their commissioners benefits and pay them in the range of $21,000 to $29,700 annually. They all have either the county clerk’s office or an HR department as support for the commission.

Allen said that if those counties chose to go to a five-member commission and split the pay among the five, it would be about $15,000 per year for each commissioner.

“I think that should be taken into consideration if we’re looking at changing salary for us here,” said Allen.

“Most five-person commissions are in bigger counties,” he said.

Allen said that he has received a lot of feedback from his constituents saying not to change the commissioner’s pay. Tran said that he has heard the same message from lots of people. Motley agreed that he had heard the same thing.

Tran read a resolution setting annual salaries for elected and appointed officials.

MIlburn moved to approve, Motley seconded.

Beerbower then read a statement going over the history of the move from three to five commissioners and maintaining his position.

Motion passed with four voting for it and Beerbower abstaining.

Forensic Audit POC

Tabled until Sheriff Bill Martin is available to discuss the issue.

New Business

KORA (Kansas Open Records Act)

Beerbower said it appears that there’s a war going on regarding who is responsible and how KORA requests are processed in the county.

He and Motley both said that KORA requests should be handled entirely by the clerk’s office, since that’s where all records are kept.

Requests for records not kept in the clerk’s office would be forwarded by the that office to the appropriate department.

Tran said that the commission’s administrative assistant is part time. He expressed concern about her getting inundated and keeping her from her primary duties.

“I understand the law says 72 hours, but she’s not the POC (Point of Contact) for KORA,” he said.

Beerbower pointed out that the taxpayers foot the bill for KORA requests.

Jennifer Hawkins, County Treasurer,  said that the new Sunshine Law has changed the allowable charge on KORA requests  and the county should rework it’s fee schedule accordingly.

She also said that all KORA requests do need to go through the clerk’s office because those requests themselves are “requestable” so the record of them needs to be with the clerk.

$26,000 Walker Settlement Invoice

Commission voted to allow Tran to sign it.

CODE Red with Louella Howard Emergency Manager

Code Red is the public emergency alert system the county has used historically. Howard asked to switch to Genesis Alert System. Code Red currently costs the county $11,577 annually, split with the City of Fort Scott.

A three year contract with Genesis would be $15,465 for the entire three years, and could also be split with the City of Fort Scott. The Emergency Management budget can cover it.

The motion to change carried, full cost to be covered by the county.

Future Agenda Topics

Tran said the commission needs to hold a work session for county goals. He asked each commissioner to come to the table with at least three goals. This would be both for the budget purposes and to focus the efforts of the commission.

Beerbower said they need to have a work session with the elected officials to collect information about who has access card readers and access cards and clean it up for the future.

They scheduled a hard surface road plan work session for 4:30 PM Monday, March 23.

Commissioner Comments

Gergg Motley attended the SEK RPC board meeting last week. Bourbon County’s one loan with them is now current.

Joe Allen gave kudos to the courthouse custodial staff, who helped him today.

03.02.26 Agenda

The five county commissioners and several elected officials met in an executive session to change the county’s sick leave pool policy.

The board moved to accepted the recommendation of the elected officials regarding sick pool and will give instructions regarding that to Laura Krom.

Commissioner David Beerbower explained to those in attendance at the meeting that the commission has discovered that the current sick leave pool instructions in the policy manual will not work, which is why the other elected officials are crafting a recommendation for the board to amend the policy.

Old Business
Stronghold

Jason Rinker from Stronghold first addressed the comments he had made in the Feb. 9 commission meeting, regarding the letter from the Clerk, Treasurer and Register of Deeds offices about installing their own server, separate from the rest of the county and outside of Stronghold’s management.

At that time, the commission put forth a plan that included Stronghold conversing with CIC (provider of the county’s accounting software), which has not been set up yet.

“I still would strongly recommend to this commission that we have that joint call so we can get to the bottom of some of the issues we’ve been having,” he said. One of those issues is backups causing problems with the software. He said that those issues have not happened with any of their other clients. He was concerned that changing the intervals on the backups will not address the issue.

Commissioner Samuel Tran asked if the age of the operating systems on the county computers could be causing issues with the backups.

He also addressed ongoing security concerns that were mentioned in the previous meeting. He said that since that meeting, no one has reported any security concerns to Stronghold so they can be investigated and addressed.

Data protection was also discussed and no further information has been given to him.

Tran said he has had one complaint in the last two weeks of a missing email. He believes the email was recalled by the sender.

Stronghold rep said that they have been backing up data outside of the county’s Microsoft email system. He advised that county employees with missing emails contact Stronghold and start the process of tracking them down.

“Since I was here last, nothing that we talked about has been done, and I wanted to bring that to your attention,” he said.

Next he offered a project update. He said they are 80-85% complete with the project. Security architecture and clean up work have been completed, the firewall has been hardened and alerts are fully operational now. The Microsoft 360 security baseline has improved from 6% to 89%. The active directory cleanup has also been completed. New equipment is on sight and final deployment phase is underway.

Next, Stronghold will need to schedule some down time in the county to complete the final cut-overs on the network.

The commission then moved into executive session with Stronghold to update the new commissioners on the project they are doing for the county.

Baker Tilly – Ben Hart

Hart said he came to answer any of the commission’s questions

He gave an overview of their budget creating process. Baker Tilly will come in March and talk to the various county departments to see what their year was like in 2025, what revenue they are anticipating in 2026. BT will then report back to the commission the issues they have heard. They will then get the commission’s direction for the next budget.

Matt Lawn, former finance director for the City of Goddard, will be working with Hart on the Bourbon County budgeting process, along with the support staff at their Kansas City office.

BT will also provide a monthly report on the financial status of the county, to give the commission a more zoomed-out perspective on finances.

Hart says he wants the goals from the commission by the beginning of May.

Hart also explained that they start the budget creation with addressing what services the county wants to prioritize.

Lawn said that the budget is the county’s largest policy document, showing where its priorities are.

Milburn-Kee asked about having a line in the sand regarding raising the mill.

Hart said that discussion about goals includes discussion about boundaries.

Noise Resolution — County Attorney James Crux

Crux gave feedback on the proposed noise ordinance. He said it was that it was unclear if it’s a general nuisance statute or a more specific decibel rating violation, and needs clarification on whether the proximity is to a person or a property line.

There are no actual set noise levels in the resolution, but acceptable guidelines. “You can’t really have a per se violation on a general guideline,” he said.

He also said the guidelines for acceptable decibel levels are low. Regarding duration of sound, he said it’s unclear about how the duration affects the violation. Exemptions that include special events or festival are unclear.

He also said that the codes officer who enforces the code will need training in criminal and search and seizure law.

“This is one of those things that is outside of my statutory duties,” he said of prosecuting potential noise violations. He said he would have appreciated being asked if he would be willing to take on the task, and it may take more funding for his department to handle the complaints.

Commissioner Gregg Motley asked his opinion on a civil court action, rather than making a law to cause the noise to be criminal. Crux said he doesn’t practice civil law and cannot make a recommendation.

Motley also stated that collecting the fines from the corporation that owns the bitcoin mine may be impossible. Commission counsel Bob Johnson pointed out that it will take time to make change, whether they take the civil or criminal route.

Sewer — Bob Johnson

The county has entered an appearance in the civil case. Johnson has spoken with the primary complainer and the KDHE attorney, who said they would come down and assist in any testing that needs to be done.

“It’s moving forward,” Johnson said.

Tran asked questions about another citizen who called him with a complaint of sewage running off an uphill neighbor’s property onto his land.

Kevin Shafer was in attendance at the meeting. He said his ordeal has been ongoing for 5 years.  Every year for the last five years, with the exception of 2024, he has tested his property where the runoff is and, “the E coli is hot.”

Shafer said he’s been asking the county to do a perk test for the last five years. The sanitation inspector has not inspected Shaefer’s neighbor, where the violation is taking place.

Previous commissioners have told him he should pursue civil action and that they won’t do a perk test because it would make other land in the county unsalable.

In the last five years Shafer has had to drain his pond due to the E Coli, per K-State’s recommendation. He also built a swell and lagoon to contain the runoff and send it into the ditch rather than into his pond.

“I’d like the source fixed. I’d like Bourbon County to require perk tests so that nobody else has to go through this issue,” said Shafer.

Public Comments

Mika Milburn-Kee on Elected Official Conduct

Referring to Tran’s comment about Secretary Susan Walker’s feelings, she said she understands his comment.

Joseph Smith- Notice of Pending Action

Smith said he is preparing to circulate a petition to recall the District 5 Commissioner, Mika Milburn-Kee. Smith said that the grounds from recall will be specifically set forth in the petition and given to the commissioner. He said a minimum of 147 electors who live in district 5 must sign the petition before the recall can commence.

Clint Walker

Walker said that regarding transparency from the county, there was no bidding for the jobs of payroll,  HR, or audits. “I would appreciate if you do business locally,” said Walker.

“Every person’s feelings matter,” said Walker. “Know your people.”

Walker also thanked EMS for caring for his brother and getting him to the hospital when he was in an accident recently.

J.D. Handly

Brought back the commission’s salary. Handly said that during campaign time, they were told that the salary would not change with the addition of 2 new commissioners, but that the board of 5 would share the salary amounts formerly allotted to the board of 3.

“You gotta lead by example,” he said. “I want that promise kept. I want the salary completely done away with.”

Anne Dare

Read a statement that also brought up the “feelings” comment that Tran made. She said that kind of statement fosters a toxic environment.

“The optics aren’t good,” Dare said, using Tran’s own phrase.

She then called for the immediate resignations of Tran and Milburn-Kee and for Beerbower to step down as vice-chair.

New Business

Fire hydrant at Lake Fort Scott

Commissioner Gregg Motley said three different constituents have called about the hydrant. It was damaged by a driver a number of years ago and has not been replaced, resulting in increased home insurance premiums for those living in the area.

RWD 2 cannot afford to replace the hydrant at a cost of $3,200, but will meet the county half-way on the cost.

“We have no legal obligation to do that,” said Motley. He had no recommendations regarding what the county should do.

Beerbower said that the commission is to be looking out for the health, welfare, and safety of Bourbon County citizens.

Milburn-Kee asked how many other non-working hydrants are in the county that they many be asked to replace.

“It’s a public safety issue too,” said Motley.

Beerbower asked to table it for a week so he can do more research.

Executive session: Non-Elected personnel

Returned to session with action of allowing Commissioner Milburn-Kee to work with HR to accomplish what they discussed in the executive session.

Executive session: Attorney/Client

Returned to session with no action.

Beerbower asked questions about the NRP tax credit that he received from a constituent.

The commission voted to have the county appraiser come and explain the NRP process at a commission meeting in the future and the sewer issue.

Future Agenda Topics

• Fire hydrant at Lake Fort Scott
• Salary Resolution
• Noise Resolution

Commissioner Comments

Allen: Took employee recognition off the agenda because he wants to do some things differently, but he plans to get it back on there soon.

Other than a few logistical issues, there were no other commissioner comments.

BOURBON COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA

Commission Chair Samuel Tran asked that the clerk’s office include invoices with the checks he’s required to sign. Susan Walker, County Clerk, agreed to change her office’s procedures to fulfill his request.

Citizens Comments

Kevin Allen about the landfill

Allen thanked the commission for taking his calls. He said his company hauls a lot of garbage to the county transfer station. He asked that the commission consider keeping the it open on minor holidays.

His business used to haul trash out of county, but about 10 years ago, they switched back to Bourbon County, “to help support the community,” even though it cost more than hauling it out of county.

“We’re just trying to get in and give you more money,” he concluded.

Clayton Miller about the landfill

Miller said that the county transfer station has only recently started closing on minor holidays such as President’s Day. It makes it hard for trash haulers to do their jobs.

Commissioner Joe Allen said that in his past he worked hauling trash and he agrees that it is difficult to haul trash when the transfer station is closed.

Old Business

CIC — Tran

Tran asked to add Laura Crom to the CIC (the county’s accounting software) to give her access so she can do her job. Currently, two elected officials have access.

“Even if it’s read-only she needs access to there because she’s generating reports for people,” he said.

Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee said that in the past Sheriff Bill Martin has asked for access as well.

Tran said he’s been getting push-back on granting access to Crom.

There was a heated discussion about the reports that Tran said Crom had asked for. Tran saying she asked for them on Feb. 9, and County Clerk Susan Walker denying that she ever received the request.

Crom had asked Walker to do the payroll audit.

“Regardless, I’m going to ask you to give Laura Crom access to CIC,” said Tran.

“She will not have the information that she needs to create the work comp report because you have payroll in both systems,” said Walker. She created the report with the Payentry group by tweaking the report to include all wages.

“The work comp report is actually in the system,” said Walker. She went on to point out the problems with communication that are continuing between the commission’s administrative assistant and her office.

“There’s been a bottleneck of information since I’ve been here,” said Tran. “Either you work with us or you don’t work with us.”

The commission voted unanimously to give read-only access to Crom.

Auction

Allen and Commissioner David Beerbower talked about the process for getting rid of unneeded items in the county’s inventory. They plan to contact all the departments and have them mark the items in the courthouse basement they still want, contact an auctioneer, and proceed to get rid of the unneeded items.

Noise Resolution

Milburn-Kee said that she has concerns about the resolution, particularly the complaint form. She wants to go over it with the county attorney and lay out the process from start to finish.

“To make sure that it’s going to work,” said Milburn.

She is concerned about enforceability. “We’ve learned that we can’t complete the process on our own,” she said, referring to sanitation codes the county has.

Beerbower agreed with her efforts. The resolution was tabled until the next meeting.

New Business

Payentry — Joe Allen

Allen said he has taken some calls about issues that county employees are having with Payentry.

Undersheriff Davidson was invited to speak. He went into detail about the problems the new system is causing his department.

Sheriff Bill Martin asked if he and his department heads could have a conversation with Payentry to learn about how to make the system work for them and how other public safety departments use the system.

Martin said they are also having problems with vacation time not showing up. Other department heads agreed.

Milburn said she would send the contact information to him.

Tran thanked the department heads for being willing to work with the commission on this issue. The county is going through growing pains as they adjust to the Payentry system.

He suggested developing a different procedure for the sheriff’s office and the EMS department than the rest of the county employees.

Beerbower offered to facilitate the meeting with Payentry that the sheriff had requested.

Cemetery & Township Financial Reports

Commissioner Gregg Motley pointed out that some of the cemeteries are running on razor thin budgets.

Milburn said that the reports have been signed by people in various offices. Walker said there are no legal ramifications if the signatures are improper.

The commission approved the reports.

Unclaimed Property — Allen

Allen brought to the commission’s attention a list by the Kansas State Treasurer’s office of unclaimed property belonging to Bourbon County. Walker said she would ask the County Treasurer to look into it.

Commission Comments

Allen: “I just want to say that it seems like some of these meetings get a little tense…We all have the same goal…to make our community better.”

“I think we’re on the right road, for the most part,” he said.

Tran: Agreed with Allen’s statement. He said he wants to help the county government members do their jobs.

The county commission received an update from Public Works Director, Kenny Allen

Public works status update – Kenny Allen

Allen said his department needs to lease a new grader for $54,000 per year, 4.99% interest rate, warranted. The lease will be for a Foley Equipment CAT. All preventative maintenance will be done by the leasing company. Public Works has the budget for it. The commission approved the lease.

The City of Fort Scott is asking for a city-wide cleanup discount. Allen suggested they use a half-price voucher system for dumping at the county transfer station. Commissioner Mika Milburn asked if it could be a county-wide program. The commission agreed to continue the discussion.

The commissions signed the second phase paperwork for the bridge on Jayhawk.

Asphalt plant update: Greg Dishman from Wright Asphalt came to look at the damaged tank. and called in Adam from Blevens, who will come meet up with Allen to evaluate it. Adam suspects that the asphalt tank is out of date by a couple of decades. One option is purchasing a used tank.

The old tank contains more than $31,000 in oil right now.

They talked about fixing the tank this year, focusing on gravel and chip and seal roads rather than laying asphalt, then start laying asphalt next year.

Executive session with commissioners to discuss non-elected personnel issues 40 minutes.

Returned to regular session with no action.

Citizens Comments

Derek Ranes on Bitcoin: Checked to see if the county was getting his emailed noise complaints. They are. He said the noise is getting louder. He suspects they are acquiring more gas wells, and it looks like they’re expanding the facility across the road from his house.

“It’s getting kinda tough to get some sleep,” Ranes said.

The commission discussed the moratorium.

Old Business

Budget Strategy – Beerbower

Commissioner David Beerbower asked Commissioner Gregg Motley how the recent work session is leading the county to a budget strategy for 2026.

Motley said that the purpose of the questions used in the budget work session was to clarify values of the commission, which gives the budget makers information to make the budget.

Milburn asked Sheriff Bill Martin how Baker Tilly has helped his department create goals and budget accordingly. Martin responded that Baker Tilly should have been at the table to answer the questions at the meeting where the commission decided not to hire them to help build the county’s budget.

Samuel Tran asked him if Baker Tilly had been helpful to his department. Martin said his professional opinion is that they are. This is the second year the sheriff’s department has used Baker Tilly to advise on their finances.

Tran said he asked Ben Hart of Baker Tilly if his firm is allowed to audit the county and was told they are allowed.

Tran, Motley, and Martin discussed various types of audits and whether or not Baker Tilly can audit the county.

Motley reiterated his objection to hiring Baker Tilly on the basis of sending money outside of Bourbon County needlessly.

“That’s the opposite of economic development,” he said.

Motley then made a motion to hire Baker Tilly to do the budget process for Bourbon County as a fractional CFO, adopting the resolution that was voted down last meeting.

Beerbower asked several clarifying questions, including whether or not the process Motley started at the work session would include improving the efficiency of the Public Works department. Motley said that it would not, because one would need budget and public works expertise to accomplish that goal.

Joe Allen said he was in favor of having a conversation with Baker Tilly, but he wants to keep resources in the county, which is why he voted against the resolution in the last meeting. He was not comfortable adopting the resolution without hearing from Baker Tilly to hear what they have to offer that’s better than using the resources the county already has.

Tran pointed out that Baker Tilly is impartial and already working with the county in the Sheriff’s department.

Allen said that outsourcing sends a message of distrust to the employees of the county. He pointed out that training existing employees may be a good option.

Tran called for a vote and it passed. Beerbower, Tran, and Milburn voting for, Allen and Motley voting against.

County Technology & Network – Beerbower

Referring the the clerk, treasurer, and deeds offices setting up their own servers and emails, Beerbower expressed concerns about security and asked about wiring use.

Milburn said the handbook says all IT is under the county commission’s authority.

Tran said that going outside of the current construct of the county’s infrastructure prior to the completion of a long project is ill-advised. He sympathized with the desire to have their own server but expressed concern about budget creep.

He likened the network to a hotel, where each department has its own key for its room, but the county’s IT department, whomever it may be, has the master key for the whole hotel.

Standardizing programs and systems increases the security and minimizes the risks.

Tran said they cannot piggyback on the county’s system, in order to protect the county’s system from liability.

Beerbower said that in his several conversations with Stronghold he learned that cyber insurance could be affected by the change. There are also potential problems with the cabling and the .gov email addresses.

Beerbower said he would like the county clerk, treasurer, and register of deeds, as well as the two new county commissioners to receive the report on the health of the county’s IT system generated by Stronghold so they are aware of the situation and the work being done to improve the system.

Tran moved that any improvement or additions to the IT of the courthouse cease and desist until the commission can have a conversation including other elected officials and decide on the path forward. He excluded the current project with Stronghold.

Motion passed.

Tran said that he has information for the whole county. The county is only at 6% compliance with Microsoft 365. Stronghold plans to “slow roll” the change.

“If you have a glitch in your system, PLEASE call Stronghold,” Tran asked. The change started Friday, February 20.

Noise Resolution – Beerbower

The new resolution names the sanitation inspector as the new noise ordinance inspector. It also lists some equipment and training that will cost the county about $1000.

Milburn expressed concern about the department not having authority to enforce sanitation codes or noise ordinances.

He asked the commission to read it over to prepare for discussion at the meeting on Feb. 23.

Longevity Completion Announcement- Milburn

In January when the commission passed the handbook, it voted to remove longevity from it, but keep the longevity already in existence, by adding it to the hourly wages. Milburn said that process will be completed by the next cycle.

Tran said they are working on cost of living allowances and pay raises.

New Business

Executive Session Discussion – Allen

He said that executive sessions should be moved to the bottom of the agenda unless they involve visitors so that those in attendance at commission meetings aren’t waiting through all of the executive sessions for the rest of the meeting.

Allen also pointed out that the agenda is constantly being changed, but resolution 3425 says it should be locked in by noon on Friday to allow time for the commission to prepara.

Motley said he agrees and that it’s important that resolutions should not be brought in expecting a vote without giving the commission time to read them in advance.

Addition to Policy Manual – Milburn

She brought KCamps recommended additions, including ADA and lactation accommodations, FMLA policy, and the give the board the ability to change the policy manual.

The board approved the additions.

Beerbower said they should print the handbooks, one per employee and have them sign the receipt form. He also suggested training for the employees for each department to make them aware of the changes.

Tran said they should have HR come and train the commission and other leadership in the county, to enable them to train the county employees.

Motley suggested allowing electronic copies to be distributed.

Milburn said it is published on the county’s website.

Beerbower said that the training is the most important part, but he wants to offer printed copies to those who prefer that.

SEKRPC Board Meeting Report & CBDG Block Grant Seminar – Motley

The organization has grown to offer about $2 million in loans and grants.

Motley said he is excited about the possibilities the program offers to Bourbon County and plans to work on it throughout the year.

Emergency Manager Accounts and Access -Milburn

New Bourbon County Emergency Manager, Louella Howard

The commission passed a resolution giving her the position and also moved to get her a county email address and the other equipment she needs to do her job.

Commissioner Comments

Samuel Tran: There’s a lot of supervisors in the county right now that are agitated because Pay Entry has shut their people out. People have been putting their time and attendance in incorrectly. The executive assistant and Pay Entry locked it down. Supervisors are asked to go and look at each time card prior to it going in to PayEntry. The executive assistant will contact department heads to let them know what the situation.

Milburn said that recommendations were not to leave them unlocked for individual employees to change.

Sheriff Martin said that the issue should be laid at the feet of the department responsible for the error, rather than making all employees pay for the mistake of one.

Beerbower asked if PayEntry could come and offer training in how to use the program. Milburn said she would ask.

Gregg Motley: Exhorted the commission to look for ways to build bridges and improve moral.

Mika Milburn: Is excited about having drivers license moved to suite 10.