At Mark Arts yesterday, NXTUS, Inc.’s NXTSTAGE Community Health & Vibrancy Pilot Competition, presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS), announced22 pilot projects, as well as 13 additional potential future projects, all aimed at improving Kansas’ population health and economic vibrancy.
During the competition’s innovation showcase, Pilot Partners from around Kansas committedto implementing promising technology tools aimed at tackling key issues such as access to mental health care and addiction treatment, improving senior care and expanding charitable giving:
·Healthy Bourbon County Action Team committed to pilot projects with Small Bites Adventure Club, SpairTime and SoulFIRE Health, and is connecting Akesa Health, Caregivers Insight and Embrace Prevention Care with care providers in the county to scope out future projects. They are also continuing discussions with Kadogo to construct a collaboration.
·Hodgeman County Economic Development: Awarded pilots to Debtle, PursueCare, Small Bites Adventure Club, SoulFIRE Health and Televeda. They are still exploring collaborations withthree additional finalists.
·LiveWell Northwest Kansas: Doing pilot projects with PursueCare and Akesa Health and joining other partners in expanding Televeda’s work in Kansas.
·Scott County Development Committee: Awarded a pilot project to Televeda and committed to a multi-entity project, alongside Stepping-Up Ministries, with Akesa Health, PursueCare, SoulFIRE Health and Vincere Health. SCDC’s leader has also committed to a personal pilot for Caregivers Insight.
·Thrive Allen County: Awarded four new and one continuing pilot: Akesa Health, PursueCare, Small Bites Adventure Club, SoulFIRE Health, and Televeda (continuing). They are also continuing to explore funding for 6 more projects, with Caregivers Insight, Embrace Prevention Care, Kadogo, Ringorang, SpairTime and Vincere Health.
“We’re thrilled to play a part in connecting entrepreneurs with local community organizations to improve health outcomes and the economic well-being of our state,” said Virginia Barnes, Blue Health Initiatives director at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. “Our communities have unique health needs and the technology being implemented as a result of this competition has the potential to improve the lives of thousands of Kansans.”
We’re excited to continue to match Kansas’ future-minded leaders with leading innovators to put tomorrow’s tools to work right now to change Kansans’ lives for the better. We’re working to help connect entrepreneurs to customers here, so they can grow companies of significance and help Kansas communities thrive.
NXTUS, Inc, is a catalyst for the region’s startup ecosystem. At our essence, we serve as a nexus for entrepreneurs, investors, corporate partners, and the community at-large, according to its website: https://www.nxtus.io/aboutus.
Its primary aim is to grow startups, strengthen innovation culture and build support systems. It is based out of Wichita.
The June meeting of Starlite FCE was held at the Yeager Building on the Bourbon County Fair Grounds. President Glenda Miller called the meeting to order. Joyce Allen led the club in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the Club Collect. Ten members were in attendance and reported twenty-nine hours of volunteer work and that they had recycled forty pounds of cardboard.
Deb Lust announced that they will be putting out the flags on July 4th and those interested in helping should be at East National at 7 am to put them up, and 4pm to take them down. It was also announced that Doris Ericson has been selected as the State Heart of FCE winner, congratulations Doris. A thank you letter from Jackie Warren was read and a letter form Megan Brillhart was also read.
Doris Ericson gave the treasurer’s report. Glenda Miller presented receipts for items for the library. Letha Johnson moved we pay Glenda for the items bought, Betty Johnson seconded the motion, motion carried. June birthdays are Betty Johnson, Doris Ericson, Del Parks and Jackie Warren has a birthday in July.
Glenda Miller announced that Starlite had received our 65-year Gold Star at the area recognition day and that Starlite had won first place in the education category with “Where is the top of the World” lesson, and second in the Community Service category with our Honoring Veteran’s project.
New Business consisted of discussing our service project with the library. A sign-up sheet was passed to bring items needed for their upcoming events. It is also announced that they would enjoy having volunteers to come in and read to the children. Joyce Allen and Glenda Miller had helped with a previous party and Joyce had also volunteered to read stories. Sign-up sheets to help at the fair were also passed around. Starlite is responsible for helping check-in and for keeping record of the judging for Prepared Foods, Preserved Foods, Photography and Fine Arts and Farm and Garden produce. Karen Peery will be setting of a presentation at the fair on Last Wishes.
Terri Williams reminded everyone that the King Arthur Flour contest entries forms needed to be sent to Jackie Warren by July 1st and that on July 2nd the flour for the contest will be handed out at the Yeager building from 9:00 – 11:00 am. The Fair entry for open class will be accepted on July 18 from 2:00 – 6:00 pm in the Meyers building.
Deb Lust moved that the meeting be adjourned, Joyce Allen seconded the motion, meeting adjourned…Deb Woods presented the program “Make a Med DASH to a Healthy Heart” after the meeting while the members enjoyed refreshments of fruit pizza, biscotti, nuts, mints and water provided by Joyce Allen and Terri Williams.
June 14, 2022Tuesday 9:00 am The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners and the County Clerk present. Clinton Walker, Rachel Walker, Anne Dare, Matt Crystal, Jacob Bielenberg, Bill Martin, Bob Reed, Ben Cole, Emily Diebolt, Tayton Majors, Rob Harrington, Susan Bancroft, Shane Walker and Matt Quick were present for some or all of the meeting. Clifton Beth made a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Lynne seconded. All approved. Eric Bailey presented a culvert permit for Patrick Wood at 1004 S 230th. The commission is going to check on whether they have to approve each culvert permit. If not, it will be discontinued. Eric gave an update on the composting permit for soybeans. The permit is still on hold. Eric said that the holdup is on their side. We’ve done everything on our side. Eric stated there has been training on the rock crusher. It puts out a lot of rock. We are cleaning up the overburden at Blake’s. We will start asphalting next week in Hiattville. The culvert crew has been working on 215thcleaning out the ditches and getting the tubes in.
We had some trees down over the weekend from the storm and are working on cleaning that up. Eric received a call from Iola Post Office. Unity and 62ndTerrace where there is a water plant and a house. There is a lane that goes down there. We’ve checked with Lora and we’ve looked on the GPS maps and that road does not show as a platted road on either map and hasn’t been bladed and they’re unable to get down to the mailboxes. Does anyone know of any agreement in this case? Jim said he didn’t think they ever bladed it
Eric stated he received a call from a councilman from Uniontown from our meeting we had out there, it was their understanding that we were going to lay asphalt for them. I need some guidance. Jim stated that was not his understanding. He said that we would review and see if we could help them or not. Justin said we can’t do that without an interlocal agreement. We can’t compete with private business.
Justin stated that there are two more trestlebridges in the county that are becoming a problem. We’ll have to make some big decisions on probably three of them. Eric stated working on the area Lynne mentioned is go on each side of the bridge and put barricades up stating “bridge out” and put a dead end sign. We will be working on correcting this in the very near future.
Lynne mentioned that on Unity between 95thand 105ththere is an area that washes a trench out every time we get a few inches of rain. I think it might be a ditch problem. Jim asked what Eric needs to be really aggressive with ditching? Jim asked Eric to bring a plan. Jim said it was no reflection on Eric’s operation because we had the same issues when he was in the position.
Ashley Shelton presented fireworks permits that need signed. Clifton made a motion to allow Chairman Harris and Ashley to sign the fireworks permits. Lynne seconded. All approved. Ashley stated there would be one more next week.
Ashley spoke on Preservation of Ballots and Election Records per KSA 25-2708 states the records shall be destroyed after 22 months from election. When the ballots are destroyed, I have to have two witnesses, one from each party. I have reached out to Carol MacArthur, chairperson for Democratic party and also reached out to Mark McCoy who is the chairperson of the Republican party who recommended Anne Dare. Those two people have to be appointed by the Board of Commissioners. Clifton made a motion to appoint Carol MacArthur and Anne Dare to witness the 22 month destruction of election material. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Ashley stated that there have been complaints from the people that the building at 108 W 2nd. There was work done last year and paid for but it is not completed. Jim asked if there is a check-off process for projects to make sure they are completed prior to payment. Ashley said when we received the invoice and it has been signed, we assume the work is done.
Ashley asked if any of the commissioners planned to attend the KAC conference on October 17-19. Jim asked that Ashley make reservations for him. Clifton and Lynne will be attending, also.
Bill Martin stated that over the last 5 years there have been 90 employees go through the jail as correctional officers. In the last week we’ve had four correction officers turn in their resignations. That brings us down to 8 to operate the jail. I’m here to inform the commissioners that I’m shutting the jail down. We’ll be transferring the inmates out until we can figure out what we can do in regards to the employees. We’ve had Facebook posts, job announcements by word of mouth to get people to come in and haven’t gotten one application. This is being done for inmate and correction officer safety. Bobby Reed did everything he could do.
Jim mentioned that this is a nation-wide issue. Your situation is not unique. People don’t want to work. Bobby stated that this is a very difficult decision. I have 16 positions that are under my control for correction staff, not including myself, my caption or my secretary. Next Tuesday, I will have 8 of those employees out of 16. Those 8 employees, if they stay, I have been told that another one may be coming; I have another one coming at the end of August. Those 8 employees are staying on because we are not shutting the facility down completely. We are moving all of the inmates out that we canto surrounding areas. I’ve been in contactwith several sheriffs throughout SEK as far as Fredonia and we are going to have to keep those 8 people on and figure out some sort of schedule so that when arrests are made they are still going to be booked into our system. They will then be transferred to another county. We still have to have daily operations, depending on the court systems, we are still going to have to get the inmates to court. We will have to go get them from where they are being held to get them there. We will still be responsible for their medical. This morning I have 62 inmates that are ours. Some counties are going to charge us $35.00/day/inmate, some counties will charge $40.00/day/inmate and some will charge $45.00/day/inmate plus medical. Jim asked Bobby what he thought was contributing to the turnover. I
n the last couple of months, everyone that has resigned has filled out the exit interview paperwork. I ask for details. Several years ago we opened our job pool to hire outside of Bourbon County. I had an employee who left two weeks ago that was driving from El Dorado Springs, MO. He found employment closer to home making more money. Gas prices are also playing a roll. I’ve contacted Cherokee, Crawford, Allen, Linn, Anderson and Miami. Everyone, but Miami and Anderson County start out at $15.00/hr. They are struggling to stay fully staffed. When asked if they would take some of our prisoners they said in an emergency they would but they are trying not to because they are short staffed as well. Miami and Anderson’sstarting wage is $17.00/hr. Jim stated that according to records, their budget was increased $48,000.00 for 2022. Bobby said back in 2018 we started out at $10.17/hr. In 2018 we got a $1.50/hr raise that brought us up to $12.17/hr. With the 3% that we got in 2022 that brought the starting wage to $12.50/hr. Bobby stated that even if we brought the starting wage up to $15.00/hr., there is no guarantee it will bring us applicants. Bill asked about the increase for 2022. Jim stated that there was an additional $48,000.00 for the correctional facility and an additional $50,000.00 for Sheriff’sside. When we did the budget last year we tried to address it
and tried to help. Bill stated that the report they received from Susan showed we are about 3%
belowwhat we should be spending but we’re not familiar with what will happen in the future. We are just finishing the 5thmonth going into the 6thand overtime is at $32,000.00. Given the pay raise we feel that that is going to be over budget in regards to wages and salaries and we are trying to watch that in regards to what is going on. Bobby and Ben have worked diligently trying to figure out what to do and how to get this going. Law enforcement public safety, when it comes to correctional officers, are just as important. Our hands are tied. We can’t even fill from deputies because it takes away from their time off. Jim stated that when we increased your budget $48,000.00, we were hoping that would bring the salary up enough to make people happy. Bill stated that this is not to make anybody angry,but we’ve had several studies done to show that we are below the minimum pay. We addressed that and they were in double-digit figures. When you give raises in the single-digit figures it’s hard to make that up. We are open for suggestions. We are willing to have a round table discussion at a later time, but right now this is what we are faced with. Bobby said we need to come up with incentives for people to want to stay. We need to pay our people well enough that they can’t afford to look. When there is such a wide salary difference between us and the private sector it’s pretty common sense. With 60 inmates at an average of$40.00/day that’s $2,400.00/day multiplying by 30 days that’s $72,000.00/month. If this is long term, which I hope is not, we have roughly 180 days left in the year. That’s $432,000.00 estimated to pay to other counties depending on our numbers. That doesn’t include medication, fuel and wear and tear on vehicles. Susan asked about food service. Bobby said that we areunder contract and he hasn’t reached out to them. Worst case scenario, we have to keep a few of our inmates because we can’t find housing, a bare minimum of maybe under 10. Susan stated that because we are a government entity, contracts can be broken because of budget constraints. Could we reduce the amount of food? Bill stated that we will have to get with the contractor and find out once we get the numbers and negotiate. If we do away with that contract, it will be difficult to find another vendor to come back in due to what is going on. This contractor takes full responsibility for any food allergy reactions. They take that responsibility during lawsuits so we have to negotiate and watch what we do. Bobby stated there are two vendors. One is food service and the other is medical with CHC. Due to some of our inmates going to other facilities that have CHC will have to work something out. If we pull off of that then our costs go up considerably. CHC has saved Bourbon County a lot of money. I would hate to do away with the contract. We are hoping this is short term. Jim stated some of our larger correctional facilities are privately run. Is there any advantage to that? Have you looked at anything like that? Bobby responded that the sheriff has control over the jail, the jail has to set in the county seat. I’m almost 100% certain that the county has to have the jail and it can’t be because if it was that easy every county would do it. Out of 105 counties in Kansas there are 102 jails within Kansas. Three or four are shut down because they are old and only have one or two beds. Most of those that are privately run are like a prison and not a county jail. Those facilities house post-trial or sentenced inmates. Bill stated that a private institution would pay more in wages. That would not be feasible for Bourbon County. Clifton asked how many beds our jail has. Bobby stated 74. This morning there are 69 inmates and 6 of those are Linn County so we would be 61 or 62 inmates. Linn County will take their inmates and house them elsewhere this week. I spoke to the sheriff in Linn County and their facility will not be open for another 2 or 3 weeks and that’s if all goes well. Bill stated that at the end of May we should have spent 41.5% and is setting at 37% which is about 3% less which gives us some cushion for overtime. There is going to be overtime on the sheriff’s side now because we havea deputy that resigned and that
position will have to be covered too with the possibility of one or two more leaving. This is not
about the sheriff’s office,I’ll handle that. Bobby has worked hard to find ways along with the help of Undersheriff Cole and I believe they have done all they can. Clifton asked how many people Bobby has today. Bobby stated that he has 11 as of today. He has 19 positions, 16 that are assigned to the back that are 6 correction officers, 4 corporals, 4 sergeants and 2 lieutenants that doesn’t include myself, my captain or my business secretary. Bill stated that he knows there will be people in the public that will say that when we built the new jail we increased our staff and that is incorrect. We hired one and that is the transportation officer. Bobby stated I’m not asking for more staff because I can’t fill the positions I have now. Jim asked if they equate so many employees per inmates. Bobby stated no that they would need a lot more staff handle it that way. Bill said there was a study done that stated one correction officer per 8-10 inmates. With the way the jail was designed we could handle the inmates with the current staff. Jim asked if we were going to maintain eight employees could we keep 30% of the inmates. Bobby stated that he doesn’t like to work with less thanthree employees due to safety or medical issues. Jim asked Susan about the money they are talking about spending where is it coming from? Susan stated at quick glance I can’t tell you. You may have to dip into some sales tax money of which you don’t have a lot built up and if sales tax takes a dip that’s a little bit different. Susan stated that looking at studies with counties with populations similar to ours. Of course, you have to look at assessed valuation, property tax generated but what comes from that is Bourbon County has the lowest assessed valuations in the comparisons and we’re the third highest in mill levy. So, we are poor and are taxing at a high rate. We are second to lowest in what we can generate in property taxes. It’s more about economic development and growth in our community. That is a partnership between lots of entities. Bourbon County Redi, City of Fort Scott, our school districts with everybody coming together and figuring out how we get our assessed valuations up so we can lowerour taxes, that’s housing development and industries coming in. Right now we are a poor county when it comes to what we have to fund and the services we provide. I looked at the American city, county government journal and it is a national problem. What is changed, according to the article, is the private sector is offering high compensation, flexibility and rapid career advancement. They are looking for younger workers. They are calling this the great resignation. They’ve never seen anything like this. Turnover is unprecedented. For many the pandemic prompted reflection about what is most important in their lives. Work, it turns out, wasn’t as important as many had thought and people became less willing to center their lives around their job. Further into the article it talked about a shift in worker attitudes. There are five values that could be driving the change. A desire for flexibility across all dimension, work that works for the person, among the young groups they are telling governments to rethink how they’re giving incentives both wage and non-wage incentives to align better with new worker values. We are not just talking about other industries; we are talking about people we are trying to hire. They are saying be open to hiring senior workers. The report that they did said that if we don’t change our approach to hiring and retention the oldest members of gen-x (those born between 1997 and 2012) who are now 25 and the youngest just 10 years old the cohort will be the target hires for the next decade or more and their interests are very different than those of the baby boomers and the gen-xers who now occupy most senior rolls in government. We have to rethink what we’re doing. Jim asked if the sales tax won’t cover it, will we do no-fund warrants? Susan stated that could be a potential. You could have to do some serious budget cuts; you could have to do some reduction in force. This is a very serious conversation. Bobby stated that it costs a lot of money to fight crime and crime don’t care about money. This is a service that
every county has to provide but the people that are allegedly committing crimes don’t care if we have an industrial park full of businesses or we have zero. Clifton stated that is what pays our taxes. We don’thave a golden goose that lays eggs to pay for everything. Clifton verified with Bobby that his staff work 12-hour shifts and that is a difficult thing to staff. Hospital systems have spent billions of dollars trying to figure out how to do it effectivelyand they haven’t figured it out either. Jim asked since we’ve built the new facility, what percent has the crime gone up in Bourbon County? Bill said he could get some numbers for him in a couple of weeks. Before closing out Bill asked if the public comments regarding what they’ve talked about could be asked now as they would be leaving after their presentation. Clint Walker stated he reads various county newspapers and they have sheriff’s report during commission meeting. Why don’t we do that? Bobbysaid there is a report sent everyday to the newspaper and various other e-mail addresses. Arrests, inmate count and releases are included in the report. There is a website that you can get this information from as well. Jim said that when the jail was built it was highly discussed about the money that was to be made by renting beds. Bobby said he wasn’t going to go down that rabbit hole because it’s a conversation for another day. But, we moved into that jail 6/18/18. When the jail was built we had 40 inmates here and 20–25 housed out. So, we built that jail for 74, at the time we had 65. We have 1,100 feet currently at the jail that pods could have been put in but weren’t at that time.Hindsight is 20/20, if we could go back in time, I would bet at that time the cells would have been added in that space to house them, we could have had it paid off in 2 ½ years and we would have 2 ½ years of revenue that could have assisted in our budget for wages. Anne Dare reiterated that it is a national problem and not just a sheriff problem; it is a society problem and the way our society is going. It is going to take faith-based communities; medical communities, sheriff communities, school communities to effectively change the culture of our county. The only thought I had was implementing some type of ROTC type program. Is there anything that could be law enforcement type classes in our high school and junior college to possibly help the education process in order for them to come out ready to be hired. Clifton stated the junior college does have classes. When someone is hired in law enforcement that person is sent to the state academy in Hutchison. While there, he is being paid a salary. Once they graduate, they are certified in the state of Kansas. By statute, once they finish academy, they have to work for that agency for 1 year. Jim asked Bobby if starting salary was $15.00/hr what would happen? Bobby stated he didn’t know. I can only hope it would help. I don’t know if it is a fix-all because other counties paying that amount are having trouble keeping help. The county just south of us is slightly below that but as of the 27thof this month they will be raising it to $15.00/hr. I fear it will cause a snowball effect in raising the starting wage to $15.00/hr then you would have to raise those who’ve been there awhile higher and then that will affect other departmentsin wanting increases. I think it is a step in the right direction but will cause a snowball effect and there is no guarantee. I’m available for any questions, round table events to come up with a solution to this problem. Clifton made a motion for executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship including three commissioners, Justin Meeks, Susan Bancroft for 10 minutes returning at 10:41am. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 10:41am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Clifton made a motion to amend the agenda to add an executive session for Councilor Meeks for attorney client privilege. Clifton made a motion for executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship including three commissioners, Councilor Meeks for 10 minutes returning at 10:51am. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved. 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 including three commissioners, Justin Meeks, Rob Harrington and Merrill Atwater for 10 minutes returning at 11:03am. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 11:03am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved. Susan Bancroft stated the SEK Multi-County Health Dept is doing a community baby shower and our handbook does not allow for solicitation. We can make a donation as a county or can put it out for our employees to see. The Commission gave permission to put it out. Susan stated bank reconciliation for May is complete. There is nothing new, sales tax is up still. We did reconcile. All departments are doing better in getting these done quickly. Jim asked about the difference in the CD’s listed. Susan said she would get with Rhonda and Patty and look into bidding those out again with the interest rates going up. Susan presented information from Juvenile Detention Center as to what they will be charging next year. We’ve always budget $110,000.00 and so that is still within range. Their estimate is $83,655.00. It is based on usage. Susan requested an executive session. Clifton made a motion for executive session KSA 75- 4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy including three commissioners, Susan Bancroft, Shane Walker, and Justin Meeks for 5 minutes returning at 11:14am. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 11:14am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved. Shane Walker–CIO: No comment Public Comment: Anne Dare stated she was looking at the May bank reconciliation and wanted to know why we have 1.64million in CD’s. Susan stated they are certificates of deposit and we’ve tied up our cash to get a little more interest on it. It is part of the budget. That protects us from raising taxes. Anne asked about the funding for the Juvenile Detention Center. How many juveniles do they house for Bourbon County for last year? Justin stated that you cannot house juvenile offenders with adults. We looked at another facility but it was full. Anne wants a better breakdown. Anne asked that they take another look at it to see if it is cost effective. Justin said he and Susan would look at it again. Ashley Shelton stated that Clear Ballot election equipment would be here this afternoon to demonstrate their equipment. Public is welcome. Commission Comment: Jim assured Anne that they would look at the juvenile detention center again. At 11:22am Clifton made a motion to adjourn. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Last chance to provide input on Bourbon County Employee and Resident survey!
YOUR RESPONSE IS APPRECIATED!
Do you work in Bourbon County? Do you live in Bourbon County? Either way or both, we want your thoughts about work and education. Our Chamber is assisting Bourbon County Regional Economic Inc on its workforce assessment. A few weeks ago, we asked for input from company leaders. Now, we want to know what employees and residents think. Even if you are not currently employed we want to know what you think. This survey only takes about five minutes and is completely confidential.
Thank you!
The Chamber is sending in
partnership with Bourbon County REDI
Greetings!
RE: Last chance to provide input on Bourbon County Employee and Resident Survey
This is your last chance to provide your input on the employee and resident survey. This survey is an important part of a larger workforce assessment being done by Bourbon County Regional Economic Development, Inc, with support from your Chamber.
This Friday, June 24th is the deadline to make your voice heard.
In particular we need input from those 18-24. Please encourage everyone you know in that age range to take the survey now.
Please feel free to share this with those you know, especially in the 18-24 age range.
Thanks for helping Bourbon County’s efforts to keep and grow good jobs.
Ralph Carlson introduces the Friday Night Concert musicians May 2019.
This week’s Friday Night Concert will be presented by local musician Steve Fortenberry. The one-hour concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Park Pavilion at First and Main streets. Fortenberry plays light classical and Christian songs on guitar. Ralph Carlson will join him on guitar for the last half of the show
“Steve is an accomplished musician with unique guitar stylings, using special effects,” concert-series organizer Ralph Carlson said. “We are happy to welcome Steve back to the pavilion and we‘re looking forward to an enjoyable evening of great guitar music from him. Bring a friend and join us.”
The shows, sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce, are free and open to the public. Dave Oas and Jim Butler provide the sound each week. Due to limited seating, attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
In the event of inclement weather or excessive heat temps, the concert will be moved to the Loading Dock at Common Ground Coffee Co., 12 E. Wall Street.
Bourbon County Commission Room
1st Floor, County Courthouse
210 S. National Avenue
Fort Scott, KS 66701
Tuesdays starting at 9:00
Date: June 21, 2022
1 st District-Lynne Oharah Minutes: Approved: _______________
2 nd District-Jim Harris Corrected: _______________________
3 rd District-Clifton Beth Adjourned at: _______________
County Clerk-Ashley Shelton
MEETING HELD IN THE COMMISSION ROOM
Call to Order
Flag Salute
Approval of Minutes from previous meeting
Eric Bailey – Road & Bridge Report
Conservation District Budget
Ashley Shelton – Fireworks Permits
Jim Harris – Executive Session KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the
public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship
Justin Meeks – County Counselor Comment
Susan Bancroft – Chief Financial Officer Comment
Shane Walker – Chief Information Officer Comment
Public Comment
Commission Comment
Justifications for Executive Session:
KSA 75-4319(b)(1) To discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy
KSA 75-4319(b)(2) For consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship
KSA 75-4319(b)(3) To discuss matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative(s) of the body or agency
KSA 75-4319(b)(4) To discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust, and individual proprietorships
KSA 75-4319(b)(6) For the preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property
KSA 75-4319(b)(12) To discuss matters relating to security measures, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting would
WORK SESSION REGARDING THE CORRECTIONAL CENTER HELD IN THE COMMISSION ROOM AT 7:30AM. THIS IS A WORK SESSION AND NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN. THIS WORK SESSION IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
David and Addi Foster with their children. Submitted photo.
June is National Dairy Month and fortscott.biz interviewed David and Lynda Foster, whose family operates Foster Dairy Farm southwest of Fort Scott on Hwy. 39 to get their perspective on the current state and the future of the dairy industry.
David and his wife, Addi, are in partnership with his mom and dad, Lynda and Gary Foster.
Lynda and Gary Foster, from her Facebook page.
Lynda’s grandfather, Ed Davis began the farm in the 1940s, she said.
Now the fifth generation, David and Addi’s oldest daughters, Ansley, 15, and Mayla, 13 are helping on the farm.
The following is an interview with David and Lynda.
Tell about the state of dairy farms in Kansas.
“Currently there are 209 dairy farms in Kansas and while we may have lost numbers of dairy farming operations, we are growing in cow numbers with Kansas currently having about 142,000 mature milking cows,” Lynda Foster said. “Kansas is ranked 15th in the nation.”
“There is a new Hillmar Cheese plant in construction expected to come online in about 2.5 years from now, where we also expect to see an additional 100,000 cows to be added to the state,” she said.
The Hillmar Cheese Processing Plant will be a state-of-the-art facility in Dodge City, in western Kansas.
How did the pandemic effect your farm?
“We experienced primarily supply chain disruptions,” David Foster said. “It didn’t change the work that needed to be done daily. We still traveled to get supplies like alfalfa, and feed and mineral. It canceled annual meetings in organizations that we are a part of. Like everyone, there were certain precautions that were to be made if someone got sick.”
What is happening now in the industry?
“Exports are still up, and expected to be higher this year, 1 in 6 semi tanker loads of milk gets exported” Lynda said.
“Milk prices are on the rise and setting records in some areas, so are a lot of our inputs, especially feeds, fertilizers, fuels – all of these input costs are outpacing the increased milk price,” she said. “Some of the most notable current events in the dairy industry was, of course, the baby formula shortage.”
What is on the horizon for the dairy industry from your perspective?
“I believe that we will continue to see consolidation, dairy farms getting larger, smaller farms disappearing,” David said. “I believe that the days of families deriving their sole income from the dairy are gone. Today, a farmer on a smaller dairy, less than 300 cows, needs a spouse off-farm to make it and provide for their families additional income as well as health insurance.”
“Automated Milking Systems will continue to grow in use and will allow farms to alleviate the woes associated with a depleted/barely existent labor market,” he said. “Recent reports showed that for every person that doesn’t have a job, there are 2 jobs available. This means that farming operations struggle to compete in wages against other industries and also struggle to entice labor due to the traditional physical demands and long hours of a farming operation.”
Automatic, or robotic,milking systems usually operate without someone being present to supervise the milking process and have been in use for the past decade on commercial farms, according to sciencedirect.com
The Foster’s have an automated milking system that allows the cows to come in at will when they need milked. Submitted photo.
“I believe that you will see dairy farms continue to diversify operations to include other agricultural ventures that complement milking and farming, such as trucking or custom harvest, and hay operations,” he said.
“Technologies such as methane digestors will allow a value-added return from cow manure and allow dairies to derive additional profits,” David said. “Dairies will utilize solar and wind to reduce peak energy costs.”
“I am always probing and putting efforts into exploring options for emerging technologies that would make our operation more efficient,” David said. “The goal of sustainability is always to do more with less. We are the only dairy left in Bourbon County and one of a few left in all of southeast Kansas. There may be interest in adding on-farm processing in the future to serve the needs of this 4-state area with a local, quality, nutritional product.”
“I believe with food shortages touted and supply disruptions experienced, we will continue to feel an increasing demand for consumers to want to source local,” he said. “We saw this ramp up significantly in the beef industry as consumers wanted to buy direct from the farmer. We see this in farmer’s markets. Other areas have supported their local operations, and we may not be far from considering, but to expand our operations to include processing, or other technologies, we have to expand our team of people that can share our vision and hopes for a better future.”
“Some of the biggest obstacles I see for dairy and maybe shared by all businesses, will be labor, inflation, which is then tied to interest and increased taxes, and supply prices and availability,” David said.
The jail is known as the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center, Fort Scott.
Bourbon County Jail inmates are being sent to other counties, according to the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center Administrator.
“The Bourbon County Jail will be farming out most, if not all, of their inmates to other counties in southeast Kansas,” said Major Bobby Reed in an email with the daily reports sent to news entities. “The facility is doing this because of staffing shortages.”
“Approximately 56 inmates out of 65 are being housed elsewhere,” Reed noted to fortscott.biz.”The cost (to the county) is $40 per day per inmate.”
That amounts to $2,240 per day in payments to other counties, by Bourbon County.
Yesterday six inmates were transferred to another county, according to today’s Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office report.
Inmate’s families are not being notified ahead of the transfers, due to security reasons, Reed said.
Staffing is at a critical point.
“I have 16 positions when fully staffed,” he said. “I have not been fully staffed in a long time. Twelve employees is the minimum to operate the jail 24/7. That is 3 per shift. Next Tuesday I will be down to 8 employees.”
Low wages are what seems to be making the employee retention critical.
“Starting Correctional officer’s make $12.50 per hour,” Reed said. “(Bourbon County) Correctional Officers can get pay increases through the rank structure and a sargent makes $13.80 per hour. I can not retain employees because of the low pay. Then the employees that I have are getting worked all the time and are getting burnt out then they are resigning.”
People making $12.50 per hour, 40 hours a week make $500 a week. $500 times 52 weeks in a year is $26,000.
“Money wise, that is a commissioner and finance question,” Reed said.
He said the county offers standard benefits of eye, health, dental , major medical, sick time and vacation.
“I can not make people apply and I can not make people work,” Reed said.
“In my opinion the solution is to increase the pay,” he said. “But to what, I don’t know. Agencies that start out at $15/hour are having issues retaining and hiring and agencies that start out at $17 are having the same issues.”
“Jails are being short staffed through out the nation…I know it is in Kansas,” Reed said. “I think we are the first county in Kansas that has had to drastically reduce our numbers of inmates because of staffing issues.”
Do you work in Bourbon County? Do you live in Bourbon County? Either way or both, we want your thoughts about work and education. Our Chamber is assisting Bourbon County Regional Economic Inc on its workforce assessment. A few weeks ago, we asked for input from company leaders. Now, we want to know what employees and residents think. Even if you are not currently employed we want to know what you think. This survey only takes about five minutes and is completely confidential.
Thank you!
The Chamber is sending in
partnership with Bourbon County REDI
Greetings!
RE: Calling all young adults from 18 to 29 years of age – Your Response is Appreciated!
Young adults from the ages of 18 to 29 represent our future and we need your input on workforce, jobs and training opportunities. Did you know that your age groups (nationally) are the least likely to engage in a survey and yet YOUR input is the most important as we plan for the future.
The Chamber is supporting our economic development entity, Bourbon County Regional Economic Development, Inc, in gathering information on what you think about your jobs, your training and what you want as a future career. This is done with an on-line survey and only takes about FIVE MINUTES. Your thoughts are really important. Take the survey today!
Please pass this along to family, friends, employees, co-workers, and others. The more input we get, the better. Bourbon County REDI and the Chamber need your help to make sure we keep good jobs in the area.
Again, your input is very critical to ensuring REDI and the Chamber have a good view of the current and future employment needs. Please take the survey today.
*PLEASE NOTE that we would like all ages of residents to take the survey, but we would like to particularly get a good representation of the 18-29 age group. Your assistance is appreciated.
Thank you!
Halle Striler
Communications & Events Coordinator
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED THE SURVEY,
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE
& PARTICIPATION!
Thank you to our Chamber Champions listed below.
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701
Teri Hulsey, 53, is the new Bourbon County Emergency Medical Services Director as of May 1, 2022.
She had previously worked 11 years at Mercy Hospital until the unit became Bourbon County EMS.
Hulsey and her husband Shannon have four children and nine grandchildren.
In her spare time she volunteers at Kansas Rock Recreation Park.
The following is with an interview with fortscott.biz:
Why did you pursue your career?
“I chose this career to give back to my community and for the opportunity to be an influence to others.”
What will your duties be in this new role?
“To be a leader for the EMS department, to oversee all employees and the responsibilities of those employees, scheduling, billing, and filling the void with shift coverage when needed. Also, hiring and maintaining full rostered staff.”
How many EMS personnel are there?
“There are nine full time and 10 part time employees.”
Teri Hulsey’s office is located at 405 Woodland Hills Blvd,
Fort Scott, KS. 66701 and can be reached at 620.644.7951.
EMS Agreement
Dave Bruner, the former director, was a part of the Fort Scott Fire Department, and was employed by the city.
“EMS is under the county governorship, with Susan Bancroft’s oversight,” Fort Scott City Manager Kelley Zellner said. Bancroft works for both the city and county as the financial director.
On May 1, 2022, the City of Fort Scott and Bourbon County governments signed an agreement that the county will work with, and compensate the city, for dispatch services and an EMS truck operated by the Fort Scott Fire Department. The city agreed to continue maintenance of the EMS vehicles and allow Bourbon County EMS to fuel their EMS vehicles at the city’s fuel pump and then turn in a bill to the county for these services.
