Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition
General Membership Meeting Agenda for August 7, 2024
1:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Scottview Apartments, 315 S. Scott.
TOPEKA — The Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship today announced a new $500,000 grant opportunity for established registered apprenticeship programs in Kansas. Awards will range from $75,000 to $200,000 per awardee.
These grant funds will be awarded to assist existing programs with technical instruction, on-the-job training, staffing and additional employees to implement and manage programs, marketing and outreach, and other activities.
“The Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship plays a vital role in our state’s economic growth by helping prepare our workforce for success,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “We know that registered apprenticeships are key pipelines to career advancement, professional development and prosperity. This grant opportunity bolsters our commitment to preparing Kansans for in-demand jobs that need their skills right now.”
This additional funding opportunity plays an integral part in growing and supporting the registered apprenticeship programs throughout the state. Over time, the grant has helped with recent successes including the 80% growth in new registered apprentices across the state (from 925 in 2023 to 1,672 in 2024).
“Last year, registered apprenticeship programs used these funds in a variety of creative ways,” Director of Apprenticeship and Internship Shonda Anderson said. “Investments were made in Spanish-speaking instructors, new training equipment for electricians and heavy equipment operators, as well as agriculture and human resource opportunities.”
The Kansas Department of Commerce currently is seeking applications. Eligible applicants must be a state educational institution, business, non-profit group or workforce board with projects that will attract and retain employees and continue to build the state’s workforce through registered apprenticeship.
Those applying should clearly demonstrate linkage between project, industry demand, apprentice training and recruitment. Additionally, applicants are required to provide a 1:1 match for every grant dollar requested.
Interested parties have until 5:00 p.m. August 25 to apply. Announcement of awardees is expected in September.
For more information about the application or to apply, click here. For more information about the Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship, click here.
About the Kansas Department of Commerce:
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses. Through Commerce’s project successes, Kansas was awarded Area Development Magazine’s prestigious Gold Shovel award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and was awarded the 2021 and 2022 Governor’s Cup by Site Selection Magazine.
###
MANHATTAN, Kansas — Join the Kansas Department of Agriculture in Manhattan this month as they discuss growth opportunities for agriculture at the ninth annual Kansas Governor’s Summit on Agricultural Growth on Wednesday, August 21, at the K-State Alumni Center at 1720 Anderson Ave. in Manhattan. Attendees are also invited to participate in a social event on Tuesday evening, August 20, also at the K-State Alumni Center.
In addition to hearing directly from sector leaders and partners on the most important issues impacting the Kansas agriculture industry, the 2024 Ag Growth Summit will feature two guest speakers who will share their expertise on international agriculture issues. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis M. Taylor will speak on “Global Markets, Local Impact: The Power of Trade in Advancing U.S. Agriculture.” The other guest speaker will be Eddy Acevedo, who serves as the principal advisor on national security and foreign policy matters at The Wilson Center, and he will present on “Geopolitical Impact on International Trade and National Security.”
There is no cost to attend the Ag Growth Summit events, but it is important that attendees register by August 9 so KDA can provide adequate materials for attendees and have accurate meal counts. Registration can be found at www.agriculture.ks.gov/Summit.
All farmers, ranchers, agribusiness owners and industry professionals are welcome at the 2024 Ag Growth Summit — if you’re committed to working for agricultural growth in Kansas, please join us in this effort.
If you have questions about the 2024 Kansas Governor’s Summit on Agricultural Growth, please contact Auburn Wassberg at [email protected] or 785-564-6799.
###
Christopher Catalano began his agricultural drone business, SEK Agra Drones, in the Spring of 2024.
“SEKAD came about being asked if my drone can perform stand counts and can I pilot a DJI T40 spraying drone by a local Bourbon County grower,” he said. “This question sent me down a rabbit hole realizing with all the new drone agricultural technology, there are specific application scenarios that can save growers time and resources.”
The services SEKAD provides are:
Aerial Seeding – SEKAD can spread seed and granular commodities via a DJI T40 Drone for both blanket and spot-specific applications.
Goal: Aerial spreading cover crop seeds over an existing crop at the end of the season has proven to be very beneficial for growers.
Crop Health Analysis – NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) & NDRE (Normalize Difference Red Edge) images are generated by SEK Agra Drone’s M3M Drone which uses the reflection of light in the near-infrared (NIR) and red bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to create a color-coded image of vegetation cover especially for crop nitrogen status. Vegetation indices identify areas of a field that are underperforming allowing immediate action applying pesticides, fertilizers, etc. with accurate informed decision making backed by data.
Goal: Measuring the amount of chlorophyll in plant leaves, NDVI/NDRE is often used to assess nitrogen stress independent of the amount of soil nitrogen penetrating the lower canopy of plants. Often used to create variable rate nutrient application maps pre and post-application.
Prescription (Treatment Maps) – Correlating with crop health analysis, data collected via drone of a crop is stitched together creating a detailed aerial GPS map. Prescription maps are delivered as a .shp (shape file), PDF to upload onto your equipment’s computers and tablets, laptops, etc. for accurate boots-on-the-ground analysis.
Stand Counts – Plant population count and emergence percentage across a field help make advanced decisions for replanting or additional inputs for augmented growth. Row crops for stand counts: Canola | Corn | Cotton | Soybean | Trees | Vegetables.
Goal: With the heavy Spring rains Bourbon County received this year, many fields already planted with corn were in V2-V5. Stand counts proved beneficial in determining re-capitalization of replanting washed-out portions of local grower’s fields.
Weed Identification – Identification of green on brown weeds and other unwanted growth in a field with GPS location map generation. Weed ID data can be used for spot spraying applicators with the option of providing treatment to hard-to-reach locations.
Goal: Treatment on hillsides, waterways, rough terrain, and smaller plots, resulting in chemical savings, and wear and tear on a ground rig.
He services Fort Scott | Radius encompassing Bourbon County-Kansas City Metro-Wichita-Joplin-Northwest Arkansas and everywhere in between.
His unofficial employee is his son high school senior, Gavin.
“He works for a local Bourbon County Farm and takes to the sticks flying agricultural drones with a second-natured expertise. Gavin brings youthful enthusiasm with an understanding of row crop health and ailments.”
“The agricultural drone industry is consistently evolving year over year bringing new innovations to ‘Smart Farming.’ SEKAD’s goal is to always provide added value to a grower or producer avoiding being a solution looking for a problem. The more connected we become with our local growers, the more vetting of innovative technologies can be applied utilizing a drone. We have a partnership with another business to utilize spraying of fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides via drone when requested.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Fort Scott Walmart will be going through a store transformation for over three months, starting soon.
People may have noticed containers delivered to the parking lot’s north part, in front of the garden center.
About 40 containers will be parked there in the next few weeks and fences around them will go up. These will be used for the store transformation.
Heather, the store manager, said it will be a “total store transformation….to a store of the future.”
“The store will be brighter, more spacious, easier to navigate…. (and) more energy efficient technology, reducing the environmental impact and providing a safer environment,” she said at a recent Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Coffee, hosted by Walmart, where she made the store transformation announcement.
“We don’t anticipate being closed at all, however, hiccups do happen,” she said in an interview with fortscott.biz.
The expected completion is in November 2024, approximately 14 weeks, she said.
“We will move everything (in the store), but it will be worth it in the end,” she said.
The store of the future will continue to have both associates-manned registers and self-check-out registers, she said.
“There have been mixed reactions on the self-check,” she said. “Some people love it because you can be in and out quickly.”
“Some feel it takes away jobs,” she said. “But since I came in 2018 when there were 170 associates…there are now over 200.”
July 22, 2024 Monday, 5:30 p.m.
The Board of Bourbon County Commissioners met in open session with all three Commissioners and Deputy County Clerk Amber Page present.
Vance Eden, Michael Hoyt, Leroy Kruger, Jason Silvers, Clint Walker, Bonnie Smith, Bo Casper, Kyle Parks, Mike Wunderly, Deb Martin, Jean Tucker, and Christina Kruger were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim opened the meeting with the flag salute.
Jim said he wanted to have the approval of June financials removed from the consent agenda as he had not had an opportunity to review them. Clifton made a motion to approve the minutes from 7-15-2024. Brandon seconded the motion and all approved. Patty Love, Treasurer, said that the financials need to be approved tonight as the quarterly report needs to be published to avoid audit violations. Jim asked why they received the financials later than usual and Patty explained that Jennifer has been out sick with COVID and that is why there was a delay. Patty said she isn’t asking for them to approve and sign something without reading it and asked the Commissioners to take some time at the end of the meeting to review the financials before approving them. Jim made a motion to approve the June financials. Brandon seconded the motion and all approved.
Mary Pemberton said there has been a lot of confusion about zoning and what it is, what it can’t do, how to implement it, and whether it’s a good of bad thing for the county. Mary stated that zoning does not apply to land used for agricultural purposes including the erection and maintenance of buildings on that land that is used for agricultural purposes and sited KSA 19-2921. Mary briefly outlined zoning that Labette County recently implemented which was zoning in all unincorporated areas of their county that they split into four zoning districts. Mary stated there were A1 and A2 that would cover areas outside of city limits that would be considered suburbs, V1 which is for little towns in the county and the fourth is for the large industrial park outside of Parsons. Labette County only places 11 restrictions of specific land uses and she outlined them and explained they require a conditional use permit which means that certain guidelines must be followed. Mary stated by state statute any use in existence at the time zoning is passed is grandfathered in the zoning. Mary said that the Commissioners have instructed the public to bring a petition to put zoning on the ballot, then bring a letter from an attorney, then a setback committee was formed, and last week there was mention of citizens getting a lawsuit or filing an injection. Mary stated the only was zoning can be enacted is by a resolution passed by the Commission who would then form a zoning and planning board and from there zoning policies would be written and multiple public hearings would be held where the public would be allowed to provide input before the final plan is adopted. Mary asked why the Commissioners keep insisting that residents jump through a bunch of hoops that are not really necessary? Jim asked if Mary thought the Commissioners should have a book put together before it is put on the ballot. Mary said in her opinion yes, that there should be some public meetings where zoning is explained so people understand what is you’re talking about doing because zoning can be fairly easy or get pretty detailed. Clifton asked if Linn County was committing a crime then since they require all new homes to have a permit. Jim said that the Commissioners could require building permits for a house or a special use permit for commercial. Brandon suggested putting in the resolution or wording on the ballot that if zoning were to pass that it would take the entire Board of Commissioners to add or take away from the regulations.
Michael Hoyt said he is heading up a petition to increase the number of Commission districts from three to five. Mr. Hoyt said that he received the number of signatures needed from the Clerk’s Office which is 621 and that the state statute requires it to be 5% of the registered voters. Mr. Hoyt questioned the number of voters registered in Bourbon County versus the population at the last census. Clifton said to contact Jennifer since she is the Election Officer and she will work towards figuring out the situation.
Justin Meeks, County Counselor, asked for an amendment to the agenda for an executive session for active ongoing litigation and acquisition of real property. Clifton made a motion amend the agenda to add an executive session. Brandon seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to go into a 7-minute executive session under 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 and KSA 75-4319(b)(6) for the preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property to include the three Commissioners and Justin Meeks and will return at 5:58. Brandon seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session with no action on either justification at 5:59. Brandon seconded the motion and all approved.
Brandon said this is his first year for budgets and requested adding another open work session. Jim said they have two scheduled in August and he will be out of town next week. Brandon said he will come in like he always does on Mondays and if any department head would like to meet with him to go over their budget he will do so. Brandon explained he cannot make any decisions but they can help him understand what they need and why they need it. Jim said they will have a work session on August 12 and August 19 and possibly a third in August. Jim said he is glad to see the committee is here tonight getting ready for another meeting. Jim said he liked Mary’s presentation and that she had a lot of good information. Mary thanked the Commissioners for allowing her additional time to speak this evening.
Jim made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:02. Clifton seconded the motion and all approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
___________________, Chairman
___________________,Commissioner
ATTEST: ___________________,Commissioner
Jennifer Hawkins, Bourbon County Clerk
7-29-2024 Approved Date
Early voting will begin today, Monday, July 29, and continue through Friday, August 2 at the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. National Avenue.
An additional voting opportunity is Saturday, August 3 from 8 a.m. to noon and Monday, August 5 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
One must bring photo identification to vote.
Only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in this Kansas Primary Election.
The primary election day is August 6, with voting in precincts in the county. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To view voting precincts:
https://www.bourboncountyks.org/voting-precincts/
“The ballots will be different for each precinct and township as there are committee and township officers on the ballot,” Bourbon County Clerk Jennifer Hawkins said. “The Bourbon County website has been updated to include VoterView which will allow residents to enter their information to see the correct sample ballot.”
She provided a sample ballot for Marion Township for Republicans and Democrats.
The following are features on the candidates from those who responded to the fortscott.biz questionnaire: The primary election is August 6, not August 8
Kansas State Senator District 13 Candidates On The August 8 Ballot
Candidates For U.S. House of Representatives: Young, Tiffany, Schmidt
Candidates for Bourbon County Commission on the August Ballot
Candidates for Bourbon County Commission In August 2024
Candidates on the August Primary Ballot: Walker, Holdridge, Crux
Candidates on the August Primary Ballot: County Treasurer
Candidates for Bourbon County Sheriff on the August Primary Ballot
A meeting of the Industrial Development Research Committee will be held on July 29, 2024 immediately following the Bourbon County Commission Meeting in the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. National Ave. Fort Scott, KS 66701.
Bourbon County Courthouse
210 S. National Ave Fort Scott, KS 66701 Phone: 620-223-3800
Fax: 620-223-5832
Attachments:
Bourbon County, Kansas
1st District Commissioner
2nd District Commissioner
3rd District Commissioner
Bourbon County Commission Agenda 210 S. National Ave.
Fort Scott, KS 66701
July 29, 2024 5:30 p.m.
Executive Session Justifications:
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 the security measures, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting
would jeopardize such security measures.
Submitted by Terri Williams
