The remainder of the Bourbon County Commissioner meeting of June 2 included  discussion of repairs to the courthouse and the awarding of opioid fund money to Path of Ease for the purchase of a vehicle.

Mission Statement

Commissioner Mika Milburn read two sample mission statements and asked for feedback from the community. The commission will revisit a county mission statement on June 16.

Worker’s Compensation

Commissioner David Beerbower moved to withdraw a motion from a previous meeting to consider additional pay with workmen’s compensation claims. Moved to add it to the next budget work session.

Zoning Discussion

Beerbower moved to give the zoning advisory committee a one-week extension, at their request, to present their recommendations to the committee at the June 9 meeting. Commission approved.

Public Comments for Items Not on The Agenda

June Bench, Bourbon County resident, spoke to the commission about a member of the sheriff’s department that she claimed lied about her in a police report, leading to her arrest. She expressed concern that this person is still in the employ of the sheriff’s department, “Just because you have a badge, you shouldn’t be allowed to break the law,” she said.

Bench is not in a lawsuit with the sheriff’s department, she took a $75,000 settlement to drop it. She doesn’t want any more money. She claimed she went to the sheriff for help before litigation, and he wouldn’t help her, she said through tears. She is concerned and feels that the person who did that to her is dishonest, and others are suffering as she did. She asked the commissioners to investigate the situation.

“You guys have the right to know that there’s some unethical things going on,” she said.

Bob Johnson, the county attorney, said her lawsuit was her form of redress, and the commissioners aren’t the right place to come with this issue.

Clint Walker publicly thanked the public works department for their good work after the storms and said the assessor’s office staff was very professional when they came to his home.

New Business

Path of Ease Association

Jennifer Simhiser, the founder of Path of Ease Association, a women’s and children’s recovery house came to ask the commissioners to award her organization some of the opioid settlement fund allocated to Bourbon County to purchase a van. Simhiser gave her personal history of depression and addiction. After rehab in Lawrence, KS she learned about transitional housing and was then able to live on her own.

“The recovery community is almost non-existent [in Fort Scott]. The drug problem, on the other hand, is horrible,” she said.

She asked fro $30,000 from the Municipal Kansas Fights Addiction Fund to purchase a recovery transportation van to get the women to their recovery meetings, as well as to and from work, church and events that build the recovery community.

The county has $81,000 in that fund currently, earmarked for addiction recovery purposes. None of Bourbon County’s fund is allocated at this time.

Several members of the board for the Path of Ease home spoke to the commission, commending Simhiser and the home, and attesting that it is meeting a need in Bourbon County.

Beerbower moved to allocate $50,000 from the opioid settlement fund to the Path of Ease (End Addiction Stigma Everywhere) for travel expenses and other expenses through the clerk’s office.

Motion carried.

Tri-Valley Developmental Services 2026 Budget Request

Bill Fiscuss CEO of Trivalley Developmental Services said his organization is requesting $55,000 from the county, which has been their budget request for the last several years. They provide services to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities in eight counties, at their centers, as well as services in homes.

Courthouse Repairs

Two county employees spoke to the commission about the courthouse’s need for serious repairs over last 18 years. “It’s deferred maintenance,” said one.

The building needs washing, tuck pointing, waterproofing, window sealing, and elevator repair. It is a contributing building to the national historic district of Fort Scott, therefore, it has to meet certain standards.

Jason Dickman from Earl’s Engineering created the current bid document and will come discuss it with commission in the June 23rd meeting.

“We’re not going to kick the can down the road,” said Beerbower.

Commissioner Comments

Beerbower said, “It’s unfortunate that we’ve lost another member.” He then mentioned that citizens in the old first district are eligible to serve as the next commissioner.

Milburn read a statement:”It was recently brought to my attention that the position of commissioner is ever-changing in our county…what can we do to gain some stability?” She went on to point out that the county many have to strategically spend a little bit of money to save money, referring to Dr. Cohen’s Human Resources services mentioned in yesterday’s county commission story.

Commissioner Brandon Whisenhunt, District 1, resigned right after the opening prayer of the June 2 Bourbon County Commissioner meeting.

“It’s been a pleasure serving Bourbon County, but effective immediately, I’m resigning,” he said and left the meeting.

Commissioner David Beerbower said, “That’s unfortunate news. I don’t know what to say about it,” before moving on with the meeting.

County Clerk Susan Walker then read a statement saying she is “respectfully declining to perform the employee grievance process in the future due to continual interference in the most recent investigation I performed. I will share my findings with the county counselor and let him present them to the commission at a later date.”

Contractual Services for Municipalities

Commissioner Mika Milburn said she found Dr. Cohen in her search for help as a commissioner and asked him to talk to the commission about what his company does to serve counties and other municipalities.

Cohen has a consulting operation based in Kansas City that specializes in human resources. They serve several Kansas health departments, cities, counties, and ambulance districts as clients, and so are familiar with working with elected officials. They have submitted a proposal to Bourbon County to do HR systems work, including updating Bourbon County’s outdated job descriptions and policy manuals, as well as wage and salary development and implementing a performance appraisal process. As part of their services, they would assist in all investigations and examinations of allegations by employees or elected officials. They have an employee hotline for elected officials and employees to get real-time, effective guidance or recommendations. This is a step county personnel can take for assistance before choosing to call the Kansas Human Rights Commission. The company will also perform governance training and sexual harassment prevention training, reducing the county’s liability in the event of a case. Their objective is to protect the county and employees and to put would-be perpetrators on notice that sexual harassment won’t be tolerated. Cohen said his first priority is to protect the county and help it operate in a healthy way.

The proposal is for an all-inclusive fee. The county would be hiring a company, not an individual, with lots of experience in municipal settings.

“I think it’s really important that we do something, David. Take it very seriously, please,” said Milburn. She also said the fees Cohen’s company charges are “a fraction of what it would cost,” to hire a full time county HR person.

The commissioners put it on the agenda for the June 9 meeting.

Old Business
Department Updates
Susan Walker-Employee Benefits

Walker talked to the commissioners about raises given on May 27 that were “pretty significant” and impacts the budget, which she said requires some extensive discussion. The fund that the commissioners have charge of, which pays employee taxes will need to increase by at least $12,000 to finish the year, possibly more if the employees work overtime.

Sheriff Bill Martin and Officer Murphy, his advisor spoke to the commission about the situation. Murphy said his department lost two officers since the first of the year, and the current staffing shortage leaves money in payroll and benefits to cover the cost of the raises. He said there’s not a current need for a budget amendment.

He also said his department has lost 20 trained people, at a cost of $1 million dollars, over the last several years, because “we can’t pay enough…so we’ve got to get our starting wages up so we can get qualified people in the door.” The county needs to adjust to be somewhat comparable to other law enforcement in the region.

Past administration made a choice to use sales tax dollars to keep taxes down, said Walker, which affected the sheriff’s department as well as the rest of the county offices.

Commissioners decided to wait to see if a budget amendment would be needed in the future.

Brian Allen-Disaster Proclamation

Allen asked the commissioners to sign the disaster declaration from the storms of May 19. Road damage and other damages met the qualifying threshold. This will allow the county to submit it to the governor, so that if the governor declares a state of emergency, the county can benefit from it.

Allen also told the commission he wants to compile a list of those with safe spaces for tornado events so that first responders can use it to check on folks.

Eric Bailey – Public Works

The May 19 storm caused damage to several roads with washouts, as well as large trees down in the roads. Bailey encouraged county residents to let them know of roads that need his department’s attention.

Bailey said he’s been working with the motor grader operators on a plan to get the crowns back on the roads and lips to guide the water off the roads and into the ditches. This plan will take several weeks of dry weather to implement. Mowing has been delayed by water-filled ditches.

The Elm Creek Lake shelter houses and house have been roofed. Outhouses are under construction. Bailey gave credit to Todd Fox and his family, as well as county public works employees, for volunteering their time to work on the shelters.

Bailey said he had spoken with former commissioner Whisenhunt and Don George about applying for a grant for dam improvements at Elm Creek Lake. The phase two grant application is due June 16. He referenced suggestions of applying for a feasibility study to drain the lake and repair the valve box and the dam. The commissioners chose to wait for the safety study, which means they will probably miss the deadline of applying for the second phase of the grant this year.

A group called Kansa Bonanza is planning to come to Fort Scott this weekend. This group drives side-by-sides on the back roads, cleaning up trash. They have asked for a roll-off dumpster for the trash they will collect. The commission made a motion to approve that use.

Allen County landfill will shut down on days with high wind notifications, per the National Weather Service, because of the trash blowing away, which affects what Bourbon County will do with its trash.

“It has been a pleasure serving Bourbon County, but effective immediately, I’m resigning. So…” Brandon Whisenhunt made that statement and left the room immediately after the prayer at the Monday night commission meeting.

Whisenhunt had replaced Nelson Blythe, who resigned in April of 2024.