A discussion that has continued for some time picked up again in recent weeks as the four Bourbon County fire districts consider the option of consolidating their efforts.

In the past month, county commissioners have worked with Emergency Manager Will Wallis, county attorney Justin Meeks and others involved in the fire districts to consider the pros and cons of combining the districts to make their responses to emergencies run more smoothly.

While meeting with the county commissioners Tuesday, Wallis said the chiefs of the fire districts met together Monday evening along with Commissioner Lynne Oharah to discuss the consolidation of the districts and to see what their concerns were.

Some questions raised included who would pay the bills if the districts were consolidated and would the districts be able to keep their individual identities.

Wallis and the commissioners said their goal is not to drastically change the way the districts currently run, but to improve aspects such as how they are dispatched to fires around the county and part of the budget process, letting the county do the audit of budgets approved and funded by the townships and fire districts.

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel here,” Wallis said.

Dan Banwart, part of the Scott Township and involved in fire districts for more than 40 years, met with the commissioners as well to express his own concerns over the idea of consolidating the districts.

Banwart said he is worried, as a “concerned taxpayer,” that the districts will become too centralized a force instead of individual districts and that money will not be filtered to the districts properly. He also said if they become a county-wide district, they may be considered too large or too financially stable to be awarded grants such as the ones that have helped them in the past.

In the current fire district situation, the commissioners said some of the districts are struggling to get enough volunteers or to even keep their fire trucks fueled because they get so little funding from the county taxes.

District four, for example, or the Redfield district, only received about $8,000 in 2014 from taxes, while district three received more than $228,000. Those same districts are valued at $1.8 million and $27 million, respectively.

But though some of the more populated districts are valued higher than others and receive more tax money because of their population, other districts have to cover more ground because of their size, and struggle to do so.

“My number one concern with the whole situation is safety,” presiding commissioner Barbara Albright said, saying the change might help by making the dispatchers’ jobs easier and more efficient so volunteer fire departments can respond more quickly to emergencies.

Wallis will continue to discuss the move with other fire chiefs and other members of the community interested in the issue before a decision is made and plans drawn up. Banwart said if the taxes are not raised and they do not risk losing grants, than he believes the change could be positive for the county.

After trying two other locations in a search for rock the county could use for road and other projects, a third attempt resulted in their discovery of a quarry that could last the county for decades.

“This quarry is a big deal,” county commissioner Lynne Oharah said during their visit to the Thomas Quarry Tuesday morning, calling it the “best rock in the county.”

Located near the southern edge of the county, the location also allows the county to provide gravel and rock to that area more easily.

“The location is perfect for hauling in the south part of the county,” presiding commissioner Barbara Albright said.

The county blasted the rock two weeks ago and has since been working on crushing it and screening it into separate sizes as it is prepared for use. The quarry is found on about 160 acres of land and some of the rock stretches to about 26 feet deep or more.

Kenneth Keeney, who lives near the quarry, said he knew the rock was there when other companies came in to install lines or towers and found the hard rock. He now looks forward to having that gravel put on some of the roads in that area.

“You can puts some on mine anytime you want,” Keeney said.

Roads and bridges director Jim Harris said they are currently turning out about 215 tons of rock an hour. Next summer he said they plan to blast some more of the rock.

“This quarry should last our county quite a while,” Albright said.

The commissioners also visited the county landfill, where a new transfer station is being installed to replace the current one, which has grown old and rusty.

By the Homes for the Holidays Tour in early December, the first floor of the Bourbon County Courthouse will have a different appearance as it receives a new coats of paint and new additions over the next couple months.

County Treasurer Rhonda Dunn described to the county commissioners their goal to put in historical items and photos on each of the courthouse floors so it would become a museum featuring the history of Fort Scott, Bourbon County and the courthouse itself.

“It’s going to be really neat,” Dunn said of the plans for the courthouse.

Instead of using county dollars to complete the project, the commissioners voted Tuesday morning to accept the offer of $1,500 from the Historic Preservation Commission.

Because of an unused closet discovered in the courthouse that had not been repainted, the new colors will match those used when the courthouse was first built more than a century ago.

The first floor will likely include 4×16 foot murals of historical photos of Forts Scott and other historical items while other cities and communities of Bourbon County will be featured on the second floor and the courthouse itself on the third floor. One hall will also be reserved for honoring Bourbon County veterans.

“It’s our plan to complete a floor before we move on to something else,” Dunn said.

Some items to be featured will include historical ledgers and blueprints, a tommy gun, wagon, desk, bookshelves, china and photographs. The HPA and county would gladly accept other donated items from members of the community to put on display.

“That’s exciting,” commissioner chairman Barbara Albright said of the project, expressing her gratitude to the HPA for their donation.

Bourbon County’s journey to building a new jail stalled briefly when the county commissioners decided earlier this week not to purchase property they had previously selected for the site, located just south of the city limits on the east side of Interstate 69.

Sheriff Bill Martin said this is a process that has carried on for six years as he and others in the sheriff’s office advocated for the construction of a new jail, replacing the current one with several structural problems, that could house inmates from outside of Bourbon County as well, offering an extra means of revenue for the county.

“There has been a setback,” Martin said of the decision made Tuesday that forced him to return to the drawing board in searching for a site.

About 30 members of the community attended the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday about the site, expressing their concern since the location of the proposed property was only about 1,000 feet from the Christian Learning Center.

Representatives from the school and others of the community brought signed petitions opposing that location of the jail.

Angela Simon, owner of the Bids and Dibs store downtown, was one such member of the community who opposed the location, even having a petition for shop visitors to sign in opposition of it.

“I’m a child advocate first,” said Simon, a former public school teacher. “I feel that with a little more looking we could do better.”

Commissioner Barbara Albright and the other commissioners agreed Tuesday to continue the search when they heard how much that location concerned members of the community as well as a business located in that area.

“It was apparent that there was going to be quite a bit of discontent over the location,” Albright said.

Martin and the commissioners continue that search for property, a minimum of five acres in size although the sheriff said they would prefer more than that so there is space for potential expansions in the future, such as bringing other criminal justice departments to the same location.

Some members of the community have come forward with suggestions, and Martin said they are looking through them to find a plot that is suitable, saying some mentioned to them have been in the flood plain, which their insurance could not cover.

“We really appreciate the input we’re getting,” Albright said, saying they continue to look at suggested sites. “We really appreciate people’s interest in it. We’re just working together to find a spot for the new jail.”

Both Albright and Martin said they want to find a location as soon as possible, preferably one with utilities available and without buildings that would need torn down, though neither is required.

“The longer we put this off, the more it’s going to cost us,” Martin said.

Originally, Martin had proposed a jail with 110 beds so the county could house inmates from other counties, but with the delay and the rise in construction fees, that number is now down to 70 beds. If it goes much lower, Martin said the project may soon cost more than it is worth.

Martin said any residents with questions, suggestions or concerns about the project can visit with him, saying he has an open-door policy on the topic. Each Tuesday, the commissioners also set aside 9:45-10:30 a.m. for members of the community who might have questions about the project.

Some of the misconceptions Martin said he has heard include the idea that the inmates would have an open yard where they will be outdoors and in line of sight with the surrounding residents, but Martin assures that it will be completely enclosed with inmates unable to see outside the structure.

“Wherever the jail is going to be, it’s going to be the safest place you can be,” Martin says, saying the added security around the perimeter of the jail will also guarantee extra coverage of neighboring areas of the community.

Natural Solutions Agronomics in partnership with Legacy Farm and Garden did a demo for FSCC and the community of their drone technology on Tuesday West of the college. The hexacopter they demonstrated can use GPS to fly a pattern over a field taking pictures that can be used to gather statistics about crops and spot trouble areas that need manual inspection. The images are high enough resolution that they can be used to see mold, fungus and insect damage.

The drone can fly up to 20 minutes on a set of batteries in  it’s current configuration. The demo involved flying over a field at 130 feet.

The owner of Natural Solutions Agronomics, Cody Claflin, is a former FSCC student. He pointed out that the future of agriculture involves a lot of new technology in areas that most people don’t think of as being related to agriculture.

Also present from Natural Solutions were Rocky Castlebury and Chris Beerman. Rocky handles sales and service while Chris pilots the drone when it isn’t using GPS for navigation. Cody said they brought on Chris as a pilot because he and Rocky weren’t as good at avoiding crash landings.

Natural Solutions and Legacy Farm and Lawn also have equipment for doing precision soil samples that they demoed for FSCC last week.

You can find more information at:

• http://www.naturalsolutionsagronomics.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/naturalsolutions11

Fort Scott, KS —

Last Friday night, Relay for Life (RFL) of Bourbon County held their KISS OFF event at Common Grounds Coffee Shop. The focus of the event was awareness, fun, fundraising and of course, to gather new supporters to the cause.

Reaching out to a younger generation is important to all organizations and gathering at the local coffee shop was a great idea. RFL events included a Karaoke competition and music by interactive elective device musician, David Cedillo.

Karaoke was judged by Sarah Mae Lamar and Jeremy Culbertson, awarding prizes for first, second and third places. About 75  folks from around Bourbon Country came out the sing and have a good time. The organizers were very grateful for the outcome but also for Common Ground stepping up and donating a lot of time, energy and planning for this event.

Another main reason for this event is to highlight their upcoming Relay. Allison Daly, the Community Manager, remarked, “there will be notable changes for this year’s event.” One of those changes will be moving the date from Summer to April 25th. Also, the location will be in the FSCC East parking lot rather than the walking trail. Daly also mentioned they are always looking for volunteers to help in a variety of capacities.

For more information or how you can become involved, please contact Allison Daly, [email protected] or 620.215.3865. Also, you can check our their web page here and the Facebook here!