SEED Grant – work has started on the City Library and City Office
FEMA Flooding– Hydrology study not complete yet by Ag Engineering
Warehouse Insulation – is completed at this time.
Sidewalk-Ag Engineering sent the completed documentation and bill.
-Lawyer Chase Vaughn response to replacing this sidewalk.
Park electric – CrawKan will do the boring for the electrical line needed for the park electric. We will wait to complete this when CrawKan has an opening in their schedule.
NEW BUSINESS
Motion by _____________, Second by __________, Approved ______, to enter into executive session pursuant to non-elected personnel exception, KSA 75-4319(b)(1), in order to discuss performance of non-elected personnel, the open meeting to resume at ____________.
Brandon Whisenhunt, Bourbon County Commissioner District 1 has resigned.
The Bourbon County Republicans will accept email applications to appoint a replacement beginning today, June 3rd, until 5pm on Tuesday, June 10th. Please email your intent for consideration to [email protected]. A follow up questionnaire will be sent to you after confirmation.
We will hold our replacement convention on Thursday, June 12th. Time is TBA.
To be considered, you must be a registered Republican residing within the OLD District 1 boundaries. Questions or concerns? Email us at the email printed above.
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.
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.
KCC schedules public hearings
on Evergy’s request to raise rates
TOPEKA – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) will hold public hearings in Wichita and Topeka beginning next week to give Evergy Kansas Central customers the opportunity to learn more about the company’s rate increase request, ask questions and make comments before the Commission.
Evergy filed an application with the Commission in January seeking a $196.4 million (8.62%) rate increase. If approved as filed, the new electric rates would take effect in September 2025, resulting in an average monthly increase of $13.05 for residential customers.
Attendees may participate in person or virtually via Zoom. Those participating virtually must register by noon the day prior to the hearing using the registration links below. In addition, the hearings will be broadcast live and recorded for later viewing on the KCC’s YouTube channel. Registration is not required to attend in person or view on YouTube.
The Commission will accept written comments through 5 p.m. on July 14. Comments may be submitted online, by mail or by calling the KCC at 785-271-3140 or 800-662-0027.
To register to participate in the hearing via Zoom, make a public comment online or find additional information on the application, go to the Commission’s website (www.kcc.ks.gov) and click on the “Your Opinion Matters” tab.
The Commission will issue an order on the application on or before September 29, 2025.
GIRARD, Kan. — Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative is now accepting applications for its 2025 Concern for Community grant program, which offers grants of up to $5,000 for capital improvement projects that benefit communities within Heartland’s service area.
Applications will be accepted through July 31, and grant recipients will be selected by the Heartland Board of Directors in August. Funds will be distributed in September.
The Concern for Community grant program reflects Heartland’s commitment to strengthening the region through investment in long-term community development. Eligible projects must fall into one of the following categories:
County fairs: Infrastructure and other projects at county fairgrounds that are outside of the scope of what is typically funded through sponsorships
Schools: Capital campaigns for school facilities that benefit Heartland members and families
Nonprofit organizations: Capital campaigns focused on education, the environment, culture and the arts, or civic and community development
Other community improvements: Projects that serve Heartland-area communities and are approved by the board
Preference will be given to collaborative efforts that receive funding or support from multiple sources.
Funding for the program comes from unclaimed capital credit checks—money that was intended to be returned to members. Rather than letting these funds go unused, Heartland’s Board of Directors has chosen to invest them back into the communities the cooperative serves.
“These are dollars that belong to the people in our service area, and we believe the best way to honor that is by using them to support projects that create lasting value,” said Heartland CEO Mark Scheibe. “This program is a powerful example of the cooperative principle of ‘Concern for Community’ in action.”
To learn more or apply, visit heartland-rec.com.
About Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. powers rural lifestyles throughout more than 11,000 locations in eastern Kansas. Heartland’s service area includes members in 12 counties, including Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Labette, Linn, Miami, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson.
Heartland REC traces its roots back to three original rural electric cooperatives: Cooperative Electric Power & Light Company, Sugar Valley Electric Cooperative Association, and Sekan Electric Cooperative Association. Cooperative Electric Power & Light Company joined with Sugar Valley in 1975 to form United Electric Cooperative; United Electric Cooperative joined with Sekan Electric Cooperative Association in 1996 to form Heartland.
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.
The Queen’s Muse is being built adjacent to the Artificers, at 10 N. National Avenue. Construction items can be seen in front of the building project. The green space will be used for an outdoor event space in the future.
Trent and Kate Freeman finally have great weather to make progress on their newest project, called The Queen’s Muse.
A muse is a source of inspiration, according to the dictionary.
“The Artificers is in a ‘Queen Anne’ (style architecture) and we are building her muse. Hence, ‘The Queen’s Muse,'” Kate Freeman said.
“It’s to house our out-of-town artists,” she said. “Our artist’s respite, while here teaching a workshop and doing art shows. It will help our artists have a space close to stay (near their business) and hopefully attract more artists to Fort Scott with a place to stay as well as show their work.”
The building is an addition to the Artificers art gallery and teaching studio, at 8 N. National Avenue.
Currently, there is no designated completion date, she said.
“It will be two suites on the upper level, Airbnb, each with a bathroom. The lower level will be to cater out of and a bathroom, an event space.”
In front of that building will be an outdoor event space and a sculpture garden.
“We’ll have large, mixed-media pieces on concrete pads. The space will also be available for events such as a bridal shower or wine-tasting event.”
“We started to plan this after we acquired the land. It’s something awesome for the community and our business,” she said.
The Queen’s Muse will be an addition to the Artificers Gallery. Pictured are materials and the start of the build, May 29, 2025.
“We are proud to be supporting local and regional businesses every step of the way. Keeping our investment close to home is a priority, and we’re grateful to work with such talented peeps in our community,” she said. “Such as Redbud Nursery, Fort Scott-the plants and trees; Henry Witt Fabrications, Fort Scott- the sculpture garden gate; Red Logic, Mound City, the website; Ron Hurd Construction, Fort Scott, concrete work; Cedar Valley Metal, Garnett, materials; Gibson Construction, Paola is the builder/contractor.”
“And the Bourbon County Garden Club has helped design the garden area. They got together and plotted it all, for us.”
The Freemans received a $25,000 Kansas Tourism Attraction Development Grant in December 2024 that is helping to fund this newest project.
Kate and Trent Freeman, from the Artificer Facebook page.
About the Artificers
T.E. Freeman Studio, Trent and Kate’s art business, moved to Fort Scott during the COVID-19 Pandemic, from the Kansas City area.
“We bought the building in October 2022 and opened the art gallery in January 2023.”
In addition to the Artificers Gallery, in 2024, another business, Bourbon County Clay, was launched, utilizing clay extracted from the county for creations sold in the gallery.
Currently, they have a gallery assistant who helps with all three LLC businesses they own and an apprentice who helps with Kate’s Bourbon County Clay business.
Earlier this year, they were awarded the 2025 Kansas Governor’s Arts Award for Art in Business.
They initiated a First Friday event each month, where their gallery is open until 9 p.m. when they first opened. The First Friday event includes some artists’ openings.
“The City of Fort Scott is trying to get all the businesses on board to have more events on the first Friday of each month,” she said.
Photos from the Artificers Facebook page.
This First Friday, June 6, will feature Trent’s first show since opening in Fort Scott. He will be featuring outside mixed-media art sculptures, called luminaries.
Artist Roxi Hardegree, Texas, will be showing, selling, and teaching about her art medium, botanical arts, on June 6, as well.
The CEO Award winner is Grace Kramer, pictured with husband Larry. Submitted photo.
50th Anniversary Celebration Held
Tri-Valley Developmental Services celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 1st with a party and awards ceremony. The event was held during the afternoon at Central Park Pavilion in Chanute. 175 Attendees were treated to celebration cupcakes and punch as well as a travel mug celebrating Tri-Valley’s 50 years. The afternoon’s entertainment was Robbie Bell, who performed hits from the year 1975. Right before the awards ceremony, Bill Fiscus raised a glass to toast Tri-Valley’s past, present, and future.
Robbie Bell. Submitted photo.
Following the toast, the annual awards ceremony was held. Awards were given to individuals and organizations who actively support Tri-Valley in its mission to support our neighbors with intellectual/developmental disabilities in Allen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Elk, Greenwood, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson counties.
Awards were presented to the following:
Business of the Year – Ruddick’s Furniture and Flooring, Fort Scott and C & H Lanes, Chanute
Ruddick’s Furniture, Business of the Year Award (pictured left to right: Anna Musselman, Josh Davenport, Terry Davenport, Cindy Davenport, Sheila Kelly, and TVDS Board Member Lindsay Madison). Submitted photo.
Achievement Awards – Koby Erie, Michael Mitchell, and Matthew Patch
Ed Bideau Advocacy Award – Jim Godinez
Masterson Family Award – Beth Ringwald
Friends of Tri-Valley Foundation Visionary Award – Mike Reid
Bourbon County Commission Chambers 210 S National Ave.
June 2, 2025, 5:30 PM
Call Meeting to Order
Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance
Prayer – David Beerbower
Approval of Agenda
Approval of Minutes from 05.19.25
Consent Agenda
Approval of 05.23.25 Accounts Payable Totaling $53,886.11
Approval of 05.30.25 Accounts Payable Totaling $143,253.12
Approval of 05.30.25 Payroll Totaling $244,413.12
Tax Roll Corrections
Pursuant to KSA 75-4319 (b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy for job performance with ____________ attending and will return at _________PM in the commission chambers. – Susan Walker & Selena Williams
Health Benefits Update – Don Doherty
Cohen – Contractual Services for Municipalities – Milburn
Pursuant to KSA 75-4319 (b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the public body of agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship for litigation with _______ attending and will return at ______PM in the commission chambers.
Old Business
Department Updates
Susan Walker-Employee Benefits
Brian Allen-Disaster Proclamation
Eric Bailey
Policy & Procedures
Mission Statement – Milburn
Workers Compensation – Beerbower
Mika Milburn-Resolution – Personal Improvement Plan, Corrective Action Plan, Formal Written Notice, Deviation Plan
Zoning Discussion
Public Comments for Items Not on The Agenda
New Business
New Commission District 4 & 5 Term Limits – Milburn
Path of Ease Association – Jennifer Simhiser
Tri-Valley 2026 Budget Request
City of Fort Scott 911 Agreement – Milburn/Brad Matkin
Courthouse Repairs – Milburn
NRP Discussion – Milburn
Commissioner Comments
Adjournment
Future business that has been tabled in past meetings or planned for future meetings:
SEK Mental Health Budget
Juvenile Detention Budget
Office Restructuring Cost
Job Descriptions
Handbook Updated
Economic Development Direction
Dump Fees for Employees – June 9, 2025
Separation of Public Works and Landfill Departments – June 16, 2025
