The Bourbon County Commission meetings have been moved to Thursday mornings at 9:00 a.m. starting this Thursday, October 31, 2024. An agenda will be sent out on Tuesday for the meeting.
Thank you,
Jennifer Hawkins
Bourbon County Clerk
Category Archives: Bourbon County
Questions to Decide on the Nov. 5 Ballot and Electioneering: What You Need to Know
Two questions will be decided by Bourbon County voters at the end of November 5th’s election, along with choosing the leaders at all government levels. At a recent Bourbon County Commission meeting Clerk Jennifer Hawkins laid out the Kansas Law prohibiting electioneering, following is the excerpt from the minutes.
Electioneering Not Allowed
Jennifer Hawkins, County Clerk, discussed the upcoming General Election and went over what electioneering is.
“Jennifer stated that KSA 25-2430 outlines electioneering and defines it as
“knowingly attempting to persuade or influence eligible voters to vote for or against a particular candidate, party or question submitted, including wearing, exhibiting or distributing labels, signs, posters, stickers other materials that clearly identify a candidate in the election or clearly indicate support or opposition to a question submitted election, within any polling place, on election day or advance voting site, during the time period allowed by law for casting a ballot by advance voting, or within a radius of 250 feet from the entrance thereof.”
“Jennifer explained this means that there cannot be any t-shirts, hats, flags on vehicles, magnets on vehicles, pins, or other wearable advertisement containing a candidate’s name or slogan.
“Jennifer said that the statue exempts “bumper stickers that are affixed to a motor vehicle that is used to transport voters to a polling place or to an advance voting site for the purpose of voting.”
“Jennifer said that any political yard signs near a polling place cannot be within 250 feet of an entrance.”
Questions On The Ballot
County Question
“Shall the current number of Bourbon County Commissioner Districts set forth in KSA 19-203(a)(b)(c)(d) & (e), be increased to five (5) Commissioner Districts?
Yes or No
Commissioner Brandon Whisenhunt said that the question is on the ballot because of a petition that was passed around the county to increase the number of commissioners.
The number of petition signers was not going to meet the deadline but was coming close to the required number, and the petitioner, Michael Hoyt, requested that the commission put it on the ballot for the voters to decide. In a 2 to 1 vote, Clifton Beth and Whisenhunt voted yes and Jim Harris voted no.
“I am hoping it will cause more discussion of issues,” Whisenhunt said. “There will be more discussion with five people talking about an issue instead of three.”
USD 234 Question
“Shall the method of election in Unified School District No. 234, Bourbon County, Kansas, be changed from the six-member district method of election, under which the school district is not divided into any member districts and all board members are elected at large?
Yes or No
Destry Brown, Superintendent of USD 234 provided the following ballot question explanation.
“The USD # 234 Board of Education is asking patrons to consider a change to how Board of Education members are selected. Currently, each member is chosen from a specific area within the district boundaries, and all voters within the district vote on every position.
“This was done years ago when consolidation was done and the
district wanted to have representation from the different school communities: Winfield Scott, Eugene Ware, and rural schools like Fulton.
“Today, all students in the district attend all our schools. No attendance center boundaries exist any longer.
“In recent years, we have had to fill positions on the Board of Education due to death, movement of members out of the district, changes in job responsibilities, and retirement.
The district has found it difficult to find people to run for the Board of Education based on these specific areas that were designated years ago. Consequently, we only have six board members right now.
“We are asking the community to consider changing all our Board of Education members to at-large seats.
“This will allow people in any area of the district to run for the Board of Education.
“Some concerns have been voiced that all the board members could be elected from one neighborhood. Theoretically, that could be possible. However, it has not occurred in the districts that use the at-large format. In fact, the makeup of those boards often are more diverse.
“What would that look like? Next year, the district will have four positions open.
“Anyone interested in becoming a board member can file for a position. Suppose six people decide to run for the board. Then, the ballot next November will list all six people, and voters will select four candidates they would like to have on the Board
of Education.
“The four with the most votes, then become board members no matter where they live within the district boundaries.”
Last Day to Apply For Advance Voting Mail Ballot Is Oct. 29
Enduring Word Travel Museum This Weekend
|
|
|
|
|
| First Southern Baptist Church invites everyone of all ages!
October 25-27th
The Enduring Word Travel Museum Teaching the History and Significance of the Bible Non-denominational Exhibit & Programs View the authentic historical artifacts dating back to 5000 years from the Holy Land, Middle East, and Asia Minor. Ancient Torahs, Bibles, manuscripts, and pottery. Plus, a working replica of the Gutenberg press. Like used to print the first-ever Bible. |
 |
|
| See the chart below for event times or click here for a printable copy: |
 |
|
| A special thank you to our Chamber Champion members! |
 |
|
||||||
|
Social Meals For Senior Citizens Starts November 4 in Fort Scott
On November 4 at 11 a.m., a new place for senior citizens to get healthy meals and an opportunity for social engagement will begin at Buck Run Community Center, 735 Scott Avenue, Fort Scott.
“60+ Nutrition Bourbon County is the name of the program,” said Kathy Brennon, Executive Director of Southeast Kansas Area Agency on Aging.
“We currently provide approximately 1,000 home-delivered meals a month to 72 people in Bourbon County, from Monday through Thursday,” she said. “This is generally known as Meals on Wheels, but there are other organizations that provide meals to individuals in their homes.”
The meals are cooked in the agency’s industrial kitchen in Pittsburg and transported to Fort Scott to be portioned for home delivery.
The Older American Act, OAA funding has two goals: to provide healthy meals to homebound individuals and, for those not homebound, to also provide a healthy meal and opportunities for social engagement which contributes to health and well-being, she said.
“The funding is primarily through the Older American Act which is federal funds, and also funded by the State of Kansas,” she said. “This funding has a required match which is provided with county funding and donations.”
Volunteers Are A Key Component Of The Funding
” For Fort Scott, there is only one SEKAAA paid staff, with volunteer staff doing the home delivery. Last year, volunteers provided over 2000 hours of assistance. Without these committed volunteers, the program couldn’t occur,” she said.
“Volunteers can be daily, one day a week, or whatever works for the person. Sometimes a business or church takes home- delivery as a project and commits to a specific day or week and they rotate their staff.”
“We do conduct background checks for all our volunteers. Volunteers frequently say they get so much out of the experience and typically people are so grateful. If someone is interested in volunteering they can call 620-305-1539 for more information.”
The Target Participants
“The target participant is individuals 60 and older. The spouse of the participant, regardless of age, and individuals less than 60 years of age with a disability, who reside in the home with and accompany a participant are also eligible to participate.”
If interested, the person must make a reservation by calling 620-305-1539.
Why this service?
“I started at SEKAAA as executive director in 2021,” she said. “I had a vague knowledge of the nutrition program but did not realize how important it was to the participants. We were coming off the COVID restrictions, in which we were slowly opening our meal sites. Social isolation and poverty is an identified concern for the elderly in the nine-county area, Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson, Woodson.”
“Veivek Murthy, US Surgeon General reports that there is significant health concerns associated with loneliness. He reports that the health impact of social isolation is similar to what is caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
Chrome-extension://
Social Meals Together Are Important
“Home delivery is a very important service we provide, but we also believe that people meeting together for a healthy meal and seeing and making friends is also important. In our surveys of the congregate program, 35.6% of our participants eat alone. America’s Health Ranking reports that nearly 10% of Kansans age 60 and over face the threat of hunger. Murthy’s Social Connection Advisory reports that studies have shown that socially connected people live longer and are typically healthier. We at SEKAAA made it a goal to promote social connections whenever possible.”
“In Bourbon County over 26% of the population is over the age of 60 and it is anticipated it will continue to grow,” she said. “This program helps us meet our organization’s mission of helping people age their way, by having resources in place to keep people in their communities healthy and safe as long as possible.”
“There is a requested donation of $2 per meal, but no one is denied a meal. We do accept SNAP (foodstamps), she said.
To learn more:
Wreaths Across America Fort Scott National Cemetery Date for Cut-Off Extended.
Early Voting Begins Today, Oct. 21 at the Bourbon County Courthouse
Bourbon County Commission Agenda for October 21
Bourbon County Courthouse
210 S. National Ave Fort Scott, KS 66701 Phone: 620-223-3800
Fax: 620-223-5832
Bourbon County, Kansas
Brandon Whisenhunt
1st District Commissioner
Jim Harris, Chairman
2nd District Commissioner
Clifton Beth
3rd District Commissioner
Bourbon County Commission Agenda 210 S. National Ave.
Fort Scott, KS 66701
October 21, 2024 5:30 p.m.
- Call Meeting to Order
- Flag Salute
- Approval of Consent Agenda
- Approval of Minutes from 10/15/2024
- Approval of Accounts Payable Totaling $382,843.51
- Approval of Payroll Totaling $288,169.30
- Approval of September Financials
- Becky Gray, Building Health Inc.-Letter of Support Request
- Teri Hulsey, EMS Director-EMS Grant Award
- Susan Walker, CFO-Financials
- Jennifer Hawkins, County Clerk
- KCAMP Meeting Delegate
- Election Update
- 11-4-24 Meeting
- Resolution 12-24 Burn Ban
- Insurance
- Emergency Department Funding Agreement
- Commission Comments
- Adjourn Meeting
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.
Heartland Awards:$615k for Electric Grid Resilience Project
Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative members in Linn County and surrounding areas will soon benefit from enhancements to electric power grid resilience thanks to state and federal awards totaling more than $615,000, according to a press release from HREC.
“The project was designed to address some challenges in Linn County, where we have had problems with the power supply from the transmission lines,” said Doug Graham, Communication Specialist for Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. .
“What happens at our substations is that we tap into the transmission lines and get the power we need to distribute to our members,” he said. “What this project will do is link 10 of our substations together and make new paths for electricity to flow — paths that we can control remotely.”
“The idea is that if we lose power to one of our Linn County substations because there is a problem with the transmission line in that area, but we still have access to power through a transmission line that’s connected to a different substation, we will be able to remotely reroute power from that other substation and get the Linn County people back online.”
“But the reverse could also be true,” he said. “There could be situations where we have lost power at, say, our Devon substation in Bourbon County, but we still have access to power at our Linn County substations. Thanks to the improvements this project will make, we would then be able to quickly and remotely reroute power to the members who are usually served by that Devon substation and keep them on until the power supply issue is resolved.”
“For that reason, this project will benefit folks in the counties around Linn as well,” he said.
Heartland’s Project RESTORE (Resiliency Enhancements to Strategically Transfer Optimized Reliable Energy) involves the installation of 10 remote-controlled reclosers to allow for speedy rerouting of power along existing lines to bring Linn County members back online within minutes rather than hours in the event of a substation outage, according to the press release.
By replacing hydraulic reclosers with remotely operated electronic reclosers, Heartland staff will be able to reroute power much more quickly, greatly reducing the time consumer members are out of power due to power supply interruptions. The project will allow Heartland staff to remotely reroute power between a total of 10 substations.
Heartland will receive $414,627 in federal funding for the project through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience Grant Program, and an additional $200,403 from the Build Kansas Fund, which was established by the Kansas Legislature to help Kansas organizations meet the matching fund requirements for federal infrastructure grants, according to the press release.
While the project was designed to address needs specific to Linn County, members in adjoining counties served by the affected substations will also benefit from these grid enhancements.
Heartland Chief Executive Officer Mark Scheibe said few electric distribution utilities serving rural areas would consider this type of project because of the cost and the technical knowledge required to make it work. As a result, already underserved areas miss out on technology that could substantially reduce outages.
“Our goal is for Project RESTORE to serve as a model for other rural providers to follow as they work toward improving grid resilience,” Scheibe said.
Project RESTORE was one of 11 projects selected for a total of nearly $17 million in funding through the DOE grid resilience program and the Build Kansas Fund.
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 consumer-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.
Core Fall Fest This Saturday Oct. 19: Fall Fun For the Family
Fall Farm Fest is days away to raise funds for Core Community.
“It is all coming together,” said Deana Betts, the community liaison with Core Community, a local helping organization that has a mission to engage the community to lift families out of poverty.
“We have had a great response from the community! We have Camren Lamb performing (guitar and singing) at noon, the Fort Scott High School Orchestra playing from 1-2 p.m. and Michael Lundine will play from 2 -5 p.m.,” Betts said.
“We will have face painting, horse rides, a corn pit, lots of animals and games to play, a food court, a pumpkin patch, paint a pumpkin, pumpkin art, and lots of vendors will be set up throughout the day,” she said.
Larry and Vickie Shead agreed to open the Shead Farm on Saturday, October 19 for a fundraiser for the Core Community organization. The farm has an annual community spring festival that has grown larger each year.
The event is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the farm located at 2468 Calvalry Road, Garland, south of Fort Scott.
The cost is $5 per person, for families with over five members it’s $25 and there will be food, vendors, games, and raffles to entertain the family.
To learn more about Core Community or the Fall Fest, contact Betts at [email protected] or 785.488. 8411.
To learn more: Core Fall Farm Fest Facebook page
NATURE OF THE IMMINENT THREAT OF DISASTER: Fire Hazard Conditions
NATURE OF THE IMMINENT THREAT OF DISASTER:
Due to the extreme heat and little rain, fire-hazard conditions in Bourbon County are very high. Because of the limitations of water usage by rural fire districts, there is concern for the capabilities of those fire districts to address any fire. Once started, with the present weather conditions, a fire will be difficult to control by fire departments. Water usage is of great concern to all fire departments, and the availability of enough water to contain a fire.
The dry conditions, above-normal temperatures and fire danger will continue unabated until sufficient rainfall occurs across the area.
It is hereby proclaimed, directed, and ordered by the Bourbon County Commissioners, in accordance with K.S.A. 48-932, that the following acts are prohibited within the boundaries of this County by all citizens and visitors:
- All outside burning, unless specifically approved in writing by the Fire Chief, with the exception of covered barbeque grills.
The knowing and willful violation of this order shall constitute a Class A misdemeanor and any person convicted of such violation shall be punished as provided by law. [K.S.A. 48-939]
This Proclamation shall be in full force and effect until lifted.
Passed in open session by the Board of County Commissioners of Bourbon County, Kansas, this 15th day of October 2024.
Minutes of the Bourbon County Commission for Oct. 7
October 7, 2024 Monday, 5:30 p.m.
The Board of Bourbon County Commissioners met in open session with Commissioners Harris and Whisenhunt and the County Clerk present.
Jean Tucker, Clint Walker, Rachel Walker, Michael Wunderly, Tim Emerson, Pete Owenby, Troy Schell, Jason Silvers, Anne Dare, Michael Hoyt, Debbi Shepard, Shirley Locke, Deb Martin, and Vance Eden were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim opened the meeting and led the flag salute.
Brandon made a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes approval of minutes from 9/30/2024 and 10/4/2024, approval of payroll totaling $289,779.42, and approval of accounts payable totaling $558,232.10. Jim seconded the motion and all approved.
Eric Bailey, Public Works Director, presented the culvert report for September for approval. Eric stated the fuel report was emailed to the Commissioners and the prices are looking good. Eric said FEMA will be here tomorrow to look at Quadrant One of the county and will be checking repairs, debris removal, and culverts that were replaced. Eric said the sales tax came in a little higher than they thought and he plans to do 3000 feet of Maple Road east of 55th Steet so that they can do preventative maintenance on it next year. Eric stated after they do that, they will put the asphalt equipment up for the year and focus on crack sealing as there are several places that are in need due to the dry weather. Eric said they are hauling gravel and will be taking the screen out to make road rock at the quarry. Eric stated there was some confusion on social media and he wanted to clarify the railroad crossing on Jayhawk Road will be closed Wednesday through Friday according to BNSF. Eric said that the BNSF release noted that they will be working on railroad crossings from Wall Street south into Crawford County. Eric said that he understands residents will be inconvenienced which is why we put the notice out on our website, Facebook page, and the local media sources so that everyone is aware. Eric stated he also contacted the three business in the area of the Jayhawk Road closure. There was road grader training last week which went well and the road graders are working on ditches now to try to improve water flow. Eric stated that there are some areas that look rough and that they will bring in rock if needed. Eric said he was contacted about removing the speed limit sign on Eagle Road between Highway 69 and 255th Street but he is going to wait as there is still gravel that needs to be added to the shoulders to complete the road work. Eric said he attended a Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission safety task force meeting via Zoom and handed out a sheet to the Commissioners to outline what was discussed and stated a comprehensive plan is being put together and there will be grant opportunities later. Eric stated that Bright Speed will move their phone line on 85th Street between Xavier and Yale Roads so that we can finish mowing both sides of the road. Eric stated the area on Xavier Road going up the hill has bedrock showing so they will have to bring in dirt and clay and then lay rock on top of that to fix the road. Eric stated false information was on social media stating that Bourbon County is going to drain Elm Creek Lake and make it into a rock quarry. Eric said that the Commissioners are only going to take core samples on the area in the southeast corner that the county owns to test the quality of the rock to see if a quarry is feasible. Eric reiterated that we are not going to drain nor close Elm Creek Lake.
Sheriff Bill Martin and Eric Bailey discussed the safety committee that the Commissioners asked Eric to form. Sheriff Martin stated last week KWORCC came in and explained the safety committee and what would be needed and required. Sheriff Martin said this is a brand-new program with KWORCC and currently only 6 out of the 80 members have formed a committee. Sheriff Martin stated the savings to the county would be $6,000 per year and the committee would need to consist of at least 6-8 members. Sheriff Martin said the Commissioners will need to decide if we are going to form a safety committee or if we want to wait a year for KWORCC to get the program established. Eric said that they have 12 county employees who have volunteered to be on the committee and that includes public works employees and elected officials. After discussion it was decided to have departments work in house on their safety plans and get an update from KWORCC in six months.
Jennifer Hawkins, County Clerk, discussed the upcoming General Election and went over what electioneering is. Jennifer stated that KSA 25-2430 outlines electioneering and defines it as “knowingly attempting to persuade or influence eligible voters to vote for or against a particular candidate, party or question submitted, including wearing, exhibiting or distributing labels, signs, posters, stickers other materials that clearly identify a candidate in the election or clearly indicate support or opposition to a question submitted election within any polling place on election day or advance voting site during the time period allowed by law for casting a ballot by advance voting or within a radius of 250 feet from the entrance thereof.” Jennifer explained this means that there cannot be any t-shirts, hats, flags on vehicles, magnets on vehicles, pins, or other wearable advertisement containing a candidate’s name or slogan. Jennifer said that the statue exempts “bumper stickers that are affixed to a motor vehicle that is used to transport voters to a polling place or to an advance voting site for the purpose of voting.” Jennifer said that any political yard signs near a polling place cannot be within 250 feet of an entrance. Jennifer stated a lot of people do not know about electioneering so she is going to get the information on our website and in the newspapers.
Brandon said that they have been working on getting communication towers put up in the northwest part of the county for several years. Brandon said there is $125,000 in ARPA funds that need to be allocated by the end of the year and suggested using the funds on the communication towers as it will be used to get radio signal for our first responders. Jim said that they need $106,000 for the hospital from the ARPA funds. Jim said that $500,000 total is needed and they are going to use $395,000 from the equipment fund and the rest from the ARPA fund. Jim suggested working with the CFO to look for other funds to put the towers up. Brandon said he would as he wants to get the towers up for our first responders. Jim asked County Counselor Justin Meeks to come in and speak about healthcare.
Brandon made a motion to amend the agenda to allow Justin to speak about healthcare in Bourbon County. Jim seconded the motion and all approved.
Justin Meeks said they had an unscheduled meeting today with the hospital and other players involved. Justin said that Freeman came into the healthcare discussion in May 2024 because of the work done by KRI and Legacy. Justin said that mid-August during an executive session an issue with equipment was brought up and as of today all equipment will be returned to the facility. Justin said the issue with the title to the building has been resolved and closing should occur within 5-7 business days then KRI can finalize with Freeman. Justin said the only thing left will be for the County to give Freeman $500,000 and the City of Fort Scott will give $600,000. Justin said Freeman will show how the money will be spent. Jim said they had a good meeting at Freeman where they met with the CEO and COO who he stated are excited with the news. Jim said Clifton has been involved in healthcare for three years and wants the public to thank him for his work as he has done a good job.
Brandon made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:05. Jim seconded the motion and all approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
___________________, Chairman
___________________,Commissioner
ATTEST: ___________________,Commissioner
Jennifer Hawkins, Bourbon County Clerk
10-15-2024 Approved Date