Lindsay Madison, Executive Director Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce
Community members are invited to a Legislative Update Coffee hosted by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event will take place on Saturday, March 3, 2018, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Catherine’s Café on the lower level of Mercy Hospital.
State legislators Senators Richard Hilderbrand and Caryn Tyson and Representatives Trevor Jacobs and Adam Lusker will give an update on the current session as well as address any issues or questions presented from the audience.
If you have a particular item you would like to have addressed and plan to attend, you may email the Chamber at [email protected] by 5 p.m. Thursday, March 1.
The general public is invited and encouraged to attend this Legislative Update on Saturday, March 3.
Coffee, juice and light breakfast refreshments will be served. The event is being sponsored by the City of Fort Scott, Landmark Bank, McDonald’s and Mercy Hospital.
For more information please contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 or email [email protected].
Fort Scott Community College hosts the 37th Annual Spring Rodeo on March 9-11.
This action-packed rodeo will take place in the indoor Arnold Arena. The rodeo will feature 25 Kansas and Oklahoma 2-year and 4-year colleges competing for a variety of titles.
These athletes work hard, not only in the classroom but in the arena!
So get on out to Fort Scott Community College and watch them at work.
Friday, March 9 will kick off at 7:30 p.m., followed by Saturday, March 10 at 1 pm and 7:30 pm, and then finishing on Sunday, March 11 at 1 pm.
Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for FSCC students (with I.D.) $3 for children 6 to 12 and children 5 and under are free.
For more information, please contact Jaice Cross or Chad Cross at 620.223.2700 ext. 7030.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of Quality Mechanics & Sound, LLC. – Opening at 501 S. National.
Quality Mechanics & Sound, owned by Lisa Thurston, Alan Ornstein, and Erin Thurston will offer a variety of services such as vehicle repair and maintenance, installation of car audio systems, keyless entry, remote start, and auto detailing.
Their business also includes Midwest Interlock, ignition interlock, and home monitoring services.
All Chamber members and their guests are encouraged to attend.
The event will take place on Thursday, March 1 from 12 pm to 2 pm with the ribbon cutting starting at 12:15 pm.
Attendees will be invited to stay following the ceremony for a cookout and drawings and to learn more about the business and the services they to offer.
Schenkel Construction workers constructed the pavilion at Riverfront Park starting in fall 2017. It is nearly complete.
Riverfront Park Pavilion is almost ready for public use.
“We have to plant grass and landscape,” Jerry Witt, chairman of the Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority (FSBCRA), said.
The FSBCRA envisions the pavilion will be used for family gatherings or public concerts or meetings, according to Witt.
There will be a grand opening this spring for the pavilion.
“We’re gearing towards a ribbon cutting following a Chamber of Commerce Coffee on May 17 at 8:45 a.m.,” Witt said.
“That evening at 6 p.m. there will be hot dogs, watermelon, and desserts,” he said. “Then a free country music concert at 6:30 p.m. Jason Richison, Kinley Rice and Rick Cook and the Seminole Band will be here.”
The $38,000 pavilion was funded by a matching grant where 80 percent was provided by a Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks grant, and the FSBCRA paying 20 percent through local fundraising, Witt said.
Schenkel Contracting, Fort Scott, constructed the building purchased from Lester Building Systems of Minnesota, starting in early fall.
The 30 by 50 by 12-foot wooden frame, with commercial scissor trusses, a steel roof and gable ends, has electricity and lights.
The pavilion is located east of the parking area just inside Riverfront Park in the Belltown Trail area, north of the Marmaton River.
The next project of the FSBCRA is an overlook structure, Witt said.
Members of Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority discuss updates on construction projects at Riverfront Park at the Carriage House in September. Clockwise from left: Danny Magee, Bob Love, Allen Warren, Jerry Witt and Jeff Sweetser. Not pictured are Betty Boyko, Dean Mann, Arnold Scholfield, Penny Barnes and Dave Martin and Brian Leaders, who are ex-officio members.
“We will be building an overlook at the convergence of Mill Creek and the Marmaton River,” Witt said. “It will be a five-sided structure with some seating. It’s for educational and recreational purposes.”
Each side of the overlook will be 14 feet and it will be 24 feet across.
There will be a 40 foot American Disabilities Act compliant boardwalk leading to the overlook.
“The Westar Green Team is supplying the lumber and milling, the Riverfront Authority will supply labor,” Witt said.
Construction will begin in late spring or early summer, he said, with the contractor to yet be determined.
The FSBCRA is getting preliminary costs for possible lighting options in the park, Witt said.
In addition, the board is submitting a grant application for playground equipment, he said.
“It will be rustic logs and nature-type things for the kids,” Witt said.
The FSBCRA is regrouping for a historic bridge relocation to the park.
“We are looking at further grants,” Witt said. “We rejected the low bid because it was higher than the engineer thought it should be. The engineer thought it should $750,000, the low bid was $1.2 million, so we are starting over.”
The FSBCRA meets monthly.
For more information, contact Witt at 620-215-4817.
The new apartment complex will be located on Huntington Street, to the east of the Horton Street parcel of land.
The old trailer park property that was on South Horton Street will see some revitalization in the future.
Tuesday the property at 1907 S. Horton, north of Community Christian Church, was rezoned.
“Along Horton, there will be a small shopping center service, a strip mall, for residents and (Fort Scott Community College) students,” Rhonda Dunn, Community Development Director for the City of Fort Scott said.
Rhonda Dunn, Community Development Director with the City of Fort Scott.
Along Huntington St. on the east side of the Horton parcel of land, there will be apartments or duplexes built, she said.
Patrick Wood and Jake Gross, with Two Dogs Barking Real Estate, are the owners of the property and have cleared it for development.
The business also owns Garrison Apartments at 1729 S. Horton and will be building similar apartments or duplexes at the site.
The Garrison Apartments on South Horton Street. The new complexes will be similar, according to Fort Scott Community Development Director Rhonda Dunn.
“They will be a higher end finish for young professionals,” Dunn said of the proposed apartments.
“The key is, it will not be mobile homes there,” Dunn said. “I keep strict regulations on mobile homes to make sure it’s the best quality we can get. The mobile homes in our town are ‘grandfathered in’. No one needs to worry I am going to get their mobile home.”
The house and outbuildings currently on the site will be sold and removed, she said.
The house and outbuildings to be removed. The small shopping center will be located here.
The Fort Scott Planning Commission will meet on Monday, February 26, 2018, at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas. This meeting will be held to discuss the Comprehensive Plan. This meeting is open to the public.
Fort Scott Community College announced its plan to join a national movement to address smoking and tobacco use on college campuses throughout the U.S.
Fort Scott Community College will ask students, faculty, and administration to support the adoption of a 100 percent smoke-free policy.
“We are truly excited to make Fort Scott Community College a safe, healthy and productive environment,” said Alysia Johnston, Fort Scott Community College President. “The health benefits of reducing secondhand smoke exposure are invaluable and could also help students prepare for the workforce where smoke-free policies are already the norm.”
Fort Scott Community College President Alysia Johnston.
Over the next 17 months, Fort Scott Community College will engage the campus community to address tobacco use. A task force will be formed to oversee the project, assess tobacco use behavior and attitudes, identify a treatment plan for current smokers and develop a policy. Two students will develop and lead educational efforts to build a movement to become a tobacco-free campus. The policy must be approved by Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees.
Fort Scott Community College’s efforts are part of a growing trend to clean the air on campuses. Currently, more than 2,100 higher education institutions in the United States have gone smoke- or tobacco-free.
FSCC was one of 18 minority-serving institutions and community colleges that will receive funds and technical support from Truth Initiative®, the nation’s largest nonprofit public health organization dedicated to making tobacco use a thing of the past. The project will be led by Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society on campus. Over the past three years, Truth Initiative has partnered with 135 colleges, reaching more than 1.2 million students and 275,000 faculty and staff across 35 states.
“With 99 percent of smokers starting before age 26, college campuses are critical platforms for preventing young adults from starting tobacco use, aiding those current tobacco users in quitting and reducing exposure to secondhand smoke for all,” said Robin Koval, CEO, and president of Truth Initiative. “We are looking forward to supporting Fort Scott Community College’s efforts to make smoking and tobacco use a thing of the past.”
Today, 38 million Americans ages 18 and above still smoke — including 17.7 percent in Kansas— and tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in this country. Research also shows that there are dire health consequences for non-smokers too. Secondhand smoke exposure causes cancer and cardiovascular disease among other secondhand smoke diseases, which are responsible for more than 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults in the U.S.
Minority-serving institutions and community colleges tend to serve students who are at greater risk for tobacco use, including low-income, racial and ethnic minority and first-generation students.
“The grant from Truth Initiative has set us up for success and I’m positive we can achieve our goals,” said Johnston. “We are going to hit the ground running with our plan so that we can finally take a breath of fresh air on campus.”
New kiosks have two maps—one of the City of Fort Scott trails locations and one of the specific map of the trail at the location. Pictured is the Bell Town Trail kiosk at Riverfront Park.
Area parks have had some improvements over the winter, with the placement of wayfaring signs.
There are nine signs total: Ellis Park Trail, Bell Town Trail, Riverfront Loop Trail, Fort Scott Community College Trail, three (including a new trail) at Gunn Park, Uniontown Trail, and the future Industrial Park Trail, according to Jody Hoener, chair of the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, that is coordinating the project.
Ellis Park Trail on Twelfth Street and Bell Town Trail in Riverfront Park have completed kiosks.
The next signs to go up will be the Riverfront Loop Trail and the Fort Scott Community College Trail.
It’s been a collaborative effort.
The Wayfinding Signs and Kiosks Project is funded by an American Planning Association-Kansas Chapter and Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways to Healthy Kansas Grant.
Fort Scott High School carpentry classes have constructed the kiosks.
Trail maps were designed by Simon Ballou. Darren Crays, Designing Edge Graphics, is printing and installing the maps.
The City of Fort Scott is providing the installation of the kiosks.
Wayfinding signs and kiosks are part of creating a system of non-motorized transportation in the area, according to Hoener. Ensuring consistent signage design and graphics across all signs is best practice to make trails easily identifiable, she said.
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team consists of Jerry Witt (Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority), Frank Halsey (Gunn Park Trails Volunteers), Lindsay Madison (Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce), Todd Farrell (City of Fort Scott) and Jody Hoener ((Mercy Hospital).
Full-time position opening at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes-
The Lowell Milken Center is seeking a dynamic individual with a college degree who wants to change the world. The individual must be a people person who interacts well with the public while having tremendous organizational skills. The individual will also provide tours to visitors, lead group tours, plan events and fundraisers, write grants, and have the ability to adjust to new tasks easily. The job, description, and title will develop as the strengths of the hired individual is discovered.
To begin the application process, email a resume to [email protected].
