The Fort Scott Planning Commission will meet on Monday, January 6th, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall, 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas. This meeting will be held to consider the subdivision of a plat at the property at 401 Woodland Hills Boulevard.
This meeting is open to the public.
The proposed wind turbine project in southwest Bourbon County has long term consequences for the economy of the area.
Jayhawk Wind, the wind energy company proposing the project, is looking to use 28,000 acres of land in the county to produce electricity in the region, including Bourbon and Crawford counties.
The Jayhawk Wind project is being developed by Apex Clean Energy.
Apex Clean Energy develops, constructs, and operates utility-scale wind and solar power facilities across North America. Their team of more than 200 renewable energy experts uses a data-focused approach, according to its website. Apex Clean Energy, Inc. is located at 310 4th St. NE, Suite 300, Charlottesville, VA 22902
To see the Bourbon and Crawford County’s project analysis and a Jayhawk Wind press release which was published recently on FortScott.Biz, click below:
Jayhawk Wind – Economic Development Report Final November 2019(2)
Jayhawk Eco impact report 12 2019(1)
Wind farm production in Kansas has helped to lower CO2 emissions, according to a National Public Radio (NPR) article.
Kansas’ lower emissions is largely due to the rapid adoption of wind energy and a slow move away from coal-powered electricity.
“With the fast growth of cheap wind-generated electricity in Kansas, it’s become less profitable to run coal plants,” according to the article.
Click below to view:
Controversy
There is a local controversy building about the proposed wind energy project.
A meeting of opponents to Jayhawk Wind project is planned for Bourbon and Crawford county residents, according to a press release.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, January 9, at Rodeway Inn, Ft. Scott, Ks.
Noise level and other issues have been questions the public has asked about the project.
Noise level is 50 dBa
Apex Clean Energy, says the noise is minimal.
“The majority of the sound produced from modern dynamic windmills will be limited to 50 decibels, quieter than a refrigerator as measured at a nearby house,” according to Helen Humphries, Public Engagement Manager for Apex Clean Energy, Inc.
Other issues
To see community opinions on noise levels and other related issues at another wind farm site, view this Youtube from an Arkwright, NY wind turbine project controversy:
There are benefits
Some of the financial benefits go to landowners, schools and government entities, which are facing a decline in population and finances. The project will also provide some jobs: construction, operation, supply chain, and induced jobs.
Jobs
“Construction jobs only last during the construction of the wind farm,” Dr. David Loomis, professor of economics at Illinois State University and co-founder of Center for Renewable Energy said in an interview with FortScott.Biz. Loomis is the author of the analysis. “Construction jobs last six months to a year, 318 jobs for the year (estimated). All estimates are full-time equivalency.”,
“Operational jobs…They last the life of the project,” Loomis said. “On-site wind turbine technicians, a site supervisor, some administrative support.”
“There will be supply chain jobs due to expenditures in the local economy…truck fuel, gravel, supplies, and other items.”
“The final category is induced jobs…spending, shopping, eating out, entertainment because of all other jobs created because people have more money to spend for that,” Loomis said.
“Induced long term jobs include landowners leasing their land, tax revenue going into the local economy, schools, county, so forth,” Loomis said.
Rural areas are hard hit economically.
“The agriculture sector has been hit hard over the last two cycles,” he said. “2005 was a great time to be on a corn or soybean farm, but they’ve gotten squeezed because of the rising costs of equipment and fertilization. Oversupply caused a downturn.”
“Rural economies are hurting, individual farms are feeling this punch. This lease payment will take little land out of production but can help stabilize family farms. It’s a fixed payment to them.”
Currently, Jayhawk Wind is leasing land from landowners in the area of southwest Bourbon County and northwest Crawford County, Humphries said.
School District Benefits
“There is no revenue until 2032 due to the property tax exemption.,” Loomis notes in the analysis reports. “Starting in 2032, USD 235 will receive over $161 thousand annually for the general fund, over $225 thousand for the ‘Other’ Fund which totals to over $2.4 million and over $3.3 million respectively.”
Renewable energy facilities are exempt from property taxes for 10-12 years.
“Kansas recently changed the way that it taxes wind energy projects,” according to Humphries.” Before 2016, renewable energy generating facilities such as wind farms were exempt from property taxes according to K.S.A. 79-201. Since 2016, renewable energy generators are exempt from property taxes for only twelve years if owned by an independent power producer and ten years if constructed by a regulated public utility per K.S.A. 79-259. After this exemption period, the wind energy project will pay property taxes to all the taxing jurisdictions.”
Bourbon County Government Benefits
“Typically, wind developers in Kansas enter into a contribution agreement to voluntarily support the county during the 10 or 12 year exemption period, as we expect Jayhawk Wind to do,” Humphries said. “Once the initial 10 or 12 year period as defined by state law concludes, the wind power project will increase the property tax base and create a new revenue source for education and other local government services, such as road maintenance, libraries, and cemeteries.”
To see other views on the school and local government issues, click below:
https://www.flatlandkc.org/farm-field/winded/
Agenda
Bourbon County Commission Room
1st Floor, County Courthouse
210 S. National Avenue
Fort Scott, KS 66701
Tuesdays starting at 9:00
Date: December 31, 2019
1st District-Lynne Oharah Minutes: Approved: _______________
2nd District-Jeff Fischer Corrected: _______________
3rd District-Nick Ruhl Adjourned at: _______________
County Clerk-Kendell Mason
10:00-10:30 – 2019 Budget Amendment Hearing
There will be a Special Meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission held at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, December 30th, 2019 at the City Hall Commission Room, 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701. It is anticipated the City Commission will convene into Executive Session to conduct this meeting.
SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
FORT SCOTT CITY COMMISSION
CITY COMMISSION ROOM
123 S. MAIN STREET
FORT SCOTT, KANSAS 66701
9:30 A.M.
I. ROLL CALL:
ADAMSON BARTELSMEYER NICHOLS MITCHELL PARKER
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
I MOVE THAT THE CITY COMMISSION RECESS INTO EXECUTIVE
SESSION FOR ________________________________ IN ORDER TO
(see below justification)
DISCUSS ______________________________________. THE
EXECUTIVE SESSION WILL BE ___________ MINUTES AND THE OPEN
MEETING TO RESUME AT ________________.
Justifications for Executive Sessions:
Personnel matters of non-elected personnel
Consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship
Matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative or representatives of the body or agency
Confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships
Preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property
X. MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT: ROLL CALL
ADJOURNMENT:
When KDOT crews treat highways for ice, especially when it is the coldest, motorists might notice darker trails on the pavement instead of the usual white trails left by brine.
It’s beet juice. It tends to leave a brownish or grayish residue.
Here’s why KDOT sometimes mixes beet juice with brine (saltwater) that it applies to roadways to melt ice or to slow its formation.
–The properties of beet juice, when mixed with brine, allow the melting agent to be effective at lower temperatures. Based on the level of concentration, beet juice mixed with brine can help control ice when it is as cold as around 0 degrees.
Beet juice also allows brine and salt to adhere to pavement longer.
On bridges, which tend to get icy, beet juice bonds to the salt crystals in brine and helps the brine stick to a bridge deck longer, says Jim Frye, Field Maintenance Manager/Emergency Coordinator with KDOT.
Another beet-juice benefit, says District Five District Engineer Brent Terstriep, is that when beet juice is added to brine, the combination makes ice-fighting more efficient because crews don’t have to drive out as often to apply brine.
Frye gave this additional explanation of how beet juice works and how it has been used:
–As moisture on pavement starts to freeze, the juice slows the process so that the liquid remains slushy longer. That gives crews more time to clear highways before the liquid turns to solid ice.
–One problem with spreading salt or spraying salt brine on a highway is that it will bounce away or scatter with traffic or the wind. “When the beet juice is added to the salt or salt brine, with its sticky texture, it will hold the salt or salt crystals on the highway longer, allowing it to work in our favor,” Frye said.
KDOT began experimenting with the beet juice it uses now during the winter of 2015 in northwestern Kansas. Since then, KDOT has made beet juice available at more than 20 locations across Kansas.
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Annual Report on under Juvenile Justice Reforms Senate Bill 367 released
The Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee (JJOC), established under 2016 Senate Bill 367 (SB367) to oversee the implementation of reforms intended to improve the state’s juvenile justice system, has released its 2019 annual report.
The report presented annually by the JJOC to the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is an assessment of the progress made in implementation of juvenile justice reform efforts. The report is also made available to the public at https://www.doc.ks.gov/juvenile-services/committee/2019-annual-report/view
“I would like to thank the JJOC for their continued stewardship of this essential work to implement these juvenile justice reforms,” Acting Secretary Jeff Zmuda, Kansas Department of Corrections, said. “Courts, local juvenile justice agencies, defense attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement, educators, service providers, child welfare and KDOC have been steadfast in their work to ensure that Kansas improves the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system, and this report reflects successes in that effort.”
Three years into reform of the juvenile justice system, Kansas has established statewide standards to reduce disparate outcomes, prohibited out-of-home placement for lower-level youth, focused intensive system resources on the highest-risk young people and provided for sustaining effective practices through a process of oversight and reinvestment in evidence-based services in the community.
“Of the many improvements to our state’s juvenile justice system, I am most encouraged to see the continuum of resources that now focus on serving kids and their families in the community, instead of removing them from the home and hoping the family can change,” Deputy Secretary Hope Cooper said. “The system is improving as a result, as is reflected in the JJOC’s annual report.”
Several factors motivated state officials to craft the SB367 juvenile justice reforms. They recognized that filling beds in out-of-home placements with lower-risk children was out of step with research showing that residential commitments generally fail to reduce — and can even increase — the likelihood of re-offending. Limiting out-of-home placement to only those youth posing an immediate risk of harm to others or themselves would help focus intensive system responses and resources on the children who need them most and assist in breaking the cycle of incarceration. And reinvesting resources in evidence-based programs would better serve children, families and communities, and ensure more consistent practices, across the state.
The Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) has three members on the 21-person JJOC, which is made up of representatives from the legislative, judicial and executive branches of state government and local officials.
Bill Meyer, Fort Scott, was selected to finish a Fort Scott Community College Trustee open position, following the recent death of his wife, Liz.
“Bill was selected due to his expressed interest in fulfilling the commitment his wife Liz made to provide the best opportunities possible for students, FSCC employees, and the community,” Alysia Johnston, FSCC president said. “There are three years left on a four-year term.”
He was sworn in at the Dec. 16 Board of Trustees meeting at the college.
“I wanted to continue the work that Liz was doing on the board,” Meyer said. “I have a fairly long history with the college and wanted to help move the college forward.”
In the recent past, both the Meyers worked at FSCC.
“Liz was the director of the nursing program, I was the college registrar,” he said. “We both retired from employment in 2007.”
Some of the challenges the college faces are maintaining an adequate funding stream, meeting the academic and technical needs of students in the future, and maintaining and improving the support for the college by Fort Scott and Bourbon County, Meyer said.
Meyer has three daughters: Kay Meyer, Elizabeth Paulson and Sarah Ettore.
His hometown is Washington D.C.
The City of Fort Scott Administrative offices will be closed on Wednesday, January 1st, 2020 in observance of the New Year’s Day Holiday. The regular offices will reopen on Thursday, January 2nd, 2020.
KDOT requesting comments on STIP amendment
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) requests comments on an amendment to the FFY 2020-2023 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) document.
The STIP is a project specific publication that lists all KDOT administered projects, regardless of funding source, and includes projects for counties and cities as well as projects on the State Highway System. The list of projects being amended to the STIP can be viewed at http://www.ksdot.org/bureaus/burProgProjMgmt/stip/stip.asp
The approval of the STIP amendment requires a public comment period, which concludes Jan. 1, 2020. To make comments on the amendment, contact KDOT’s Division of Program and Project Management at (785) 296-2252.
This information is available in alternative accessible formats. To obtain an alternative format, contact the KDOT Office of Public Affairs, (785) 296-3585 (Voice/Hearing Impaired-711).
Paul Ballou, Fort Scott ‘s Fire Chief, is retiring Jan. 3, 2020.
In addition to fire chief, Ballou was also made assistant city manager last year by Dave Martin, Fort Scott’s City Manager. He oversees the city’s dispatch division and occasionally helped the city’s code enforcement department, he said.
He started as a rural firefighter in May 1990 before coming to work for the City of Fort Scott’s Fire Department.
Outside of city duties, Ballou has been married to his wife Cheryl, for 41 years and they have two children and four grandchildren, he said.
“That’s one of the reasons I decided to retire,” Ballou said. “My grandkids are becoming real active in sports and plays. I spent the summer traveling with my oldest granddaughter, Maddie Ballou, in 8th grade, for softball. My oldest grandson, Able Chaplin, 4th grade, is into basketball and was in a play this year. My youngest granddaughter, Myah Chaplin, kindergarten, is into t-ball, dance and cheerleading. My youngest grandson, Dylan Ballou, has started t-ball.”
“My wife has a lot of stuff for me to do around the house,” Ballou said. “She’ll keep me busy for a while.”
Ballou said he had no concrete plans following retirement.
“Paul has been a servant leader to the community,” said Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin. “He has done a great job…working in all areas…of inspiring the community. He is very astute and willing to listen.”
“He will be sorely missed in the future,” Martin said.
