Bourbon County Commission Chambers, 210 S National Ave.
Monday, December 01, 2025, 5:30 PM

Consent Agenda
Approval of 11.21.25 Accounts Payable (sent 11.21.25) $93,276.25

Approval of 11.26.25 Accounts Payable (sent 11.26.25) & Payroll (sent 11.25.25) $327,304.73

Commissioner Mika Milburn brought up a dispute with the cost of a new firewall for the sheriff’s department. Commissioner Samuel Tran said it was “mission creep,” that the commission hadn’t approved. Sheriff Bill Martin addressed the commission, saying that the quotes for new phones and a firewall were approved in the Sept. 25, 2025 meeting, to be paid for from the jail sales tax.

Commissioner David Beerbower moved to table the issue for a week to iron out the disputes as to when the approval was given.

There was also a dispute about which fund should pay for the mapping services needed to redistrict Bourbon County to 5 districts.

Beerbower said it needed to be paid for regardless of where it comes from.  Milburn said she wants to be sure the commissioners’ fund doesn’t get spent without the commission’s direct order. They decided to pay for it from the general government fund.

The remainder of the consent agenda was approved.

Emerson and Co. regarding longevity, insurance

Emerson, County Clerk Susan Walker, and Dr. Cohen addressed the commission.

Emerson addressed the need for the commission’s approval of a quote for COBRA administration, FSA, and HSA. The commission so voted.

Emerson also said that they need to address when the new insurance deduction amounts should be collected from the employees. Until now the process has been to collect them the month prior to their due date in order to have the funds on hand to pay at the beginning of the following month. However, with the new employee navigator integration, funds will not be collected in advance, and the start date of the deductions will be the first payroll in January. Manual deduction entries will need to be added in December, 2025. Emmerson recommended making the change.

Blue Cross Blue Shield requires the county to pay a month in advance, per County Clerk Susan Walker. She said that if they don’t do the deductions in the previous month, the county may not be able to pay for their premiums.  She said the county had already planned to manually enter everything by the cutoff date of Dec. 3.  She said this problem will come about each December.

She said that employee navigator doesn’t allow for automated employer contributions, so they have to be manually entered.

The clerk also said that they would have to change benefits availability to 30 days after first hire date for county employees. Tran and Cohen both said that is standard industry policy. Tran said he had no problem with that.

Emerson recommended finding out what the cash flow amount shortage would be. The clerk told the commission that the amount needed is approximately $8,800.

Milburn moved to follow Emerson’s recommendation. Tran seconded with a discussion.

Handbook — Dr. Cohen

Cohen brought his current copy of the handbook. He asked for the commissioners’ individual input, then plans to take it to the elected officials and department heads, receive their input and comments, and make changes, then bring a final document to the commission for approval by the first of the year.

Cohen also brought a recommendation to the commission to have them fund an administrative assistant position for the commission. That assistant would cover matters related to personnel, records, benefits, and more.

“It’s become abundantly clear that you need a person that’s accountable to you and you only,” he said. He also said that the funding for that position would come from existing funds currently allocated elsewhere.

Milburn said that up until 2025, the commission had that person in the position of county clerk.

Tran does not oppose the position but has concerns about how they would pay for the person.

Beerbower said funding is the number one issue as well. Cohen said he thought they could find the money and that the commission should approve the decision to fill the position contingent upon finding the funding.

The motion was passed to move forward with recruiting for the position, pending funding.

Tran said they should look at the inmate housing fund to pay insurance for employees and for the commission’s administrative assistant.

Beerbower said he was not willing to do that.

Longevity pay — Dr. Cohen

Cohen addressed bridging, which is when an employee leaves and then returns. He recommended not giving them longevity pay, per his recommendation. He said that if the bridged time is shorter, continuing longevity pay may be a good idea, so long as they return to their original position. He recommended that as a consequence for employees who leave and want to come back.

Beerbower, Milburn, and Tran agreed with Cohen. They agreed that if an employee leaves and is paid out, they cannot come back at the same level they left.

Victory Foronberry, from county corrections, asked about a problem with longevity pay. Tran and Beerbower spoke to her. One of the problems was that a funding stream they voted to use to cover it was contested.

Longevity pay approved by previous commission was put into each department’s budget, but most departments didnt have it in their budgets for this last paycheck.

Tran said they did what they thought was best at the time, but within 72 hours of the commission’s decision, the revenue source was contested.

Davis asked the commission to leave the longevity as is and pay it to the employees. He said that their decision to add a new position, although it is pending the ability to find funding for it, was a terrible decision and makes the entire commission look like they put county employees second.

Sheriff Bill Martin said he doesn’t know who would contest using the inmate housing revenue to pay the employees their longevity.

Another audience member asked the commission to use the inmate housing fund to pay employees what they were promised.

Janet Harper, who works in the appraiser’s office, said that the money sent out on that stub, which was not paid by the county, was her grandchildren’s Christmas.

Tran moved to pull the inmate housing fund and put it into the general fund. Milburn gave a second with discussion.

Sheriff Bill Martin said he came to the commission offering them a 60/40 split a couple of months ago, and they wouldn’t take it. Asking to take all of it is an insult to the sheriff’s office. He said they should only take out what it costs to meet longevity pay requirements.

Clerk Susan Walker said that her projections show that a lot of the inmate housing money will be needed for the sheriff’s budget amendment, and the commission should speak with his financial advisor before moving the money.

“Everytime we try to do something, we’re getting our legs chopped off,” said Tran.

Tran then amended the motion to pull $200,000 from the inmate housing fund. Motion carried with Beerbower voting against.

Tran proposed that they take $55,100 from the general fund to pay for the longevity pay.

Beerbower moved to leave 2025 longevity as it has been and make the changes in 2026.

“We didn’t create this mess. We’re trying to fix this mess,” said Tran.

The motion to pay longevity through the end of 2025 carried, Milburn opposing.

Sheriff Martin said that his 2025 budget was created by two other individuals without input from him. The outgoing commissioners at the time told him his budget was “screwed.”

He asked why Tran made the comment about him choosing to sue the commission. Tran replied that he knew Martin had been “done dirty,” in the past and he wanted to help him. However, Martin’s continuous referral to the requirement that the county give his department what it needs to function seemed like a threat of suing the commission.

Tran said that as an executor for the county, he will take care of the county, and give the Sheriff’s department what it needs, but maybe not what it wants.

Sheriff Martin said the conversation should have happened in his office one-on-one. He told Tran that they (the commission) are confusing everyone with the numbers game. He said he appreciated Tran’s honesty.

Tran and Martin each accused the other of not reaching out to communicate about their issues outside of an open meeting.

Lines of Communication – Susan Walker, county clerk

Walker told the commissioners she needs direction from them about how they intend to communicate with her.

“I’m having trouble getting responses, and it’s very difficult for me to do my job,” she said. “It is very hard for me to do my job as clerk if I cannot get a hold of you,” she said.

Walker said she can’t set up meetings if she can’t get a hold of anyone. She asked for clarification about expectations.

“For the most part, I think that communication works well, especially by the email,” said Beerbower.

Solar Litigation

Beerbower said that the commission has been in litigation with solar developers over agreements signed with the 2024 commission. They are working to find a solution outside of court via mediation.

Next week, the commission will be voting on resolutions to change the moratorium that will exempt these two companies from moving forward with their projects. They will also vote to amend the development agreement, including setbacks for battery systems and emergency training.

There have also been some settlements on pilot money that include settlements totaling about $320,000 per year paid to the county for the next ten years.

Counsel will send to the clerk the needed information for the resolutions, which will be voted on in the December 8th meeting.

Jackie Demott with the appraiser’s office spoke to the commission. She said that while folks have issues with solar, bringing businesses into Bourbon County will help solve the county’s funding issues.

“Maybe you need to start thinking about, not just what is best for each individual, but what is best for the county. What’s going to bring this revenue in?” she said. She suggested they form a committee to bring businesses into the county.

Planning Commission — Bob Johnson

County attorney Bob Johnson attended the new Planning Commission meeting before Thanksgiving. They discussed the procedure going forward, as well as hiring a part-time individual who has helped neighboring counties with their planning commissions.

District 3 Vacancy — Bob Johnson

The Kansas Secretary of State’s legal team has said the commission can either have the replacement for the District 3 come from the old district, or from the newly created District 3, which is preferable and makes more common sense, but either option passes statutory guidance.

The commission passed a resolution for the correct political party to appoint a commissioner for the new district 3 when current district 3 commissioner, Mika Milburn, becomes the commissioner for district 5 in January 2026. That commissioner will hold office until January 2027 with the person elected in November of 2026 is seated on the commission.