April 29, 2024 Monday, 5:30 pm
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with Commissioners Jim Harris and Clifton Beth and the County Clerk present.
Vance Eden, Bo Casper, Patty Ropp, Pete Owenby, Jason Silvers, Michael Hoyt, Clint Walker, Angie Owenby, Marla Heckman, Sage Hall, Deb Martin, and Brent Smith were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim Harris opened the meeting with the flag salute.
Clifton made a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes approval of minutes from 4/22/2024, approval of accounts payable totaling $133,991.96, approval of payroll totaling $390.48. Jim seconded the motion and all approved.
Bo Casper said he has been doing research regarding solar farms. Bo said he is not 100 percent against solar farms and he thinks there are plenty of places in the county that can be used for them; however, he doesn’t the Millcreek area is a good area for them especially considering the amount of water in the area from the recent flooding. Bo discussed stormwater drainage with the solar farms and the Clean Water Act of 1972 and referenced several settlements from lawsuits in other states against solar farms due to stormwater runoff. Bo thinks that whoever comes in needs to clean and maintain the areas properly to avoid runoff issues and states when they voice their concerns, they get told to contact KDHE. Clifton said the lawsuits Bo is referring to had runoff during the construction phase due to the trucks leaking oil and fluids from drills. Bo asked what regulations we are going to have to regulate the trucks going through the sites during construction. Clifton asked Bo if he had diesel trucks and if we needed to regulate everybody. Jim said KDHE is involved in this and monitoring. Bo suggested permits be issued for each location to have the ability to track and to have inspections like they do with fuel tanks. Jim asked if Bo is asking for zoning and he said yes and it can be limited zoning, but he feels there need to be regulations and permits in place. Clifton said they asked three years ago for the public to come forward to get the issue of zoning on the ballot. It was questioned how to get a petition brought before the Commission and the County Clerk said she would research regarding a zoning petition and let them know.
Michael Hoyt said last week Charles Gentry had the Commissioners vote on an oversight committee for the sales tax dollars for the emergency department and asked if they planned on making that in a resolution format. Michael said he has concerns that we will be collecting sales tax after the expiration date of our donation agreement with the current owner of the medical facility. Michael suggested having an agreement made with the current owners that allows us to utilize the area of the building for the emergency department and that outlines the rent rate that would be charged. Mr. Hoyt voiced his concerns of the delinquent taxes that are owed on the building by the current owners. Michael asked if the current owners have made any progress in opening an acute care hospital as stated in the contract and said they could walk away from the building in two years and we would get the building back without the $2,000,000 we gave with the building. Mr. Hoyt questioned the amounts of sales tax that would potentially be generated by the quarter-cent sales tax and said sales tax revenue is down and suggested contacting the Department of Commerce to obtain projected numbers.
Pete Owenby said there was a tornado four miles from his house last weekend and it spread metal from a barn a mile and a half and he questioned what would have happened if there was a solar farm there. Pete said he will have his lawyer write up a petition and bring to the County Clerk. Pete questioned the 800-million-dollar project, 80 million in tax money and an 80 % drop in taxes that Rob Harrington discussed at a previous meeting. Rob said it would be 400 million dollars in new assessed value after ten years which could result in an 80% tax drop if the Commissioners at the time chose to do so. Clifton asked what exactly Pete is against with the solar panels. Pete said he is against somebody putting solar panels 275 feet from his house, putting a health risk on his family and everybody else around, the water running off into the neighbor’s pond and possibly making a health hazard to the cattle, that he is really against having someone not bothering to call and ask what he thinks of the solar panels, and non-disclosure agreements on the projects and said we should be more transparent. Clifton said that the non-disclosure agreements aren’t on us, and Pete asked Clifton to please not interrupt him as he is speaking during public comments as he doesn’t cut him off when he is speaking. Jim said as the Chairman he can stop the entire meeting if he chooses to and asked Pete to finish his comments. Pete said he would appreciate being able to finish his statements. Clifton asked what health risks Pete was referring to. Pete said there are all sorts of health risks associated with them. Clifton said Pete is dealing with myths not facts. Jim asked Pete if so many things are wrong with the solar panels why hasn’t his lawyer shown up in District Court to stop them? Pete stated it was because he hasn’t given the attorney that much money to do that. Clifton said to file an injunction. Jim said the county has to listen to their attorneys and the insurance attorneys. After several questions and comments made by those in the audience and the Commissioners, Jim said the discussion was over and he will adjourn the meeting or have the Sheriff remove the crowd. Jim said he has the authority to end the meeting with Clifton’s second and that the meeting needs to move forward in a professional manner. Jim said he cannot take the opinion of one attorney versus our attorneys. Clifton said you can file civil recourse against your neighbors.
Vance Eden, Superintendent of USD 235, met with the Commissioners to discuss PILOT funds again. Vance handed out statutes that he read and discussed trying to determine if the PILOT funds the county receives should be distributed to other entities as well. Jim asked for a few weeks to be able to research the topic to determine if and how the funds are to be distributed and that we will add the subject to the agenda again soon.
Eric Bailey, Public Works Director, said we received the notice for federal funds exchange last week and we could receive $79,512.09 this year. Clifton made a motion for Chairman Harris to sign the federal fund exchange paperwork. Jim seconded the motion and all approved. Eric stated it is time to apply for bridge grants again and asked which bridges the Commissioners wanted him to use this year. Eric suggested the KLPIB bridge number 518 on 215th Street and the off-system bridge program bridge number 19.2-Q on Jayhawk Road west of the hospital. Eric said that bridge is next on the recommendation list by Schwab-Eaton who inspects our bridges. Eric said the applications have to be turned in by May 12. Both Commissioners agreed to apply for both of the bridges Eric suggested. Eric and Dustin Hall, Assistant Public Works Director, discussed the storm damage the county received. There have been multiple roads and bridges closed due to damage sustained from the large amounts of rain we received. The Public Works Department will be notifying Brian Allen, Emergency Manager, of roads and bridges that are closed and Brian will be posting the locations on Facebook to help residents. Eric said that many people are moving barricades and cones or simply driving around them and he cautioned people that not only is it illegal it is also very dangerous. Dustin said they have posted several pictures on Facebook that show the severity of the damage that some paved roads have sustained. An example was given of a road that looked fine from the road but had a culvert washed out so much that Dustin could crawl between the culvert and the three inches of asphalt that were holding the road up. Crews are out working to remove trees from the roads, assessing damage, and fixing damaged roads. Eric asked for patience from the public as there is a large amount of damage and urged residents to visit the Bourbon County website to report any road issues they may have. An email will be sent to the Public Works department and the Commissioners for each road issue reported on the website.
Brian Allen, Emergency Manager, spoke of the damage from the tornado Friday night and the rain received over the last several days. Brian asked for a disaster proclamation resolution be signed so he can submit it to the state so we can participate if the state meets the damage threshold for FEMA. Clifton made a motion to pass resolution 06-24 a local disaster proclamation. Jim seconded the motion and all approved.
Clifton made a motion to go into a 10-minute executive session under 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 to include the two Commissioners, Jennifer Hawkins, and Justin Meeks and will return at 6:35. Jim seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 6:35 with no action. Jim seconded the motion and all approved.
Jim wanted to thank the emergency personnel, public works, dispatch, and churches to name a few for working together in our time of need with the recent storms. Jim also thanked the emergency room committee who recently held a meeting in Uniontown. Clifton said the public works crew was still working when he came to town at 5:00 and that they are putting in a lot of hours with the storm damage. Clifton said there is a lot of damage in the northeast part of the county. Jim said it is amazing what type of damage water can do.
Jim made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:38. Clifton seconded the motion and all approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
___________________, Chairman
___________________,Commissioner
ATTEST: ___________________, Commissioner
Jennifer Hawkins, Bourbon County Clerk
5-6-2024 Approved Date