In the past month, the Bourbon County Courthouse has had an unexpected, feathered visitor on its lawn and even inside the lobby.

Around the holidays, Christopher Petty of the Kansas State Southwind Extension Office and other county employees and courthouse visitors noticed a rooster and hen lingering around the courthouse property. While the hen has not been seen of late, Petty said the rooster is still seen frequently.

“The rooster, he seems to stick around,” Petty said, saying they believe it is owned by one of the residents of the homes to the west of the courthouse. “He wanders around the courthouse quite a bit.”

While the rooster occasionally makes visitors nervous when they see it walking along the sidewalk, Petty said the bird has been calm instead of aggressive as many roosters are. When the rooster found its way inside the courthouse one day, Petty said a commissioner was able to pick it up and take it back outside without any trouble.

“He’s pretty tame,” Petty said, adding that he is also likely tough, as it seems to thrive in an urban environment.

Until the courthouse rooster decides to spend his time elsewhere, visitors to the courthouse may be able to spot him wandering around the parking lot, lawn and sidewalks of the county property.

Taking advantage of the warm and dry weather, the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center project continues to move forward, as a steel structure appeared on the property over the past week.

The Bourbon County Commissioners and members of the Sheriff’s Department met Tuesday with engineers and architects involved in the project to receive an update on what has been accomplished and what steps are coming up in the process.

Earlier in January, the concrete foundation was laid. As of Wednesday, January 25, the steel frame of the building had also begun to be put in place at the piece of land just east of the Briggs Auto Group. The steel building is expected to be up entirely by the end of February.

The site’s utilities are also being installed, although that step is progressing at a slower pace because of the rock. The cell pods are to be delivered and set the week of February 13, with the stairs and mezzanines being delivered the following week.

Other equipment is set to arrive in March while others, such as the kitchen equipment, are scheduled to be on site in July.

“It’s all falling together,” Kevin Rost, of Goldberg Group, Inc., said during the meeting.

Project manager Gary Walker, of Universal Construction Company, pointed out that, although the building seems to be moving quickly now, it will soon appear to be moving slowly once the exterior is complete. But in those months, he said work will be accomplished inside the structure and out of sight.

After his first three weeks in office as the Bourbon County District Two Commissioner, Jeff Fischer continues to learn about his new role as well as look for ways for the county to have success.

Born and raised in Hammond before leaving in 1995 for Arizona and then Florida, Fischer moved back to the area in 2005. A licensed professional engineer, he spent time working in Kansas City before tiring of the long commute. Fischer serves as a pastor at the Fort Scott Apostolic Christian Church, but now leads in the county in a different way after being elected in 2016.

“A neighbor called and asked me if I’d do him a favor,” Fischer said of how he first entered the race for Bourbon County Commissioner of District Two. “And without knowing what the question was, I answered yes.”

Fischer said part of the logic for his campaign was because of construction projects happening in the county and his experience in contracting. Fischer added he sees a number of other concerns in the county including dropping population leading to a shrinking taxpaying base, high taxes discouraging new industry and the need to leverage resources available.

“For me to earn a living, I had to drive to Kansas City or Joplin,” Fischer said. “And that’s what our kids are facing, too. There needs to be more economic development activity.”

Fischer said one of his first goals in his new position is to compare Bourbon County to other counties as benchmarks, to see how they are successful and if there are ways Bourbon County can follow their example.

Already, Fischer said he has learned a great deal about what he is able to do as a commissioner as well as what is not allowed, such as meeting with a fellow commissioner outside of a scheduled meeting, even if only for a casual conversation.

After weeks and months of campaigning as well as months of sitting in on meetings before finally being elected, Nick Ruhl is settling into his role as Bourbon County District Three Commissioner.

Ruhl has lived in Bourbon County all but five years of his life, serving the Fort Scott Fire Department for 20 years and owning a construction company for eighteen years. But at the request of friends, he decided to serve the community in a different way.

“A lot of people came to me and asked me to run,” Ruhl said, saying he knew something needed to be done to keep from spending too much money while bringing in other funds for the county at the same time.

Ruhl said he is looking forward to finding ways to invite new businesses, such as by not driving them away because of high taxes.

“I hope we can build a reserve back into the county and have some extra money,” Ruhl said. “That’s what I’m really looking forward to trying to do.”

Since filing as a candidate in spring of 2016, Ruhl said he has probably missed only six of the bi-weekly county commission meetings. After those months of hearing about the issues and concerns of the county, Ruhl said he is excited and ready to take on the new position.

“We’ve got to have a place for our kids to grow up,” Ruhl says. “I don’t want my grand-kids to move away and I don’t want their kids to move away…we’ve got to do something.”

Since being sworn into office on January 9, Ruhl and fellow new commissioner Jeff Fischer have attended training from the state and have heard a number of reports concerning county resources and other concerns.

In recent years, Bourbon County received a Blue Cross Blue Shield grant for $500,000 as part of the Pathways to a Healthy Kansas program, to be used to improve the health of county residents by various means.

Jody Hoener of Mercy Hospital, who also works with Pathways and the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team met with the Bourbon County Commission January 17, and shared the needs of the program and how the commission could be involved.

Hoener said, since 2012, Bourbon County has ranked in the bottom 10 percent of Kansas counties concerning the health of its residents. Out of the 101 counties recently ranked, Bourbon County has been ranked as high as 97^th in health, including factors such as level of activity, access to healthy food and tobacco use.

The commissioners agreed to cooperate and meet with Hoener and other team members as the county forms a Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan, to do an inventory of the trails and sidewalks available to the community. An assessment will also be made to see how accessible healthy food is for county residents as well as how the Highway 69 corridor can be used to promote activity and good health such as through bicycle lanes.

“Not only is the transportation plan important, but the access to healthy food is important, too,” Hoener said.

The commission would be consulted as the plan is formed and as priorities for the county are developed. The opinions of the county residents are also considered through the use of surveys and public meetings.

The study of the county’s needs and creation of the plan, with the assistance of the PedNet Coalition – Pedestrian and Pedaling Network, will cost about $55,000, paid for out of the Pathways grant. Uniontown will have a separate plan to help meet their specific needs.

“I think it’s a good solution,” commission chairman Lynne Oharah said of the plan and the teamwork between the county and the Pathways teams.

Bourbon County is also looking at becoming involved in the WorkWell Kansas program, promoting worksite wellness at businesses by providing incentives up to $10,000 per participating business.

By promoting wellness in the workplace, Hoener said employers can decrease rates of illness, injury and absenteeism among employees, such as by decreasing the sedentary rate, the amount of time employees spend sitting at a desk each day.

Each participating business will have a team of representatives that will attend workshops and form a plan for their businesses.

The county commissioners voted to be involved with the Pathways program by being members on some of the boards, which included focuses such as schools, worksites, food and retail, restaurants, community policy, healthcare and resident community well-being.

Commissioner expressed the importance of promoting health in the county and taking advantage of the grant while the funding is available.