County Commissioners approved accounts payable and payroll at the opening of their meeting.

Commissioner Mika Milburn Key suggested reviewing the payroll policy regarding how payment is made for employees who go from hourly to salaried.

Commissioner Samuel Tran asked for a deep dive on a particular employee’s status change from full-time to part-time.

The commission tabled approval of the 10-31-2025 payroll.

Public Comments for Items Not on The Agenda

Carol Lydic spoke to the commission about the elections. She serves as the supervising judge at the Grace Baptist Church election site.

“We have a county clerk that went above and beyond last week to catch up,” she said of Susan Walker. Lydic wanted Walker to be recognized for all the hard work she did.

Rachel Walker also spoke to the commission about the elections. She worked with the clerk during advanced voting. She read through a detailed list of the duties of the clerk’s office and challenged the commissioners to go look at the clerk’s election calendar and see how much she is required to accomplish during an election cycle.

Old Business

Bitcoin and Evotech

Ty Patton with Trip, Wolf, and Garrison out of Wichita, KS, has been working with Evotech to help navigate questions and concerns about their operation.

Adam Couch, one of the owners of Evolution Technology (EvoTech), also attended the meeting.

Commissioner David Beerbower asked them to explain their operation.

Patton explained that Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency which is tracked by “miners.” Their job is to safeguard and compile the data of who owns what bitcoins into data blocks, which are put into a chain of blocks. This system is viewable by the public. Miners are incentivized to solve complicated math puzzles at a high rate. This enables them to build the data block to track and help maintain the ledger of all the bitcoins in the world. Those miners who are the fastest are essentially paid for their work in bitcoin. Mining is actually maintaining the ledger of bitcoin transactions and owners.

Evotech’s operation involves computers solving those math puzzles all the time to try to win the race to get the bitcoin.

The Bitcoin mine is not is a data center. It is a small operation in two shipping containers. The only electricity hookup they have is residential service. The fans and computers are powered by the natural gas generator on site, so as not to impact the electrical grid. No water is used at all. There is no industrial component to this. They use Starlink or Verizon hotspots for their internet.

“Mining is a misnomer for what this is in terms of this actual facility,” he said.

The old transfer station was chosen for this purpose. The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has inspected and signed off on it. There are no peak hours, as the generator runs all the time. The fans only have to run to cool it, so cooler weather results in a quieter operation.

The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Department has helped get decibel readings at a variety of times throughout the day and night. The site is currently running between 55 and 77 dBs at the entryway to the site.

Patton said Evotech wants to be a good neighbor. They have added noise mitigation fences to bring the noise back down. He compared the site to other common noise levels, from conversation to highway noise. He also said that as a transfer station in the past, the noise would have been as high as 80-90dB.

He said there is more they can do, but it would be a significant outlay of between $75,000-$100,000 to build that infrastructure.

He wants to address the concerns of the county and make sure that any steps they take will actually help with the problem. The goal of attending the meeting was to talk it through and get on the same page, and then move forward in a way.

Milburn asked what the purpose of bitcoin is. Patton talked about it as a commodity, “like buying gold.”

She asked if they thought it was reasonable to do noise mitigation. Patton said that he did, in the spirit of being a good neighbor.

She asked if Bitcoin mining is agricultural, commercial, or industrial. In other areas, it’s been zoned agricultural, per Couch’s information, with a conditional use permit. Milburn asked for a list of the counties so she could follow up on the information.

Tran asked how many kilowatts they are producing with their generator. Patton said that at max capacity it generates 1 megawatt. Couch said currently, there’s not a plan to expand the operation. He also said the mine runs at just under capacity right now.

When Tran asked if they were looking at doing the same operation on another site in Bourbon County, they said they we not.

Couch said they build in counties that are zoned and unzoned. They don’t target unzoned counties for building.

Tran asked what decibel level they believe is tenable. “What’s a good level?”

Patton said they want to reduce the ranges further, but it’s a sound engineering puzzle. Couch said they haven’t set a goal yet, but need to work on the adjustment to bring it down.

Beerbower asked for further explanation of the range of sound.  Patton said it is affected by the atmosphere and temperature, which affects how hard the fans are working.

Tran had collected questions from the gallery before the meeting began to streamline the question and answer process.

Charlotte O’Hara had a comment. She was raised about 3 miles from the site. She was surprised by the industrial use and went to visit. She is concerned about this occurring more in Bourbon County, as there are a lot of abandoned gas wells in the area.

According to O’Hara, the EPA has criteria to protect public health and welfare set at 55dB during the day and 45dB in the evening. She also mentioned the amplification of the sound caused by the sound bouncing off their buildings.

Patton responded that the transfer mechanism is what they are using, not an abandoned well. “Nothing here is getting around the KCC,” he said.

He addressed the noise measurement, saying that the data the Sheriff’s department has collected shows the loudest noise is at the property entrance.

Tran read two questions, each asking how and when Evotech plans to quiet it down.

“I don’t have a specific answer for your question….we’re not going to drag it out,” said Couch. He also said the sound fencing and exhaust modifications they’ve already done are the beginning of their plans.

“It’s also a bit of a moving target,” said Patton. “This is already quieter than its original use as a transfer station,” at 80-90dB. It’s already quieter than a lawnmower or vacuum, he said.

Patton said it is a relatively new situation for them. They want to find the best solution and the final solution that is attainable, cost-effective, and fair.

“We’ve made some improvement and we’re going to go further,” he said.

Patton said they would keep the commission informed of their plans and progress.

Derek Ranes told the saga of the building of the bitcoin mine across the road from his house. He asked the representatives from EvoTech if they would like the noise and vibration by their house.

Ranes asked the commission if they would “step up and do something if they don’t,” referring to Evotech.

Tran replied that he will do all in his power as a commissioner to protect the citizens of his county. But it all has to be within the law. He wants a product that helps everybody.

Patton said they are operating the gas wells per the industry standard, approved by the KCC.

Couch said that public comments can have a negative effect on their business, and they will take steps to protect their business.

John Spate asked for a time frame and cost estimate on what it will take to solve this problem.

David Ranes also spoke. He focused on the fact that the noise doesn’t ever stop, unlike the noise of a lawnmower or vacuum cleaner. He also said their noise mitigation fences don’t work.

“That’s all we ask. Quiet it down,” he said.

The commission thanked them for coming in.