[0:00] Okay. Where's that?
>> Good morning. I'd like to welcome
[0:03] everyone to the Aerson County Commission
meeting for Tuesday, September 8th. I'd
[0:07] like to call the meeting to order and if
our clerk could please provide a roll
[0:11] call.
>> Commissioner Quinn,
[0:12] » present. Commissioner Campbell
>> here.
[0:16] » All right. If you please stand and join
Rachel Danner for our invocation
[0:19] followed by the pledge of allegiance.
>> Good morning.
[0:22] » Good morning.
>> Let us pray.
[0:25] Gracious and loving God, we give you
thanks that you call us to love one
[0:28] another, to be your people, and to
gather together, to make decisions, to
[0:33] be discerning about how best to serve
you, how best to care for and with one
[0:38] another, and how to be your people
united in this place, to do your work,
[0:44] to serve each other, and to care for
your world. Lord, we ask that as we
[0:48] gather together that you will help us to
listen for you, to be discerning, and to
[0:55] hear your words for each and every one
of us. That we can make the best
[0:59] decisions to be your people in this time
and in this place doing your work with
[1:05] energy, intelligence, imagination, and
love. Lord, all these things we pray in
[1:10] Jesus name. Amen.
[1:15] I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[1:20] for its one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
[1:26] for all.
[1:35] » All right, public comment. Uh, Mr.
Neman, you want to come up?
[1:40] Oh,
>> if you want to come up here. Sure,
[1:49] » Eric Neman.
Um, I just heard on the radio that there
[1:54] was some comments about data centers at
the last meeting
[1:58] and what I know about them is zero.
But, uh, you hear a lot of negative
[2:05] comments, but I would just hope that the
commission would keep an open mind. I
[2:11] think there's a huge monetary benefit to
them
[2:16] and um talking to some other people that
are working on the one out at the Jeffre
[2:24] Center. Um there's going to be a lot of
benefit to the county out there.
[2:31] Um,
but I would just hope that the
[2:36] commission, whether it be through a
public forum or what have you, would
[2:41] keep an open mind that um
uh might be a sign of the times thing to
[2:49] come. It's going to be somewhere anyway.
Uh whether our county could benefit from
[2:55] it.
>> Awesome.
[2:58] » That's all I have. Hey, thank you so
much. Yeah, and just um that was a day
[3:04] uh it was on there there was a
gentleman, a constituent that was asking
[3:08] what we were doing um to protect
ourselves from it and I
[3:12] it's one of those things like if you
asked me a question I would bring it and
[3:15] he watched the meeting and he's like I
didn't see it and so I put it on the
[3:18] agenda so I remembered to ask what we
would do. Um but I'm not aware of any
[3:24] looking at right now but we were just
trying to um be proactive and Mr. Van
[3:28] Paris was um gathering some data for us
as well. Um just as far as educating
[3:34] ourselves, right? Because that was the
point. We we all need to educate
[3:37] ourselves on the facts because there's a
lot of noise out there.
[3:41] » Um and just making sure we don't fall
succumb to noise.
[3:45] » But I've seen other counties that say
no, we're going to put a moratorum
[3:49] against them and
>> and uh that's it. But um you know I
[3:55] think they really need to be looked at
as what it could do for the county and
[4:01] um what what the downfall and what the
benefits are and weigh those.
[4:06] » Yeah. No, I we haven't made any kind of
policy decision on it. U it's it's
[4:13] certainly not a new uh thing in our in
our local community because we're seeing
[4:19] it. like you said, if you're following
it, it's happening all around us and
[4:23] there's push back. Um, and and I'm sure
you're aware of the push, the reasons
[4:28] for the push back. Um, and you you know
our stance this last year and a half,
[4:34] two years on tax incentives and taxes,
right? We're we're we're we're pro uh
[4:41] property owner. So, so we are trying our
best to uh come in on the side of
[4:47] property owners in uh because they are
providing the majority of our budget the
[4:54] property. So, what we're doing is uh
looking at everything through that lens.
[5:01] Can it be can it can it profit our
community? Whatever it is,
[5:06] » I don't care if it's,
>> you know, data centers or whatever we're
[5:09] talking about. Does it profit? and
what's the temperature of the community
[5:14] on certain things. So, when it comes to
data centers, um we're looking for as
[5:19] much information as we can get. Um and
we definitely want to be transparent.
[5:25] You know, if if what whatever we decide,
but uh but there are plenty of issues
[5:31] and plenty of folks that are pushing
back as we speak uh on it and we want to
[5:37] have all our facts. But thank I
appreciate
[5:41] Yeah.
>> Coming in because that
[5:44] » when when we hear directly from it it
from folks it it it shows that they're
[5:48] engaged that they're concerned
>> and speaking to your request of
[5:52] open-minded when you sit in a seat I
feel like that's a must because you re
[5:57] represent your constituents. So keeping
an open mind to understand both sides
[6:01] and you know pros and cons basically is
like what you're explaining and
[6:05] » well I think what what I've seen abson
county is is a lot of status quo
[6:12] and to look at something else that would
come in that would would improve a lot
[6:20] of things. So, um,
>> yeah. Yeah. The status quo meaning leave
[6:29] things alone the way they are and let it
let us
[6:32] » just doing maintenance.
>> Okay.
[6:35] » But, you know, something that would have
a great uh monetary benefit. You know,
[6:41] you're looking at infrastructure, you're
looking at roads, you're looking at
[6:45] schools,
>> water lines,
[6:47] » water lines, how all that could be bene
beneficial to uh something like that.
[6:53] And from what I hear, it is a huge
monetary benefit to a an area where they
[7:01] where they come.
[7:05] » Thank you.
[7:13] Gary,
[7:20] » how are you guys today?
>> Good. How are you?
[7:22] » My name is John Garing. I go by Greg.
I'm here to see if I can get a request
[7:30] on 234th Road.
You guys lowered the speed limit from
[7:35] the cemetery to the church to 35 m an
hour.
[7:39] I would like to see it from the church
to 73 highway 7 35 mph.
[7:46] There's people I've called the sheriff's
office a couple times. There's people
[7:49] fly up down that road 70 mph.
There's like 10 intersections,
[7:56] not counting two road intersections, and
there's blind spots.
[8:01] And I mow along there. I take care of
that a lot around my property. If
[8:06] anybody's been down that way, they can
see that I mow and take care of
[8:09] everything.
But, you know, there some of that grass
[8:13] gets on the road, I blow it off the
road. But the other day, I had a a white
[8:18] truck come by me about 70 mph. And I
thought there's blind spots, there's
[8:23] intersections, people live there, and I
I don't see why a resolution can't be
[8:29] made to make it 35 from the church to
the highway.
[8:36] But I mean, I got semis running up down
that road. They ain't even supposed to
[8:40] be on it.
So, I didn't know if anything can be
[8:45] done about that. But I mean there's like
10 10 driveways and two intersections.
[8:53] » So, um, a couple things as I know
exactly where you're talking about. And
[8:56] so I, um, as I'm hearing you say this, I
think that we need to do a good job of
[9:01] quantifying what what would entail a
change because then, you know, we opened
[9:08] up a can of worms that everybody coming
in would ask us to change to 35 mph. we
[9:12] need to quantify based on what you're
saying like how many driveway interest
[9:17] spot sight distance all of the things.
Um and then
[9:21] » I know that there's like the blanket of
if there's not a speed limit on our
[9:26] rural roads it's 55 m an hour. Um, and
then looking into how we can quantify
[9:32] those areas because all of these speed
limits were done prior to me being here.
[9:37] And so I need to lean on um our county
counselor a little bit for guidance on
[9:42] on how we do it. Um, and make sure it's
warranted so that you know if there's
[9:47] another request, there's a rhyme or
reason, we didn't just do it because we
[9:50] were asked that, right? You know,
>> but I noticed like going to Pine View,
[9:54] the speed limit's not 55. going to warn
if not 55.
[9:58] » I mean,
>> and I that's what I would like to look
[10:01] back at how those were done because
you're right there. Those stretches of
[10:06] road have a lot of folks living in
driveways off of them. So maybe it's a
[10:11] certain amount in proximity. I don't
really know what the answer.
[10:14] » I did a couple resolutions way back
early 2000s when I was on the township.
[10:19] Okay.
>> Cuz I got little kids that lived on the
[10:21] road. school bus picked them up and you
know I did resolutions 20 m an hour I
[10:26] think it was 25 going to the quarry and
stuff well they've stole those signs but
[10:30] I still had signs on my road but UPS
sends FedEx up I mean their internet or
[10:37] whatever sends them down there instead
of going down the highway going down
[10:40] they come down through that dirt road
and I've caught a couple of them you
[10:44] know you slow down there's a little year
and a half two-year-old little girl
[10:48] right there on our road again now got
kids And she goes out in the middle of
[10:53] the road following her mom to the
mailbox. She don't even know what's
[10:55] following her.
>> M
[10:56] » I mean and and
but you know I try to try to slow people
[11:02] down. They don't. And then I thought you
know maybe I put some speed bumps in the
[11:06] road and I said no and I'd be liable
somebody has a wreck.
[11:09] » Yeah.
>> So but
[11:12] » yes sir.
>> I apologize. I missed your last name
[11:15] sir.
>> Garen.
[11:16] » Garen. Yeah. I'm David Van Paris. Nice.
Glad to meet you. Um,
[11:21] we had a fellow down in Lorth County.
His solution to his problem was he'd go
[11:26] out and break beer bottles in middle
road.
[11:29] » So, I apologize for not putting in your
>> Oh, no.
[11:32] » The county commissioners have a duty to
maintain safe roadway limits.
[11:37] » Speed limits have to be, however,
determined by what's called an
[11:41] engineering study. That's what the state
law says. It does not define what an
[11:45] engineering study is, but generally I've
always believed it is it's meant to
[11:51] reference a deliberate
studied determination of what is safe
[11:57] speed on a certain section of roadway
is. And uh you know, you've brought the
[12:04] matter before the commission's
attention, which in my mind means we
[12:09] have to look at it now.
>> Well, there there's deer that cross that
[12:12] road all the time. People have hit
several big bucks by the I call it the
[12:18] Wana Creek bridge right there. I don't
know. That's part of Wana Creek that
[12:22] drains down in there. And there's
neighbors and it's been recorded.
[12:26] They've had hogs on the road. They've
had cattle on the road. I mean, I've
[12:30] I've rebuilt all my fence. I haven't had
any cows out. Knock on wood. But, uh,
[12:35] » it's because they don't want to get out.
>> No, I hope not. But I have had cattle
[12:40] get out before. And and but I mean
>> if a cow wants out, cow's going to get
[12:45] out.
>> But like on the the south side of my
[12:47] place, there's like a six, seven foot
ditch on that side of the road and
[12:53] somebody can easily go over. There was a
couple guys worked for Buddy Lee. They
[12:57] went all up in it. I pulled them out my
tractor. But
[13:00] » have you ever made any reports to the
the sheriff Lowry and his department
[13:05] regarding the excessive speed? I called
him the other day when that guy flew
[13:09] around me. I said something needs to be
done out here. People, they don't drive
[13:14] 55.
Even when the church going on up there,
[13:17] they don't drive 35.
So, I mean,
[13:22] there's a lot of lot of activity on the
weekends,
[13:26] you know, but I'm just trying to get
something maybe settled so there is an
[13:32] accident. some of them places where they
come out of their driveway, you know,
[13:36] there's blind spots that come up over
that hill. There's a driveway and
[13:39] another one. I mean, it's it's going to
happen sooner or later,
[13:45] but
I just wanted to bring it to you guys
[13:49] attention. Maybe they can look at it and
>> Yeah.
[13:52] » see what's going on.
>> Thank you for bringing it up. I know
[13:55] there's pedestrians that walk on that
road, too.
[13:57] » Oh, yeah. PRS walk on there all the
time.
[14:00] » Yeah. We will um we will look into this
and uh
[14:07] do our deliberate study and see what we
come up with and what that process looks
[14:12] like and
be interesting to learn learn it.
[14:17] Commissioner, it it could start with a
request by you to the road and bridge
[14:23] department to examine that section of
road and what might be in their opinion
[14:28] an appropriate speed limit.
>> Okay,
[14:32] » sounds good to me.
>> Thank you.
[14:34] » Thank you, sir.
>> Thank you, guys.
[14:46] Okay, we have approval of the agenda.
Um, I've looked for a motion to approve.
[14:52] » So move.
>> Second. Moved and seconded. All those in
[14:55] favor say I. Passes two to zero. There
is no consent agenda this week. Um, our
[15:02] commission meeting minutes will be or
the first will be on next week. Um,
[15:06] Commissioner comments, Commissioner
Campbell.
[15:09] Well, uh
we will the country will commemorate uh
[15:16] the 911 um
[15:20] date Friday. So this will be 25 years
since 911.
[15:29] And so that what we will do here at the
county is what we did last year was meet
[15:33] at the flag pole that morning. I don't
have a specific time yet. I'm kind of
[15:38] waiting on that. Um, but we will get it
out to the staff and publicly to the
[15:45] community.
Um, so I just
[15:50] want to let you know that there are of
course there are hundreds if not
[15:53] thousands of these going on around the
country.
[15:57] 25 years I I believe is uh a significant
milestone because
[16:04] um this this year happens to be our 250
50th uh anniversary um as a country u
[16:14] and so I think it's significant that we
pay closer attention
[16:20] this year 25 years uh what it also means
is that
[16:26] We have an entire generation that has
grown up after 911. And what's
[16:31] significant about that is that
these these commemorations educate those
[16:38] those folks if they don't already know.
Uh this this helps to educate those
[16:43] folks so that we never have this happen
again. We need to stay vigilant and this
[16:48] is part of part of doing that. So
that's all I have.
[16:56] Thank you. Um I do not have anything
this week. Um consideration of a quarter
[17:02] cent sports complex sunset resolution.
Mr. Van Paris
[17:07] with all apologies. I don't have that
prepared for you this morning. I I will
[17:10] need to contact our bond council to uh
work on that. I believe he may have
[17:15] circulated draft but I cannot locate it
in my email. So we'll work that up. I
[17:21] did have occasion to discuss with the
Kansas Department of Revenue
[17:27] upcoming quarter cents or 1 cent sales
tax for EMS purposes. Oddly enough, the
[17:32] young lady I was speaking to in the
department of revenues office, her
[17:37] mother taught mathematics at Herson High
School for 32 years.
[17:42] » So, she's very interested in assisting
the county in getting this done. Uh I
[17:48] discussed with her whether well what she
needed to uh have this proceed. Uh we
[17:55] discussed a possible certification of
election that the approval of the ballot
[18:00] question from the secretary of state's
office. It was suggested to me that
[18:04] instead we rely and the department of
revenue would rely upon certification
[18:09] from our county clerk as to the result
of the election on the question. uh upon
[18:15] receipt of a certified uh statement of
the uh result u the process will start.
[18:25] » Okay.
>> And they they expressed interest great
[18:30] interest in assisting the county.
>> Okay. And that's for the one that just
[18:33] passed.
>> Yes. For the EMS the sunset will take
[18:37] care of as well.
>> Okay.
[18:46] All right. Um, discussion of appointed
attorney contracts.
[18:56] Uh, what information? So, I have the
email drafted to them. Um,
[19:03] the commission's the commission or based
on what we discussed this morning,
[19:08] commissioners are preparing for our
for
[19:14] um the renewal
[19:18] of your 2027 contracts and your current
contract amount is $3,500 a month.
[19:33] If each of you would please send us a
quantification of your time spent
[19:37] performing your court append appointed
duties that will be helpful. case
[19:42] numbers, hours spent, descriptions, I
think is what we talked about. Uh,
[19:46] please send us the contracted amount
you'd like to see in 2027. We are
[19:50] working at looking at potential revenue
from order attorney and guardian adalum
[20:00] fees.
[20:06] Commissioner, there are a rather limited
number of cases uh that uh you are
[20:12] required to provide legal counsel for
that can be reimbursed from the office
[20:17] of the Kansas attorney general. We need
to look into that process. And again,
[20:22] it's rather limited, but it is
available.
[20:24] » Okay.
Do you know how to spell that? Because
[20:27] my spell check is not giving me a
suggestion, but telling me I didn't
[20:31] spell
>> guardian as in the
[20:33] » Oh, yeah. I know that. Adel item. Then
eight separate word a d
[20:39] another word l i t e m
[20:45] » l i t e n words.
>> Thank you.
[20:53] » Anything else on that email before I
send it? I mean, anything else you want
[20:58] to see?
[21:01] No, I mean,
no, I think that that'll
[21:07] clear things up. Like I said, I don't
want them to think that we're set in
[21:12] stone, that we just can't move forward
without that information. So, yeah.
[21:22] » All right. Well, that was all that I
have this week. So if you don't have
[21:27] anything else
that
[21:35] » Oh yeah. So from last week we pushed um
the
[21:41] auditors
um additional due diligence um to this
[21:46] week. They sent the breakdown of what we
requested. So I'd look for a motion to
[21:52] approve the purchase order from last
week to Forvis Mazar for $10,192.
[21:58] » So move.
>> I'll second. Moved and seconded. All
[22:00] those in favor say I.
>> I.
[22:36] the 15th we have Holly coming with a
consideration of PO for 2027 CVN
[22:45] mailings that's all we have for next
week so far so
[22:49] all right well with that I would look
for a motion to adjourn into workshop.
[22:54] » So moved.
>> Second. Moved and seconded. All those in
[22:57] favor say I. I. Passes two to zero.