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>> Everyone, um, welcome to the Ellis
[6:14] County, um, Tuesday, September 8th,
2026.
[6:18] Um,
if we could please stand for the pledge
[6:22] of
>> allegiance.
[6:26] I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[6:31] for which it stands, one nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[6:36] justice for all.
[6:43] » Hey, Bobby could call roll please.
>> Commissioner Nathan Ler
[6:47] » here. Chair Neil younger
>> present.
[6:49] » Commissioner Michael Burgess
>> here.
[6:51] » We have a quorum.
>> Okay.
[6:54] All right. Prior minutes. Everybody have
a chance for look at them? Everything?
[6:58] » Yes.
>> Good. Okay.
[7:06] And the consent agenda.
>> All move we approve consent agenda items
[7:12] A through G.
>> Second.
[7:15] » Okay. We have a motion and a second. And
all those in favor say I.
[7:19] » I.
>> I.
[7:20] » Opposed. Same sign.
[7:25] » Okay. Issues from people not on the
order of business.
[7:32] » You're going to talk on the budget,
right?
[7:34] » Yeah.
>> Okay. Yeah. That'll be that'll be later.
[7:36] » Yeah.
>> Part of it.
[7:37] » Yeah.
>> You got other concerns?
[7:40] » If you got other concerns,
[7:44] parts.
>> Okay.
[7:47] [clears throat and cough]
I put in my schedule. So, [laughter]
[7:53] » okay. Mike Worth, 605 200th Avenue.
Um, I guess I'm going to skip over the
[8:00] the budget stuff, but I am going to ask
some questions about the IBV.
[8:06] Um,
I guess the one question is, uh, did IBB
[8:13] technically start construction of
of their project after the CUP was
[8:19] passed just to secure the grant. Just
trying to get a timeline down.
[8:26] Um,
I did
[8:29] I'll bring that up later. I I I did read
through some minutes and um it showed
[8:36] that our our environmental Ellis County
environmental service
[8:40] attended a meeting for the BSS
fire safety battery energy storage
[8:47] system.
Now, it's my impression that the solar
[8:52] farm is not supposed to have battery
storage. So, I'm just putting a red flag
[8:57] that kind of caught my eye. you know,
maybe this is routine. Don't know. Um,
[9:06] but
that that was kind of about it with the
[9:10] uh IBVB for now. I've already talked to
Nathan about
[9:16] lawsuits uh with IBB, so he can discuss
that with the other commissioners. I
[9:23] will bring the rest of it up when you
start the budget. Okay.
[9:26] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[9:36] Okay. The monthly financial report.
[9:42] » I saw no problems.
>> Okay.
[9:44] » No problems.
[9:48] Commissioner Younger, if I may ask um
kind of skipped over a uh order of
[9:54] business, but Emily with Emily Nolles
with the October Fest would like to be
[9:58] added
>> uh to the agenda instead of for next
[10:01] week. and if we could add her to maybe
number seven after the public hearing
[10:05] for the budget and everything. Uh she
wants to visit with the uh the waste
[10:11] waving the fees of the the land landfill
for the waste that they have during the
[10:15] October fest.
>> Okay. You want after seven or
[10:20] » Yeah. after after the public hearing and
the budget and everything so that way we
[10:23] don't push that back.
>> Do we have an executive session?
[10:29] » Yes, sir. One executive session.
[10:36] Okay.
Revenue neutral rate. Darren.
[10:46] Morning, commissioners. Darren Myers,
county administrator. Um your process
[10:50] this morning for the budget comes to a
conclusion as we uh need to hold the
[10:56] public hearing for both the revenue
neutral rate exceeding the revenue
[11:00] neutral rate as well as the the public
hearing for the budget itself. Both of
[11:05] those hearings can be combined as one
which is what that we made the
[11:08] notifications for through the county
clerk and the newsletter newspaper and
[11:12] our website and um to [clears throat]
have that public hearing the combined
[11:17] hearing. The motions are in front of you
to have that so that way you can open up
[11:21] u input from the community for those
that wish to speak. And if you have any
[11:27] other questions on the budget, um
nothing's changed since our last meeting
[11:30] when the commissioner did review it, but
if you have any questions or any
[11:34] clarifications, I'd be happy to answer
them for you. Okay.
[11:42] » Okay. Well, I guess with that, I would
move to open the public hearing for the
[11:48] intention of exceeding the revenue
neutral rate and 2027 Ellis County
[11:53] budgets. Second.
>> Okay, we have a motion and a second.
[11:59] This is a roll call vote, correct?
>> You got a Well,
[12:04] » you have to
>> afterwards when you approve it, right?
[12:06] » That's right. Okay. Just so public
knows. So,
[12:10] » so we can all do an I on this one.
>> Okay. All those in favor say I.
[12:16] » I.
>> Okay. I motion approved.
[12:20] » Okay.
>> Okay.
[12:22] » Public hearing.
>> Anyone?
[12:24] » Go ahead.
[clears throat]
[12:33] All right. 2027 budget questions
um for you guys to
[12:40] navigate the year revenue neutral rates.
I mean I went through most your budget.
[12:45] It looked like very few of your
departments really
[12:50] kind of toned down and and I guess you
know you got to keep those salaries
[12:56] those those normal annual salaries
going. Um
[13:02] I I guess that's why it seems like the
the department that has a lot of
[13:10] diesel oil and stuff like that and not
necessarily salary
[13:16] got kind of whacked. Uh the road and
bridge took a big cut.
[13:21] Um
pretty important.
[13:25] I'm going to go back to
something that I had a question about
[13:30] the last time that I was up here.
Why is a Grow Hayes guy participating in
[13:37] your meeting? Well, once I went through
the budget, I could see why.
[13:42] Uh you guys have went from $23,000 in
contributions in 2018 up to 165,000
[13:51] annually.
I guess for me it's like
[13:56] what is Ellis County
what are they getting by incorporating
[14:03] this money into the grow haze? I mean
grow haze is incorporated is am I
[14:10] correct or is it or is it not? It
but
[14:17] I I guess I'm just trying to feel out. I
said why is the county dumping money
[14:20] into this? Yeah. I mean, it's kind of
it's a city issue, not a county issue.
[14:26] And and and you guys have everybody else
is having to tighten their belts down.
[14:32] And I mean, there's a lot of them on
that list that have been cut for the
[14:36] last two years, but their number has
stayed steady.
[14:43] In connection with that,
[14:47] the pilot payment,
[14:51] I am not educated enough on that and I'd
really love for the commission
[14:58] or or administrator
to kind of talk about what exactly it is
[15:04] because that's a ton of money going into
this thing. And there again, I don't
[15:09] know what is the county getting out of
this. I gota ask specifically which
[15:14] pilot payment are you going to refer to?
>> I I think it's
[15:19] » is it
>> you you just had it you just had a kind
[15:22] of blank slate on your budget. So I
don't know what it refer it's like
[15:25] $800,000.
>> So I I mean I'm just trying to trying to
[15:30] decipher which
>> what exactly it goes from
[15:32] » the wind farms.
>> That is from the wind farm.
[15:36] » Okay. That's and that's, you know,
that's it's it's kind of nice to
[15:42] [clears throat] try to try to uh
interpret your budget sometimes because
[15:47] sometimes it just goes right over my
head. So, um I mean I I guess you know
[15:54] with the road and bridge cut I I kind of
see what you're you guys are really
[15:58] banking on the IBV to come in
with their road agreement to bring that
[16:06] back up to straight.
Uh but that's that's a hell of a cut for
[16:12] those guys. So,
um,
[16:17] » Mike, let me let me address the the road
and bridge department. And yes, it's
[16:21] it's a cut. Uh, the reason you're seeing
that cut is it align it's going to align
[16:26] more with what's true. Uh, for the past
three or four years, Road and Bridge has
[16:32] had a budget surplus uh, at the end of
the year that they've carried over. So
[16:37] we felt that it was we were able to
bring that number down so we wouldn't
[16:42] have to tax for that. So it it brings it
more in line with what's actually being
[16:46] utilized at Road and Bridge.
>> That would that would make a little more
[16:50] sense because I you know just looking
over every other department. It's like
[16:55] » yeah. So it was it was a very big cut
but it kind of tr it up to what the the
[17:00] real budget is with road and bridge and
uh it doesn't have any fluff in there.
[17:05] So, we're not going to be cutting
services. We're not cutting any of the
[17:08] plans for asphalt or bridge. None of
[clears throat] that will be affected or
[17:12] should not be affected, but uh it gets
us more in line with what it actually
[17:16] is.
>> It levels it back out.
[17:19] » Okay. Okay. Well, I mean, it just it's
it's just hard to with your normal
[17:24] increases in salary for you guys to
>> basically you took the 26 budget and you
[17:31] pretty well matched it up. So that's
pretty tough to do unless somebody gets
[17:36] whacked. So
>> and and uh all of our employees are
[17:40] going to uh feel some of this because we
are deferring and moving some of the pay
[17:47] adjustments that would have taken place
in January. Those are being shifted. Uh
[17:51] so the employees are helping uh do this
and accommodate this for keeping a level
[17:57] budget as best we can.
>> Okay. Um,
[18:01] » and Mike, the uh same thing you were
asking before earlier this morning. All
[18:06] that stuff is recorded. You were
wondering where the 800,000 went. If you
[18:10] follow the minutes, it's it's stated.
You just got to keep digging.
[18:13] » Our administrator [laughter]
puts it out there really good. So,
[18:16] » well, I just kind of went through the
budget and it's kind of
[18:19] » a little vague. So, you just kind of
>> grow haze one.
[18:23] » Yeah.
>> Um,
[18:24] without the city of Hayes, Ellis County
couldn't survive. the same thing without
[18:29] Ellis County.
>> You can survive. You just have to quit
[18:32] spending. [laughter]
>> It it brings people in. Um you know,
[18:37] [clears throat] so it's tax generated
deal. Also, everybody buys a little
[18:41] something, another person and family
[clears throat]
[18:45] goes to school. Um it all it all goes to
good cause.
[18:52] I mean,
there's such thing as a good cause, but
[18:56] when everybody else is having to suck
down and tighten up
[19:01] and I just don't see this from the
county. I mean, you guys have I see
[19:06] where you need to keep your salaries up.
You need to keep them competitive just
[19:11] to keep them your workforce.
But
[19:16] to me, that's that's just an extra.
You're just throwing her out there.
[19:21] I I [clears throat]
[19:25] just say I don't I don't see
where you're getting anything out of
[19:30] this. I really don't. I I maybe I'm
looking at the little picture and I need
[19:35] to look at a big picture. But um when
everybody else is having to really
[19:40] tighten up just to survive
with increases in taxes,
[19:48] things like these
like this needs we need we need you need
[19:53] to look this stuff over. I mean I mean I
they were budgeted at a lot less.
[20:01] So cut it
cut it in half and when it gets better,
[20:06] you can take it back up again.
Everybody else has got to do this right
[20:10] now. Why shouldn't the county?
And I mean I mean we're Ellis County, I
[20:19] mean we're kind of the
we got a lot of shiny stuff out there.
[20:23] fire department. You You are Everybody
in the in the state looks at our at our
[20:30] Ellis County Fire Department and it's
like, "Wow,
[20:33] it helps that Darren, you're you know,
you're the administrator right now."
[20:38] That helps. You know, you're the budget
stays up. But I was a volunteer and I
[20:45] know what we started with before you got
on. I know exactly what and yes, we had
[20:50] to make improvements,
but wow, we're getting up there. So,
[20:57] everybody needs to take a little cut.
So,
[21:00] » when uh when you're done, I'll ask there
is a representative from Gro Hayes if he
[21:05] would be willing to speak here when
you're completed. So,
[21:09] » yeah. Yeah, that'd be great. Okay.
>> Thanks. Thanks, Mark.
[21:15] Would
[21:18] you mind speaking?
[21:27] » Morning, commissioners.
>> Morning.
[21:29] » Mike Cllingan with Gro Hayes. Um, Gro
Hayes is the Ellis County Economic
[21:34] Development for Ellis County. Um, I
appreciate your questions, Mike, and I'd
[21:39] be happy to even talk further after this
meeting on what we focus on, but our
[21:43] goal mission is to continue to work with
business growth um that comes into Ellis
[21:48] County. Uh, how we can work with
secession, keep businesses inside of
[21:52] Ellis County. Um, in the last four and a
half years, we've focused greatly on
[21:57] housing because housing is such a need
for Ellis County. and we have several
[22:01] programs that we've been working with
through Heart of America and Haze Med as
[22:04] we try and get more development into
that process. Um, we worked a lot with
[22:09] our school systems and talking about how
we can get children and kids and college
[22:13] kids to actually see themselves staying
in Ellis County in western Kansas to
[22:18] stay and grow and and see this as their
future for them. But we have multiple
[22:23] projects going on. One that we're very
proud of this year would be Agility. uh
[22:27] Agility at one point wanted to leave
Ellis County because they'd reached a
[22:31] point where they were getting ready to
redo all their construction um figure
[22:35] out where they can do the remodeling and
at one point they were looking at
[22:38] another state and working with this
company and working with the state of
[22:41] Kansas we were able to put together a
plan that not only kept Agility to stay
[22:46] inside Ellis County but they will now
expand and they'll be adding another 140
[22:51] more employees to that which benefits
Ellis County and everything that we say
[22:56] and do and what I'm talking about today
really talks about not only just that
[23:00] top layer of what we're focusing on and
we focus on a lot more than just that
[23:04] but we talk more about the ripple effect
of that process for every person that's
[23:08] staying here and they're working and
where that dollar goes if it's a dollar
[23:12] getting paid that's actually like a$130
going out that's being respent
[23:17] in our very own community and everything
that we can do to create more ripple
[23:22] effects creating new housing where
people will move into that housing that
[23:26] creates more inventory for more housing
to be used. Is every aspect along the
[23:30] way that we can uh help grow Ellis
County and keep people saying this is
[23:36] the place they want to raise their
families and they want to stay. But I'll
[23:40] be happy to answer any questions that
you might have as well.
[23:44] » Okay.
I guess probably one of the biggest
[23:48] questions is is that that increase that
is noted uh from 2018 up to up to today.
[23:55] Um
would you do you have the ability to
[23:59] address where all set came in?
>> So 2018. So I've been with Gro Hayes
[24:04] going on almost 5 years now. Right. So
uh coming out of co when grow Hayes was
[24:09] just two people. It was just Doug
Williams and Ernie Sly who was operation
[24:14] for brief space. Um we kept when I was
hired on we were taking on more projects
[24:20] and that's what we're focused on. How do
we continue to expand economic
[24:23] development? Six months later, James
Robin was brought on board. Um, this
[24:28] four-person team has worked on a lot
more projects in Ellis County than we
[24:33] worked on in the past because of that.
And that was the focus. How do we have
[24:36] the people to do what needs to be done?
Um, you know, we look at our community
[24:42] center, we look at the Grove, we look at
the microactory, we look at agility, we
[24:46] look at housing. you just kind of across
the board more people to help focus on
[24:50] bigger tasks simply to continue to grow
Ellis County. And it takes all that to
[24:55] cause that ripple effect for that pause
to flow that actually in one aspect or
[24:59] another through uh taxes actually gives
you know the cities and the county the
[25:05] ability to spend more just simply for
the fact that they have that income
[25:08] coming in from that growth. Okay.
>> Thank you.
[25:12] » Yes. Anybody else?
[25:31] Anyone else from the public?
[25:36] Burn. Okay.
Okay. Well,
[25:40] » I'll move to close public hearing for
2027 revenue neutral rates and budgets.
[25:45] Second.
>> Okay, we have a motion and a second. All
[25:49] those in favor say I.
>> I.
[25:51] » All right.
I'll move to approve proposed 2027
[25:55] general fund and fire district number
one budgets, both of which exceed the
[25:59] RNR rates and approve resolution 2026-16
for budget year 2026.
[26:06] » Okay. Do I'll still second though.
>> Okay. Sorry.
[26:09] » Second.
>> Just just a clarification. I have a typo
[26:13] on that. That last 2026 should be 2027.
[26:21] » I don't know if we need to correct or
withdraw the motion and and restate it
[26:24] to be official before we have a vote.
>> I'll restate the motion. I move to
[26:29] approve proposed 2027 general fund and
fire district number one budgets, both
[26:33] of which exceed the RNR rates and
approve resolution 2026-16 for budget
[26:38] year 2027.
>> And I will second that. Okay. Motion and
[26:43] second.
Those in favor say I.
[26:48] Here we go to the role. Thank you.
>> Commissioner Ler
[26:52] » I.
>> Chair Younger
[26:55] » I.
>> Commissioner Burgess
[26:57] » I.
>> Okay. Roll call taken.
[27:00] » Okay.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[27:05] » And thank you Mike for your concerns and
stuff. So
[27:08] » I didn't bring anybody else. [laughter]
Sorry.
[27:18] » Okay, we are putting Emily in for
before the
[27:24] greater. So,
>> hey everybody. I'm Emily Nolles, the
[27:28] director of October Fest, and my stuff's
a little lighter. Um just I wanted to
[27:34] come and ask the Pelis County
Commissioners if they would wave the
[27:38] dump fees for October Fest for this year
and um because the end time is from
[27:44] Trash Begone that'll be doing our
rolloffs this year.
[27:52] » And this is just something that we've
done normally in the past for the
[27:55] October Fest to help with that.
>> Yeah. For a lot of years.
[27:59] » Yeah. Yeah.
>> I greatly appreciate it. How many years
[28:02] is this?
>> Um, this is the 54th year of October
[28:06] Fest, but I don't know how many years
the shers have waved this.
[28:10] » Okay.
>> I think
[28:11] » Yeah, it's
>> long because I've been coming to ask.
[28:15] [laughter]
>> It started out small and got huge.
[28:17] » Yeah, it definitely it has definitely
changed in the last 10 years that I've
[28:20] been on it.
>> Is it still a two-day event? It is still
[28:23] a two-day event. And then we actually
got some of our um placer stats back.
[28:28] And I always thought, just judging by
the number of people that are down there
[28:32] with, you know, my eyes and stuff, I
thought it was maybe 10,000 max down
[28:37] there, but it's over [clears throat]
17,000 people that come down to the park
[28:40] for those two days. And 45% of those are
from out of town. 25% of them are from
[28:46] like around 50 50 miles away and
greater. And then 7% come from over 250
[28:52] miles.
>> Wow.
[28:55] » It's turned into a big thing. Kansas
tourism gave us um the best October Fest
[29:01] in Kansas award and the second place in
food festival or fall food festival. So
[29:09] we excited to have those.
>> That's great. That is
[29:12] » congratulations.
>> That boost the economy here and the
[29:16] » Yeah. youngsters g. It's just
everything. It it
[29:20] » it just keeps growing and growing and we
love that Saturday is uh well Friday is
[29:24] the more traditional day and then we've
added Saturday quite a few years ago and
[29:29] the kids just go nuts. They love it. We
have lots of different kids events um on
[29:34] Saturday. We've got um the parade and
then we've got the Clydesales there down
[29:40] right outside the October Fest Park. We
have bounce houses. Um, this year I'll
[29:45] have little Steinholding for the kids
with little root beers. I pitched that
[29:49] idea at GFest for the fifth graders and
they went crazy. So, they've asked to
[29:54] have that on Saturday. So,
>> I've never asked the question, how many
[29:58] times do they um take the trash out the
roll off? Is it one time deal? Is it a
[30:03] two several
>> Friday, Saturday?
[30:06] » We get two 25 foot rolloffs.
>> Okay.
[30:08] » And they get delivered on Wednesday and
then they get picked up on Monday. And
[30:13] so we just have um we have a group that
does that and we make a donation towards
[30:18] them and um
>> they just take care of our trash the
[30:22] entire time. It really helps a lot that
all of the can cages, the can things
[30:26] that we did for sponsorships, um those
are all around the park and so we don't
[30:32] have all the the can trash in there and
then all of those cans get recycled at
[30:37] Langanger and they get donated back to
the um the troop
[30:45] troop 133 maybe or something like that.
And um so cuz they come down on Sunday
[30:51] and help us tear down and kind of do a
com of the ground. So we donate all
[30:56] those cans to them and make a donation
to us for helping out on Sunday.
[31:02] » Okay,
good.
[31:05] » Very good. I don't have any issues.
>> Yeah,
[31:07] » I have no issues.
>> I have no no questions. So thank you,
[31:09] Emily. Um do we need to make a motion
for that one?
[31:12] » No.
>> Okay. You have consensus. So
[31:15] » thanks for all your hard work. Thanks. I
appreciate it. It's such a great
[31:19] community event. We just love that
sponsors are a huge part and the
[31:23] community shows up and it's just an all
around good thing. Um I would ask that
[31:28] if someone would like to do the opening
ceremony that would be great from one of
[31:32] you commissioners. I think Neil, you've
done it in the past and um then you guys
[31:36] can fight over this one. If you guys
want to um we'd love to have a county
[31:40] commissioner as one of the battle of the
bureau judges again. So I think Nathan
[31:45] did or Michael did it last year
>> did it last year.
[31:47] » Yeah.
>> So we welcome you guys to be a part of
[31:50] it and move.
>> I can't because I'm in the Lions Club so
[31:53] I can't do [laughter]
>> by
[31:54] » otherwise I would but you just
>> Okay. Thank you guys so much.
[32:00] » All right. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[32:08] » Okay. Discussion on considering the
purchase of a a used grater. Brandon.
[32:16] Morning commissioners. Brenamman KL
County public works director.
[32:19] » So before you is request at a later date
for me to bring forward the purchase of
[32:24] a used machine. This used machine was
the machine that county was selected to
[32:29] test for about 13 months.
It's one size larger than the machines
[32:34] we currently utilize. So, it not
something we would recommend going with
[32:39] all of our machines on, but there is a
benefit to having one size larger for at
[32:42] least one machine. This machine will be
about 50 $60,000 less than the price of
[32:47] a brand new one. But because it is a
size up and all the additional options
[32:51] that are on it, it'll come in close to
what we're paying for a brand new 140
[32:56] class machine. And some of those options
are the rear rippers, the front
[33:00] additional front hydraulics, so we can
run our attachments like our shouldering
[33:04] machine. There is additional rear
hydraulics. So if we wanted to roll a
[33:08] compaction wheel behind the that's
powered off the ripper as well as our
[33:13] cross slope assist which really helps
out keeping consistency when you're
[33:17] reconstructing a roadway. It can be done
without it but having that tool is a
[33:21] great benefit to us we found.
[snorts]
[33:24] » How many hours did we put on it over the
past 12 13 months?
[33:29] » I don't have that for sure on my head. I
think it was around 1,300, but it'll
[33:33] have an additional 7 year or 8,500 hour
warranty on it.
[33:35] » So, it'll we'll be covered up to nearly
10,000 hours on it then.
[33:40] » That's our Yes.
>> Okay.
[33:42] » Yep. Everything bumper to bumper or is
it Okay.
[33:45] » Premier with travel. So, there's no
mileage. And then it also has a CSA,
[33:49] which is all the filters and everything.
Everything minus the oil will be sent to
[33:53] us as part of it. So, all that all those
maintenance items are already factored
[33:57] in.
>> Okay.
[33:59] » Which we've done with all of our
machines. That just helps simplify. We
[34:02] get an alert 50 hours out and they send
us a package for the filters and
[34:07] consumables that need to be changed.
>> Okay.
[34:11] Yeah. As long as we have I mean we've
been going that that route. Uh and this
[34:16] is going to fit into our plan of we were
planning on purchasing one this year.
[34:20] » Correct. One soon and then if there's
money at the end of the year to purchase
[34:24] a section one.
>> Okay. Is this going to
[34:28] » take the place of any purchase or is
this just
[34:31] » This is going to take the place of one
of the purchase of one of the two
[34:33] machines that we would like to purchase
this year.
[34:35] » Okay. But we'll be losing a machine then
yet.
[34:38] » Yes, we'll be taking one from our
auxiliary fleet, the 2013 machine
[34:42] that'll be going to the landfill and the
landfills machine will be coming being
[34:46] sold.
>> Okay.
[34:49] » So, there won't be any additional
machines. We'll get one in and pass a
[34:53] nicer used machine down to the landfill
and then get rid of the landfills one.
[34:58] » Okay.
[35:02] » I have no problems moving forward with
that.
[35:04] » I don't either, especially the
warranties there. So, I mean the
[35:09] shoulder thing. How often does that get
used?
[35:11] » Well, right now zero because we don't
have any machines that can operate it.
[35:15] Okay.
>> All we have is the small one that fits
[35:18] on the back of one dump truck. So,
operating on the grater, you can have
[35:23] all of your trucks pull into it. Whereas
the one we have for the truck, it's only
[35:27] one trucks at a time.
>> Okay.
[35:31] » Okay.
>> Okay.
[35:34] » I'm good with that. Thank you.
>> I'm good.
[35:36] » Thank you very much.
[35:45] » Okay. [clears throat]
Tall grass solar uh project. the legal
[35:50] fees. Darren,
[35:56] » uh, this next item is to re, uh, bring
back to the commission, uh, some of the
[36:01] agreements that we had for the legal
fees associated with the solar farm
[36:05] contribution agreement and the uh,
[clears throat]
[36:10] the conditional use permit that was
approved in June of 2026.
[36:14] Back in January and February time frame,
the commission entered into an agreement
[36:17] with IBV for them to provide uh $200,000
into an escrow account to allow the
[36:23] county to select and uh hire an attorney
on the behalf of the county that the
[36:29] commissioners would select to help us
through that legal pro or the process of
[36:33] the conditional use permit. All the any
additional agreements that would come
[36:37] with that to include the contribution
agreement. Um that was an estimate at
[36:42] that time. We did not know how long it
would take, how many months, how many
[36:45] reviews, how many meetings um that the
commissioners or staff would have to
[36:49] progress through that. Um now that we
have completed that process, there is a
[36:55] remaining balance of just over 22 just
under $23,000
[36:59] above um that that $200,000. The
$200,000 did include $35,000 to Acres
[37:07] Strong, which was another individual
consultant that the commissioners hired
[37:10] to provide you all uh consulting
expertise on the legal on the solar
[37:16] side, the development side of of those
uh projects. Um, and as we sit now at
[37:22] the end of um, well, we're into
September already, but there is a
[37:26] $23,000 balance and the commission uh,
has it on your agenda today to approve
[37:32] that payment to Folston out of Witchah
for $22,923.50,
[37:39] which would be paid out of the
contingency line item in the budget
[37:42] since this was an unbudgeted expense uh,
for the county this year.
[37:50] Okay. Any questions?
>> So, just for clarification, the $200,000
[37:56] that we that the county has spent on
legal fees did not come from taxpayer
[38:00] dollars.
>> Correct. That $200,000 was the initial
[38:03] agreement that was in the county
commission agenda, I believe, in both
[38:06] January and February. And that payment
was put into escrow within Folston,
[38:13] which was a payment directly made from
IBV to Folston. and those fees were paid
[38:17] for from them. No tax dollars were spent
on those attorney fees or the there is
[38:23] $5,000 left in that escrow fund because
we have a $5,000 remaining balance with
[38:27] Acres Strong to assist us as we start
progressing through the road use
[38:31] agreement which we're currently working
on as well as the decommissioning
[38:35] agreement as well.
>> Okay.
[38:40] » So, is there I'm just trying to look. So
5,000 left or 17,05. What's the 175 on
[38:46] that one page there? Retaining funds,
retainer funds remaining on account.
[38:51] They um that 17,500 was this statement
was given to us before they made a
[38:57] $12,500 payment out of escrow,
>> which was the second half of the larger
[39:03] chunk paid to Acres Strong, which out of
their contract was the majority of the
[39:08] time committed to the project was for
the contribution agreement and the
[39:11] conditional use permit. And 5,000 was
kind of set aside as a remaining balance
[39:16] to them. Uh like I say for the road use
agreement and decommissioning
[39:20] agreements.
[39:24] » Okay. And these these funds were were
negotiated by the by the commission in
[39:31] uh Pollston and this is not going to be
reflective in our pilot agreement that
[39:37] was uh agreed upon in the conditional
use permit.
[39:40] » Correct. We won't receive any pilot
payments from IBV for several more
[39:44] years. uh probably earliest would be
2029. Uh but this will not decrease that
[39:49] amount.
>> Okay.
[39:51] » Or be impacted by that amount.
>> Okay.
[39:57] » Well, I'll move to approve the payment
of the attached invoice to Fston
[40:01] pertaining to their legal consultation
for the tall grass solar project.
[40:05] » Second.
>> Okay. We have a motion and a second. All
[40:09] those in favor say I. I.
>> I. Motion approved.
[40:28] Okay.
The eulraic rescue tool purchase Darren
[40:34] for the fire.
This agenda item is to ask the
[40:38] commission approval to purchase uh
hydraulic rescue tools for company six
[40:42] which is over in Ellis which is the next
scheduled uh company in the county to
[40:47] get new rescue tools. Um it kind of goes
down to a trickle down effect as well.
[40:52] If these tools are purchased they will
uh put into service on rescue 60 and
[40:57] Ellis. The tools that are currently
there will replace uh old tools that are
[41:02] on engine 80 which is out in Shenshin.
The tools that are in Shenshin would
[41:06] then move to mini 51, which is a brush
truck, which is the backup reserve for
[41:12] the county tools, uh, which is here in
Hayes. And then kind of tied into the
[41:17] next agenda item for the training
facility. Those tools that are off of
[41:20] the the brush truck here in Hayes would
go out to the old engine 40, which will
[41:24] become the reserve pumper uh, for the
for the county. So that way they can be
[41:28] used out there without taking tools into
service, out of service. Um, here in
[41:33] Hayes, the hydraulic tools are actually
um they're not new. They've been around
[41:39] for 15 or so years. I went to FDIC,
which is out in Indianapolis, about 15
[41:44] years ago, and used one battery on a
cutter and completely cut a car in half.
[41:50] Um, they're they've come a long ways
even since then. They're they're heavy,
[41:56] but um that's one thing that you can't
really get away from. But this this
[42:00] purchase is to uh replace those tools so
that way they're hydraulics, which means
[42:05] our current tools have a pump and then
you have hose and then you have the
[42:09] tools at the end of it. So you're
restricted on um potentially taking two
[42:13] or three people if you can't get to a
vehicle close enough to where the the
[42:16] truck is parked. You have to carry all
that equipment down or wherever it may
[42:20] be. These hydraulic tools are basically
the the AMCUS tools are around off of uh
[42:26] big uh DeWalt batteries. So they are
interchangeable. We have these tools in
[42:30] Hayes currently here. Company 5 and the
city of Hayes has also started
[42:34] purchasing purchasing these tools as
well. Uh the thought of keeping like
[42:39] tools is that way if we do have a
significant incident where multiple
[42:43] vehicles have to be extricated or
confined space, building collapse,
[42:47] different things like that, all the bu
all the tools are interchangeable as
[42:51] well as all the batteries. So that way
we have that large uh cache of equipment
[42:55] and tools that are are likeminded.
Um, when we looked at these tools, we
[43:01] looked at um because they are heavy and
they they they're not the easiest to
[43:06] operate, just like any rescue tool, but
we looked at a lighter weight version,
[43:10] they were about just over $1,000 less.
But when you looked at the capacity of
[43:14] what they could cut, how far they could
spread, the types of metals that they
[43:18] would um not be able to cut on newer
vehicles today, a significant decrease
[43:22] in the amount that uh they would be able
to not do. So, we uh are not asking to
[43:28] purchase those lightweight lighter
weight tools, which are only about seven
[43:31] pounds less than the the ones that are
on the agenda here. Um, but I I could
[43:37] keep talking about these for a while if
if you like me to, but that's the the
[43:42] biggest point of using these whole
source purchase through Weiss Fire for
[43:45] Amus tools because Weiss is the only
dealer in Kansas in our area because
[43:50] they have territories that can sell
these tools. If not, we'd have to go to
[43:53] a different branded tool. And when we
did uh started purchasing these tools, I
[44:00] think the first one that we bought for
the county was three or four years ago,
[44:04] uh we did do very uh various
demonstrations on other tools as well.
[44:08] Homantro
um Denko had one, TNT, Amus, and um
[44:14] there was one other one as well that we
Hurst I believe had one.
[44:20] » Our first that was purchased in what 23
I believe.
[44:24] » That sounds about right. But I think I
had it in the agenda when we did
[44:26] purchase them last.
>> Mhm.
[44:30] » Yeah. 2023 in January.
Got it.
[44:40] What happens to the existing tools that
we have? Do you keep them or is there
[44:45] any value to them if we're going with
the
[44:48] » That's why I say we when we put if this
is purchased, the tools get will get
[44:52] moved. Uh this would go on to rescue 60
and Ellis. Those tools would go to
[44:56] Shenshin uh which are an older set of
tools which those tools would then go to
[45:01] the brush truck and haze and then those
really old tools are I think from 80
[45:05] 1981 would go into uh engine 40 or the
old uh engine 40 that would be a reserve
[45:12] pumper over at the training facility if
approved as well.
[45:16] » I guess what I'm getting at in in an in
an accident where the new tool is
[45:20] needed, how quick will that be?
So the county's average response time
[45:25] for almost the last five years, we
average 12 to 13 firefighters per call
[45:30] and we can respond on average to any
call just under or around 10 minutes.
[45:35] » So that's
varies. You could be one mile off the
[45:39] interstate, which like these are going
in Ellis, they could be there within a
[45:42] few minutes, but if you're um clear up
by the Selen River Bridge, it could take
[45:46] 15 20 minutes to get up there. So, um,
that's
[45:51] part of the troubles that we have to
deal with when we have to cover 900
[45:54] square miles is sometimes you can get
there quick and but there's vehicles
[45:58] that travel all over their 1400 county
miles that we have of roads. So, it
[46:02] could take a lot longer to be there as
well. But the firefighters usually turn
[46:06] out which means from the time they get
their page to the time they actually
[46:09] start responding is usually about 1
minute and 50 seconds and they're
[46:13] usually on scene just under 10 minutes.
in the the surrounding counties. Have we
[46:20] ever assisted with something like that
that they needed us for tools?
[46:26] » When they have different incidents, we
do cover other counties um just on
[46:29] standby. So that way if they do have a
call, like if they have a fire in
[46:32] northern Rush County or Brooks County,
we've covered the south half of the
[46:35] county for calls.
>> Uh we go over to Trio County quite often
[46:40] uh with the Ellis station because Ellis
is only uh just about two miles from the
[46:44] Trio County line. Um just might have
been two years ago they had that uh
[46:50] larger vehicle accident. I think it was
like 17 or 20 vehicles that they covered
[46:56] uh or they didn't cover. They responded
to it right away as well.
[47:01] » Good.
>> Well, I'll move to approve PO number
[47:07] 7990
for the purchase of the extraction tools
[47:11] for the Ellis County Fire Department.
>> Second. Okay, we have a motion and a
[47:16] second. All those in favor say I.
>> I.
[47:19] » Motion approved.
>> Hey Darren, one one last question on
[47:22] this. Um, part of us retaining that
extra truck, uh, part of part of the
[47:30] deal is that we do have to stock it or
supply it with with equipment in order
[47:35] for it to be qualified for tax
reductions for our county. Is that
[47:39] correct? to be qualified to get points.
Um that won't necessarily lead to
[47:44] » I'm [clears throat] sorry, not tax
reduction. I'm sorry.
[47:47] » Just to make sure. I mean, it helps
>> uh to increase our score
[47:51] » uh for the ISO. The higher the scores
that we get is determined by the amount
[47:55] of points that we receive. Part of those
points uh that we don't currently
[47:59] receive any at all now is for a reserve
engine for the county. Um, and since we
[48:04] kept the old engine 40 because we spent
the money to put a new pump in it
[48:08] several years before it was to be
replaced, uh, we will now have a reserve
[48:12] engine, but it can't truly be in a fire
station, so to speak, that can be used
[48:17] on any given structure fire. It's got to
be sitting in reserve status, um, that
[48:22] it doesn't ever respond. So that way the
true purpose of it is if a engine goes
[48:26] down, breaks down or has to be sent in
for service, warranty, whatever it may
[48:31] be, could be several weeks depending on
what the problem is, that engine can
[48:35] come in right away and uh fill that. So,
yes, it'd be nice to have it fully
[48:42] outfitted, but at the same point, what
we would do is just um bring in a bunch
[48:47] of people real quick. If we know a
engine 50 is going in for service is
[48:50] going to be out of, we would just dump
all the tools. We'd probably have it out
[48:53] in 30 minutes or so and then reout the
uh the reserve engine with those nicer
[49:00] tools. like the tools that would be out
there 1980 some. The vehicles that they
[49:05] made in 1980 aren't like they are in
2025, 2026. So those tools don't cut,
[49:11] but there's still a lot of things that
they can do for training purposes out
[49:14] there as well that they would be on
there and they would count for the
[49:17] specific type of cutting tool on that
reserve engine.
[49:20] » Okay. Thank you.
>> What are we up to now as far as
[49:25] volunteer
fires? Uh we are at [snorts]
[49:29] » 90
Well that's a that's a tricky question
[49:33] because between today the next two days
we're on boarding seven new
[49:36] firefighters.
>> Okay.
[49:38] » And uh we just had one retire at the end
at the beginning of August here and that
[49:43] should put us around 103 if uh if all go
through. So
[49:48] » Okay, good. I thank them all. That's a
big thing to volunteer for our
[49:53] community. So,
>> if we can get them all seven and going,
[49:56] that'll be the most we've ever had on
the county fire department.
[49:59] » Good.
[50:12] » Okay. The uh Patterson Family
Foundation.
[50:17] Um Darren.
So, as the commission knows, um
[50:22] [clears throat] earlier this year, staff
the county fire department applied for a
[50:26] grant with the Patterson Family
Foundation
[50:30] to create somewhat of what we're calling
a regional training facility for
[50:34] Northwest Kansas or Western Kansas.
Cut out on me real quick. That sounded
[50:39] inverted. Um the idea was with the
working with the Patterson family
[50:43] foundation on the grant that they have a
certain bucket that they donate funds to
[50:47] for uh hybrid workforce and and and
development for rural America rural
[50:53] Kansas. And you can't get more rural in
Kansas when you start looking at
[50:57] volunteer fire departments. And then you
look back all the way through the trends
[51:01] all the way to the 80s. Um, we just
spoke about being up to about 103
[51:05] firefighters, but the amount of
firefighters since the 80s, volunteers
[51:09] in the in the country have uh decreased
by about half uh over those years, but
[51:15] the amount of calls that they respond to
have quadrupled. Um, so we're asking
[51:21] less of them to do four times as much
essentially over those years. And so we
[51:26] started looking at that and the ability
of what they're here for and the
[51:30] training to keep them safe, to keep them
knowledgeable, to stay up to date on
[51:33] building uh fire, building construction,
vehicle extrication, hazmat, rescue, uh
[51:38] about everything you can think of. And
one of the things that we're lacking is
[51:42] a good hands-on training facility. Uh
you can make do things um very cheaply
[51:47] and uh give them some type of
opportunity to have that hands-on
[51:52] training. But then when you start trying
to partner with other organizations, we
[51:56] got letters of support from the Kansas
Division Emergency Management, Kansas
[52:00] Forestry Service, Kansas Fire and Rescue
Training Institute. We'll be working
[52:03] with Kansas hopefully the Kansas
Firefighters Association um to create
[52:07] some of these types of trainings. Uh but
when you start putting uh firefighters
[52:12] in IDLH atmosphere, immediately
dangerous to life and health, uh where
[52:16] you have live fire, you have to start
meeting certain standards. and uh to
[52:20] have those classes, to have those
opportunities, um there's not very many
[52:25] facilities like this in the in the state
of Kansas that uh you can put all these
[52:29] different types of ideas into one place
and and have have that ability for them
[52:33] to train. So, we looked at the Patterson
Family Foundation. We applied for a
[52:38] grant and we put a whole bunch of um
training props that we've seen uh either
[52:43] through conferences, uh newsletters,
just word of mouth and different things
[52:47] like that. and um came to a bulleted
point list of items that are on the
[52:54] agenda that um are part of the grant.
So, if the commission would allow, I
[53:01] would speak to each one of them just to
kind of give an educa or a little quick
[53:04] synopsis of what each is. Um so, I'll
just scroll through. I attached a whole
[53:08] bunch of pictures.
Um but the first one is kind of the main
[53:13] focal point of the training center. So,
if you can imagine um what this may look
[53:18] like, it's a 10acre track of land, which
we'll talk about here in a little bit,
[53:21] but right in the center of it is a uh
training center tower that looks like
[53:27] you have on the screen. It's 10 Conx's
built together um structurally designed
[53:33] and NFPA approved for live fire burning
both on the main floor as well as on the
[53:39] second floor. So you can do interior and
exterior as well as second story and you
[53:44] can train as it being a basement to do
live fire training scenarios. Uh the
[53:48] tops of these facilities are built so
that way you have anchor points for rope
[53:52] rescue to repel off the sides. And then
part of the backside of that has
[53:58] multiple props so that way you can do
bailout exercises out of windows, roof
[54:03] collapse, entanglement props, uh wall
breach props. There's a roof prop that
[54:08] [snorts] you can see on there. That way
you can practice using chainsaws to cut
[54:11] through roof and on part of the conx you
can open up and they have a metal
[54:16] cutting prop so that way you can use
your rotary tools to cut through metal.
[54:20] So that's the the main focus of the
center of the facility and um also the
[54:25] the most expensive part as part of the
Patterson grant that we have received
[54:30] which is roughly $454,000
already. That is enough to pay for this
[54:35] as well as a water uh supply prop which
will allow us to build a somewhat of a
[54:41] sistern or a large pool that we can have
um about 20,000 gallons of water to be
[54:47] able to draft up store water into and
draft out of to use for the live fire
[54:51] scenarios as well as a above ground like
a 200 barrel oil tank to accommodate
[54:56] another we haven't actually bought the
the tank yet of course because we have
[55:01] to have the commission approval but you
can I have another 200 barrel which is
[55:05] uh what's that about 10 12,000 gallons
worth of water above ground as well to
[55:09] to continue with that. Um
moving on is a flashover simulator. What
[55:16] this is is you start uh on the left side
of that prop. You use class A
[55:22] combustibles and you create heat, fire,
and smoke. And then the firefighters go
[55:27] into the right side of that. And you can
see by sitting into it, laying on the
[55:31] floor, you can uh put in the effects of
rollover, flashover, and different
[55:36] impacts of looking at fire behavior um
in there in a design structure so that
[55:42] way they can do it safely. Um and
technically, you won't be in there for a
[55:46] flashover event. Um but you'll be able
to open up the doors and see what it
[55:50] actually looks like.
This is another prop that would be in
[55:55] another area of the facility. Um, this
is not necessarily the one that we're
[56:00] looking at, but on and the inside of
that has an SCBA confined space maze, so
[56:04] that way firefighters can practice
crawling through tight spaces with their
[56:07] SCBA on their breathing apparatus. Um,
as you can see off the left side of
[56:12] that, it's got a roof cutting prop um,
as well. And off the top, it's got a
[56:16] safety device with a bailout window, so
that way you can practice safely being
[56:20] tethered to a safety rope, bailing out a
window onto a ladder to get out of a out
[56:24] of a building. Uh
[56:29] this is a fire dynamics prop. This is if
you essentially look at like maybe two
[56:33] large suitcases where you could start a
fire and you have different compartments
[56:37] like you do in a home. You can start a
fire in one and open up doors or windows
[56:42] and practice ventilation to see how that
impacts fire and how the fire growth it
[56:47] spreads throughout the throughout the
building.
[56:51] Forcible entry door. Uh this is uh
basically a door that is built out of
[56:57] solid steel and you just replace wood
products into it um scrap wood. So that
[57:02] way you can practice breaching and
breaking through walls and prying open
[57:06] doors. Uh cuz if you imagine if we had a
facility where we could go break through
[57:11] a door after you do it once and you got
20 people in class, the door is done,
[57:15] you can't do it again. Um, basically you
slide in new wood into that uh
[57:21] into that door and then you can just do
it over and over as long as you have
[57:24] that additional wood to to do so.
It also includes in a different area of
[57:30] the complex a LPG training prop. So what
this is is this is a not a true picture
[57:37] of what it actually looks like. They but
it's a it's a vehicle like an SUV. That
[57:42] SUV slides over a pan that's controlled
by water and propane underneath it. So
[57:47] that way you can um have a ignited
propane fire inside the car. Then you
[57:52] can open the doors, open the hoods and
uh approach the vehicles in the safe way
[57:58] without having to worry about explosions
or projectiles on a on a normal car if
[58:02] we got one that we could use to burn up.
And they have other props that come with
[58:07] that. You can have them. They come they
they basically roll over pans. So you
[58:11] can have a dumpster fire, you have car
fires, engine fires, uh different things
[58:15] like that, as well as the pan that you
kind of see below it where you can fill
[58:19] that up full of water and then have your
propane attached to it. And as the
[58:23] propane escapes through the water, it
lights. So you have a liquid fuel and
[58:28] then the firefighters can use that as a
prop to use foam to suppress fires using
[58:33] different foam application methods to
put fire out on liquid fuels.
[58:40] Part [clears throat] of that process out
there that uh before the training
[58:44] complex actually came to light was the
the bond that the commission has
[58:47] approved uh to was originally thought to
have a storage facility out by the
[58:54] public works facility to store the
engine uh that was replaced over in
[58:58] Ellis as a reserve. Um, a part of that
then grew into having the appropriate
[59:04] size storage facility to house that
engine as well as some of the other
[59:09] equipment that the counties received off
Homeland Security grants or through the
[59:12] forestry service. We have an ATV that
was granted to us uh no charge from the
[59:17] forestry service as well as a water
supply trailer that houses seven
[59:22] portable tanks. So that way we could in
the time of need have seven or six
[59:27] portable tanks connected together or
individual to hold 21,000 gallons of
[59:31] water on a wildland fire, structure
fire, whatever it may be. But that whole
[59:36] project was donated by the wild the
homeland security. So all that equipment
[59:40] would be out here as well. Uh but on the
west or the left side of that is a
[59:46] classroom. So that way when you have uh
inperson class in a classroom session at
[59:52] the training center um there would be an
actual training room available for the
[59:57] firefighters. U this building the way we
have it set now is uh we have a bunch of
[1:00:03] firefighters who are willing to finish
it on the inside if it does get built.
[1:00:07] So if it does get constructed at
constructed the way it is planned now
[1:00:12] and based on the size that we have on
the lot, it would be a 40x 100 metal
[1:00:16] building and the classroom would be
40x40. And uh like I say, it would be
[1:00:21] unfinished. It would be insulated on the
inside, but over a period of time,
[1:00:26] firefighters will go in, as you imagine,
having 103 firefighters, they have a lot
[1:00:30] of different skills and abilities, so
they'll be able to finish that room out.
[1:00:34] And we do have HBAC donated for the
project as well for both sides of that
[1:00:39] building.
So moving on to where it would actually
[1:00:43] be located is a map and the east west
street at the bottom is 55th. So that's
[1:00:51] the landfill 55th and 240th. Uh you
can't really see my cursor, but right
[1:00:57] there at the intersection,
this is all the landfill area in the
[1:01:02] right down here in the corner is where
the main entrance is at. To the west of
[1:01:06] that is a 10acre plot that was closed
back in the early 1990s, I believe in
[1:01:11] 1991 where one of the original Ellis
County landfills were built on and
[1:01:16] there's not much it can be used for. You
can't build on it. Um it's been sitting
[1:01:21] there vacant since the 1990s. Uh but the
only section of that 10 acres is that uh
[1:01:28] smaller blue box that was never
developed or put as waste because that's
[1:01:32] where their scale house and their office
building and everything was located at
[1:01:36] back in the 80s. So that is where the
location and the current entrance is to
[1:01:40] the facility and that's where that
building would be placed at uh running
[1:01:46] north to south but it would be facing
east and then that bigger that lighter
[1:01:50] blue box is the 10 acres that are
identified. So each of those training
[1:01:53] props would have different areas located
through there in like a big circle. The
[1:01:57] training uh the the conxes would be in
the center of it and then throughout the
[1:02:01] surrounding area of that you'd have each
of those other props. Two other items
[1:02:05] that we didn't list that aren't
mentioned. Um, Kansas Fire and Rescue
[1:02:10] Training Institute would like to have
some part of that to build a rubble pile
[1:02:13] for simulation and training on building
collapse. Um, which would be concrete
[1:02:19] blocks, containers, culverts, and things
like that to be able to tunnel and
[1:02:22] traverse through. And then another area
would be out there for vehicle
[1:02:26] extrication. So that way it would be a
simulated area that the fire companies
[1:02:30] could go out and tear and cut apart
vehicles and not have to worry about the
[1:02:33] oil, the gas, the glass, and all the
other materials that may be falling down
[1:02:39] that they don't necessarily have to
clean up or um so a lot of opportunities
[1:02:43] there. Um
with that comes to the discussion we
[1:02:49] had. Uh, previously, like I say, we were
originally maybe putting the storage
[1:02:53] building out of the public works
facility and the location that was
[1:02:58] identified there was going to create a
lot of work for public works to be able
[1:03:01] to cut and fill, do a lot of dirt work
to get us about 3 and 1/2 acres. It was
[1:03:05] going to take them several months as
they had allowable time to move any
[1:03:09] dirt. This is already flat and uh it's
three times the size. And then when you
[1:03:15] start looking at utilities, we met with
Midwest Energy at both locations. We
[1:03:20] would have to be trenching um several
couple almost 2,000 feet of gas line. Uh
[1:03:26] we would be trenching a water line and
we'd be dropping in many power poles to
[1:03:32] get uh access to the other facility.
Whereas right here, right there at that
[1:03:36] bottom corner, there's electricity right
there. Uh they probably only have to set
[1:03:40] one power pool. And we do have one trans
uh u
[1:03:47] not transmission but uh
donated for the electricity
[1:03:52] » transformer donated. Um
>> so that's another cost savings there and
[1:03:57] gas is also in the ditch on the south
side. So uh getting access to utilities
[1:04:01] a lot quicker. Um the only issue that
we'll still be working with if the
[1:04:07] commission would to approve is the rural
water district stops their 4-in water
[1:04:11] man at the entrance to our drug
enforcement unit building which is about
[1:04:15] 1,800 ft to the east on the south side
of the road. And the city of Hayes stops
[1:04:20] their 10-in water man 18 about 1,800 ft
to the west uh right about the entrance
[1:04:25] of Dunan. So, um, still working on both
of those to see, uh, which route to to
[1:04:32] go with there, but that will be about a
$25,000 expense to get water based on
[1:04:38] some estimates. Um, it is in the, uh,
water districts, uh, district area. So,
[1:04:46] uh, first preference comes to them on
trying to work something out there. But,
[1:04:49] if the commission were to approve all of
this and allow us to move forward, uh,
[1:04:54] that would be the next thing that we'll
be working on.
[1:04:57] The last piece that I would mention is
the the gratitude for the Patterson
[1:05:01] Family Foundation uh for working with us
on this. It wouldn't be possible uh to
[1:05:06] do it. Like I say, they've already given
us over $454,000.
[1:05:10] It's sitting in the bank account now
with the treasury. Uh if the commission
[1:05:14] were to not approve to proceed,
essentially a check would just be made
[1:05:17] back to them and then uh with nothing uh
would be spent on it. The next part of
[1:05:24] the grant, as this is uh all the
equipment that we said that I went
[1:05:28] through minus the building was about
$820,000 worth of equipment. Um so the
[1:05:34] Patterson family has given us 454,000.
They're doing what's called a challenge
[1:05:39] grant with us for the the remaining
roughly 350,000 to get us the purchase
[1:05:43] of the rest of the equipment essentially
for they will match any donation that
[1:05:48] the county fire departments receive
dollar for dollar up to 178,000. So if
[1:05:53] we raise 178,000 they'll give us another
178,000. So collectively besides the
[1:05:59] money that we get, the money that we
raise and the money that they match
[1:06:02] after that will be just about 800 I
think $11,000 which should get us most
[1:06:07] everything uh as part of that uh grant
application minus a couple things that I
[1:06:15] didn't mention. There was a couple smoke
machines that we had in there, some
[1:06:18] rescue mannequins as well as hose to
outfit that old engine 40 for a fire
[1:06:23] attack and fire supply line. Um,
so like yeah, like I say, if it wasn't
[1:06:29] for the Patterson Family Foundation,
this wouldn't really go go forward. Uh,
[1:06:34] what's what would be next? Maybe another
question the commission may ask is we
[1:06:38] were going to have to retain some
statistics afterwards is who all trains
[1:06:43] there, how often do they train there,
what departments are they from, are they
[1:06:46] new recruits, uh, you know, from
Philipsburg or Kobe? uh keep track of
[1:06:52] all that compared to how many are
actually uh veterans of the fire service
[1:06:56] and we send all that information out. Um
one thing that we're working on like I
[1:07:01] say with the Kansas State Firefighters
Association is hopefully create an
[1:07:04] annual fire school in western Kansas. Uh
the only true fire school in the state
[1:07:09] right now is in March. It's in Topeka.
Uh so the western part of the state
[1:07:14] really doesn't get a whole lot of time
to be able to take off work and go out
[1:07:18] there. Whereas this facility could be
open year round that if Philsburg wanted
[1:07:22] to come down and do some type of
training the facility would be open to
[1:07:25] them as well as if we do an annual fire
school that would be the earliest when
[1:07:30] everything would be completed if we
match or meet the fundraising goals
[1:07:34] would be about 2028.
and we're hoping to have that and every
[1:07:39] year at the same time usually or we're
hoping to have it like October, November
[1:07:43] time frame.
>> Okay.
[1:07:45] » So, a lot of information. I'll pause
because just make sure I captured
[1:07:50] everything.
[1:07:53] So, this has kind of really metastasized
from being a just storage facility to
[1:08:00] we've really gone and and the Pattersons
have really stepped in to really make
[1:08:04] this a western Kansas kind of
cornerstone.
[1:08:08] » Yeah. How that actually came through
with the request from the Patterson
[1:08:12] Family Foundation was an idea uh through
Leadership Kansas, which I attended last
[1:08:16] year. And you through Leadership Kansas,
you go around the states to see the
[1:08:20] different communities, what they're
doing, whether it be economic
[1:08:23] development, uh whether it be businesses
that they're doing, education, military,
[1:08:29] and and one of the stops that we did was
in Salina, and they have what's called
[1:08:33] Crisis City, which is a military
installation out uh on the bombing range
[1:08:37] to the west of Salina. Uh it's not open
to the public. Um you can get out there,
[1:08:42] but you can't just use it, so to speak.
And when we were out there, uh, the CEO
[1:08:48] of the Patterson Family Foundation was
out there and I kind of just ran the
[1:08:51] idea by her just to see if this would
meet their goals and objectives of what
[1:08:55] they donate money for. And um, she got
me into contact with some of their staff
[1:09:01] and I kind of shared the idea is and
they kind of guided me from there as to
[1:09:07] yeah, may may be something they would be
interested in. And um so we filled out
[1:09:11] the application process and it
that's how it's came about.
[1:09:18] » Very good. [clears throat]
[1:09:22] » So with this, do you think that uh
that's going to be more inviting to get
[1:09:25] more volunteer firefighters? So without
people in Ellis County or Hayes or
[1:09:31] houses that um we'll have more people
want to participate.
[1:09:36] » I don't think it's going to be a sole
reason for the any firefighter to join.
[1:09:42] But I think especially as a volunteer,
but I think the many different things
[1:09:45] that we do that we've tried with the
county, uh you try to protect them with
[1:09:50] the right gear so that way they're safe.
You give them a purpose. You give them
[1:09:54] decent equipment that they can train and
use on. you give them the support.
[1:09:58] They're not truly volunteers. They do
get paid. And then and if you give them
[1:10:01] the purpose of having true scenarios
where you're not just uh saying this is
[1:10:06] what it looks like by sitting in the
classroom watching something on YouTube,
[1:10:10] you can actually go out and use this uh
and then be able to create fire schools
[1:10:14] where might be able to create revenue
for the county to offset some of the
[1:10:18] expenses. Um because when they come in
they may uh we may have registration
[1:10:23] fees uh for a conference but if KU comes
in they usually supply all the material.
[1:10:28] So like if we're doing a lot of cutting
and breaching and breaking of sheetrock
[1:10:31] or OSB and stuff they usually uh bring
some of that material in to be able to
[1:10:36] pay for it as well. So when you look at
it I don't think it's necessarily going
[1:10:40] to if I were to say one side or the
other it's going to help uh recruit
[1:10:45] firefighters rather than not be of any
benefit. It's just another another
[1:10:50] ability that we'll have to be able to
use and and give them the ability to go
[1:10:54] out and do some training.
>> So the LPG right now, what do we do as
[1:10:58] far as that is on a on a fire? Has have
you witnessed that yet or not?
[1:11:03] » For training?
>> No.
[1:11:06] » For for Yeah. [laughter] for a real
incident.
[1:11:10] » So KPA does different they have out at
Crisis Cities, they have different
[1:11:14] training props that you can do. Uh, but
LPG, it's so tricky because there's the
[1:11:18] when you look at what type of scenario
are you, are you talking about a truck
[1:11:21] hauling LP? Are you looking at a little
propane tank at a building or a propane
[1:11:25] tank on a on a a barbecue grill? Um, you
know, you can't just put water on it
[1:11:31] because it doesn't really stop the leak.
So, then you have to cool it off and
[1:11:35] prevent what's called a belvy, uh, which
was when they explode. But if you put
[1:11:40] the fire out, you still have leaking
propane. So, then now you have a
[1:11:42] flammable atmosphere that you have to
worry about. So there's a lot of
[1:11:45] different things and we train all of our
firefighters. At a minimum it's required
[1:11:50] that they go through hazmat awareness uh
to be on the fire department and um that
[1:11:54] doesn't really necessarily get
everything but it's this it's the
[1:11:57] awareness level what your environment
and environment during hazmat situations
[1:12:02] that you're involved in to make sure you
identify what you're working in and get
[1:12:06] the appropriate help coming.
[1:12:11] in the uh city of Hayes, they're well
aware of this, correct? That this
[1:12:15] possibly could go through and are they
going to use the facility? Are we going
[1:12:20] to let other
>> Yeah, when I guess when I say volunteer
[1:12:22] firefighters, it wouldn't be limited to
just volunteers at the city of Hayes.
[1:12:26] Obviously, they're the only full-time
fire department around us until you get
[1:12:30] down to KBY, Dodge, Garden, or Salina,
Great Bend, but u I've even said if
[1:12:36] Kansas City, Kansas comes out for a
training, it it
[1:12:40] just means we're getting bigger and
better and is getting a good name, a
[1:12:43] good reputation, and a good opportunity.
So primary focus is for volunteer
[1:12:47] firefighters, but we do um regular
scheduled training with company 5 and
[1:12:52] the city hayes. And if they are willing
to come out and use it whether with us
[1:12:56] or on their own for whatever type of
training scenario, I would say they
[1:13:00] should be more than welcome as well
because they'll that's one of those
[1:13:04] things. It's the city hayes fire
department, but they still benefit the
[1:13:07] county. Yep. They do respond out in the
county for um no matter where it is with
[1:13:12] at least one firefighter if it's
surrounding the city of Hayes, they
[1:13:15] bring uh their on duty uh full on duty
force
[1:13:19] » and like Commissioner Ler said that you
know Patterson family that that's huge.
[1:13:25] So
>> I think we have somebody that would like
[1:13:29] to the audience would like to speak on
this.
[1:13:32] » All right. Just had a quick quick
question for Darren speaking from
[1:13:35] somebody that's been in a couple
training trailers.
[1:13:39] » If you would live, if you would state
your name, please.
[1:13:43] » Oh, Mike Worth, 605 200th Avenue. Um,
I mean, this is great. I mean, I I love
[1:13:50] what he's doing here. Uh, I guess my
question is is,
[1:13:56] you know, you got a lot of grant money
coming in and it's, you know, trying to
[1:14:00] get it and it sounds like you've kind of
got it going, but
[1:14:07] is there
if you have uh firefighters from coming
[1:14:11] in from different counties and you know,
you have them scheduled, does the county
[1:14:17] then
like have a list and then they submit
[1:14:21] that to the state saying, "Hey, you
know, we had this many trainees come
[1:14:25] into our facility.
Do we get reimbursed for this?" Is there
[1:14:31] something or is this just all on Ellis
County?
[1:14:34] » So, this isn't tied to anything with the
state. So, all the numbers that we
[1:14:37] collect or some of the requirements that
the Patterson family wants us to know
[1:14:41] just so they have statistics of how many
firefighters are they full-time,
[1:14:45] part-time, volunteer, where they're
from, are they new recruits, are they 10
[1:14:50] year, 20 year veterans? Um, if we have
fire schools, that will be ability. Um,
[1:14:55] I mean, I don't know what the price
because we're several years out of even
[1:14:58] having that as a possibility, but
usually any fire school you go to has
[1:15:02] like a registration fee. It's like a
conference. So, that helps to pay
[1:15:06] » depending on how big and how long and
how much you do would be determined
[1:15:10] about what whether it's $50 registration
fee or a hundred. And so, so will the
[1:15:17] Patterson family, since the state's not
involved, they will kind of supplement
[1:15:22] something to the county or is this just
a one-time set you up deal and they're
[1:15:27] done?
>> Correct. So, if Plainville wanted to
[1:15:30] come down, um, we often get, I wouldn't
say often, but quite frequently we get
[1:15:36] requests to take donations for vehicles.
Uh we get pallets, uh hay bales, all all
[1:15:43] kinds of things that would be able to
use. So you don't actually have to
[1:15:47] purchase the stuff because you use com
combustible class A materials, usually
[1:15:51] pallets and bales and the live burn. Um
everything else. So if if uh Planeville,
[1:15:58] again, I don't want to pick on
Planeville, but if they wanted to come
[1:16:01] down and do vehicle extrication, they
would need vehicles. And um they we
[1:16:05] would just set them up with maybe Bretts
or Pipers, and they usually give us a
[1:16:10] very highly discounted rate, basically
enough to cover their cost to get a
[1:16:13] vehicle to us and back. So if it's $100
a vehicle, we would just ask like the
[1:16:17] Planeville Fire Department to pay for
that vehicle. But um other than that,
[1:16:23] our guys, our firefighters are very
excited about this as well. Um they they
[1:16:28] want to do a lot of teaching as well. So
training is one thing. That's one level
[1:16:33] of of commitment. But when they actually
start committing to teach um you educate
[1:16:38] yourself but others a lot better and
brings us to another higher level. So
[1:16:42] that's another piece of the training
part of it.
[1:16:44] » It's all about repetition. I mean when
you're training and the better you get.
[1:16:49] So having the training facility right on
hand is better than waiting, you know,
[1:16:56] whenever we get on a list for them to
bring a training trailer in. It's just
[1:17:00] it's sometimes it's tough to do. So I
could see this as good. I I just kind of
[1:17:05] wonder, you know, I I still feel like
the county is going to have to be
[1:17:09] kicking kicking something in here and
[snorts] firefighters substantial.
[1:17:14] » The firefighters will have a commitment
to go out there and do the training. um
[1:17:17] not just be a part of it, but also
teach. Um and then
[1:17:23] I [clears throat] wouldn't say there's
going to be no expense, but you you're
[1:17:26] using the props that are already out
there. So, I guess an example would be
[1:17:31] the LPG. You know, we'd have to replace
LPG every once in a while, but that
[1:17:36] might be something if we host a fire
school that KSFA um would fill the
[1:17:40] propane tank up and if they use it all,
they use it all. If not, then we would
[1:17:44] have uh equipment left over. Um so there
there would be expenses, but we I mean
[1:17:51] we got to train our firefighters, too.
So we have to have expenses in relation
[1:17:55] to that. And then like the the budget
that we have for next year didn't
[1:17:59] increase any because of this project and
I don't see it necessarily increasing
[1:18:04] unless we want to start doing doing
something more which at that time I
[1:18:08] guess the commissioner would have to
approve. So, I I guess what Mr. Worth is
[1:18:13] trying to get at, he's he's trying to
make sure that Ellis County is not going
[1:18:18] to be raising taxes or or taxing just to
fund and keep this project afloat. And I
[1:18:24] guess the end goal would be is that yes,
we have a premier training facility when
[1:18:29] it's done, but the possibility of
hosting and having some revenues that
[1:18:34] would offset some of that.
>> Correct. The biggest expense is what
[1:18:37] we're seeing here today is the $820,000
worth of equipment. After that, one of
[1:18:43] the things like I didn't mention was
it's attached to 200 plus acres of
[1:18:48] grassland for the landfill out there,
which is what the forestry service is
[1:18:52] interested in coming out and doing live
fire training out there as well. So
[1:18:56] although you're just burning out grass,
there is expenses associated with that.
[1:19:00] Like if we use drip torches, you know,
we're using but it's so minimal. Um, but
[1:19:06] you still there are expenses that would
be uh be occurred to have it. Uh, we're
[1:19:12] hosting a fire school
next week uh or two weeks September, I'm
[1:19:18] sorry, this weekend the 11th and the
12th of the K State Firefire
[1:19:23] Association. Even without the training
facility, we still have when we host a
[1:19:27] fire school, we have expenses. So, we
rent uh we rent or sometimes get donated
[1:19:32] equipment to roll cars, smash cars, so
that way they're not just sitting there
[1:19:37] uh with doors not smashed in where you
can just pop them open. Um so, we still
[1:19:42] have those even when we have a a fire
school without this, but it's like Mike
[1:19:46] said, we're bringing in trailers at that
point. Um which aren't always as
[1:19:50] realistic and
>> but it's something it's it's a lot
[1:19:53] better than nothing.
>> Yeah. Yeah. you know, if you get it all
[1:19:56] built, I maybe Nathan needs to make a
motion that the commissioners have to go
[1:20:01] through it. So, [laughter]
>> yeah, absolutely.
[1:20:03] » You know, they're they're constantly
doing fundraisers al I mean, also, so
[1:20:08] there'll be some
>> and those people those firefighters are
[1:20:12] a little different people. They like to
keep their stuff up to par and
[1:20:18] participate. So,
>> they're they're adrenaline junkies. I
[1:20:22] know, but it's they're dedicated and and
volunteers. I I can't say that enough.
[1:20:28] Uh not only that, I was going to ask the
question, too, to um field trip. I would
[1:20:34] love to do went through something this
facility years ago to to at least look
[1:20:39] at it because that will teach our kids
not to mess with fire because you're
[1:20:42] going to get burned. Um it's just a
matter of when. So,
[1:20:47] » two more quick things is um this isn't
necessarily for us today or the next
[1:20:51] couple years. This is the next
generation of firefighters after I
[1:20:54] retire.
>> So, that way we can continue. If we
[1:20:57] don't have volunteer firefighters, the
tax burden on the county is going to
[1:21:00] significantly increase because you're
going to have to start hiring full-time
[1:21:03] people and you can't just really do it
with one with the expectation that they
[1:21:07] have PTO and vacation. So, it's going to
be many. Uh and then the next piece is
[1:21:12] we we do have the $178,000 challenge to
to match in the future. Um the
[1:21:19] firefighters already started working on
that. We haven't uh accepted any funds
[1:21:23] yet uh because we didn't want to accept
anything before the commission would
[1:21:28] approve this, but we already have 61,000
of the 178,000 uh committed to to this.
[1:21:35] And just as of this morning, we sent out
another email if somebody's wanting to
[1:21:38] do it. Um, I sent out a some emails
yesterday. Um, we have a couple
[1:21:45] foundations that we're going to be
working with and some disaster funds
[1:21:48] that possibly could give us uh upwards
of another $100,000 in the coming weeks.
[1:21:54] Uh, and they're working hard. The
firefighters are for the first week in
[1:21:58] October is GiveFest with Heartland
Community Foundation. So, all the money
[1:22:01] that they raise, they could be getting
up dollar for dollar as well. Uh, so
[1:22:06] they're they're pretty excited about
this and I I hope the momentum goes for
[1:22:10] the several months so that way they can
hit that and blow that $178,000 cap out
[1:22:14] of the water and and then we're sitting
on excess funds that may be able to use
[1:22:19] to stockpile some of that equipment like
uh Mr. Worth was talking about that um
[1:22:25] give us funds into the future so that
way there is no burden on some of those
[1:22:29] small pieces of consumable goods that
would be need needed to train with.
[1:22:35] Okay.
[1:22:39] I I think it's a great great move.
So,
[1:22:44] » I will move to approve the acceptance of
the Patterson Family Foundation grant
[1:22:48] for the regional training facility
training equipment and to allocate the
[1:22:53] 10acre parcel at 1515 West 55th for the
purpose of the same facility.
[1:22:59] » Second.
>> Okay, we have a motion and a second. All
[1:23:04] those in favor say I.
>> I.
[1:23:06] » I. Motion approved.
[1:23:11] » Thank you for this opportunity. I know.
Um hopefully the firefighters blow your
[1:23:15] inboxes and cell phones and text
messages up that there's a lot of true
[1:23:19] excitement about this and I think it's
going to take us to a whole another
[1:23:22] level into the future and uh give me
more to do on my all the extra time that
[1:23:27] I have off already.
It's it's going to be neat. And um
[1:23:31] definitely they used to do uh at the at
Scaffa every year they used to bring the
[1:23:35] legislators in when we were out there in
March and they called it like fire ops
[1:23:40] 101 where they brought brought in uh the
senators reps and even county
[1:23:46] commissioners, city commissioners to go
through what it's actually like. And
[1:23:49] maybe if we get this fully built in the
next couple years, that might be
[1:23:52] something that we can do locally uh to
share it with the community of what's
[1:23:56] truly out there. That'd be great. I'd
just like to say, you know, I was on the
[1:24:01] on the department almost 15 20 years ago
and uh I had the opportunity to go on a
[1:24:07] trailer that has been discussed and it
was that training cuz within a week or
[1:24:12] two after that I was actually inside of
a a burning structure fire and it's the
[1:24:17] training that was received while in
those training facilities that really
[1:24:21] helped and really set the tone for one
on call and on scene. So, this facility,
[1:24:26] I think if we can expose more of our
volunteers and our our firefighters to
[1:24:31] these, uh, it makes for better outcomes
when they are challenged with that. So,
[1:24:37] I look forward to this.
[1:24:41] » If anybody knows of anybody to reach out
to for donations, I please let me know
[1:24:45] because we'll take them.
>> That give fest is a is a cool thing.
[1:24:50] You can double your money and it goes to
good causes.
[1:24:56] Okay.
Michael, you have anything?
[1:25:00] » I don't.
>> Okay. County administrator
[1:25:03] [clears throat] report. Uh we do have
one topic uh that Mr. Jeter and uh the
[1:25:10] county clerk Bobby's received a request
to from the rural water district number
[1:25:15] six to add real estate into the water
district that was uh removed from
[1:25:20] another water district. and we need to
schedule a public hearing to do so. And
[1:25:24] I don't know if Mr. Jeter wants to
explain any more of that, but
[1:25:27] essentially once the notice was
received, I believe on September 1st, we
[1:25:32] have one month or 30 days to hold a
public hearing as well as create notice
[1:25:36] to the hearing for that. And uh was
hoping that besides anything else Mr.
[1:25:41] Jeter may want to share if we could
schedule uh look at the your calendars
[1:25:44] today to see if we can get a meeting
scheduled towards the end of the month.
[1:25:49] Bill Jeter, county counselor. Uh, this
statutory process. Trio County Rural
[1:25:54] Water District abandon
earlier this year some territory in
[1:25:59] Ellis County and Ellis County Rural
Water District number six wants to
[1:26:05] attach that property to their property.
And the statutory process requires uh
[1:26:12] approval by the county commission
subject to a public hearing being held
[1:26:18] within 30 days of when that application
was filed with the county clerk's
[1:26:23] office.
Um and notice being provided at least 7
[1:26:28] days before the hearing.
And we're working on who we provide
[1:26:33] notice to. And so we need to schedule a
public hearing and a hearing date.
[1:26:45] » I think that the timing has created an
issue because we can't fit a county
[1:26:50] commission
already scheduled county commission
[1:26:53] meeting within that time frame.
>> Is that right, Bobby? So we need to have
[1:27:00] a special date,
>> right? because the next commission
[1:27:02] meeting is going to be October past the
30 days that we are required to have it
[1:27:07] but it was too late to get it scheduled
for next week since I have to give a
[1:27:11] 7-day notice.
[1:27:17] So,
>> so the week of like the 21st through 20
[1:27:20] 25th, the week the following week, the
28th through that first week, I'm in I'm
[1:27:25] in Atlanta, so I I mean, you don't have
to have all three commissioners, but I
[1:27:30] would not be able to attend a a meeting
that week.
[1:27:32] » Takes all three. Correct.
>> Uh just a majority vote. So, it take two
[1:27:38] of you.
>> Yeah.
[1:27:40] » Are you available on the week of the
21st through
[1:27:43] » Yeah, that week I'm
>> okay. Available.
[1:27:45] » Okay. pretty much anytime.
>> I'm available then as well. So,
[1:27:50] » Commissioner Younger.
>> Yeah.
[1:27:52] » Do the 22nd. Just do it.
>> Do the the 22nd the fourth Tuesday.
[1:27:57] » Yep. That goes with the clerk. And
>> that's good.
[1:28:00] » At what time?
>> 8:30.
[1:28:05] » That works for me. Just
>> I'm fine with that. Yes.
[1:28:08] » So 21st.
>> We'll do the 22nd the fourth. The fourth
[1:28:11] Tuesday.
>> Okay.
[1:28:13] » Yes. That works for my calendar. Uh, Mr.
Cheater, I just want to make sure that I
[1:28:17] do not need to publish anything correct.
I just need to make sure I get the
[1:28:22] notice of hearing out to all affected
parties.
[1:28:25] » I'll have to re-review that statute, but
I think it only called for providing
[1:28:30] written notice.
>> Okay. to
[1:28:34] rural water district number six and
>> right I did get all [clears throat]
[1:28:38] their addresses the uh owners of the
property
[1:28:41] » and then to the chief water engineer
>> and the chief engineer of the state
[1:28:45] water resource
>> that's all I read but like I said I just
[1:28:48] want to make sure that I
>> I'll reconfirm that
[1:28:50] » okay thank you
>> I guess can I ask the question why
[1:28:54] they're giving this territory up
>> they already gave it up but I have no
[1:29:00] that's that's trial county rural water
district.
[1:29:03] » So, Trio County gave it up and now Ellis
County Rural Water District number six
[1:29:08] wants to attach it to their property.
>> Okay. I thought it was something that
[1:29:12] they just had done here. Yeah. Recently,
but Okay.
[1:29:16] » Okay.
So, it'll be September 22nd at 8:30 in
[1:29:21] the morning.
>> Okay.
[1:29:27] » Okay. County Commission reports.
I have none.
[1:29:33] » I don't have anything either.
>> Okay.
[1:29:36] » Okay. I guess the only thing I have is I
have nothing. Um but I would, you know,
[1:29:43] like to make the comment that
um how our hiring process has been going
[1:29:50] on. So, you know, how the wage study was
done and how many applicants we're
[1:29:55] getting. Um, from when I first became
commission, it was like you'd get two or
[1:29:59] three and now we're getting dozens. And
um, which is nice, which comes back to
[1:30:04] uh, Mr. Worst's comment that, you know,
um, that pay scale is what brings a lot
[1:30:10] of people in and and good quality
people, which we've we've got. So,
[1:30:16] that's all I have and we have one
executive session.
[1:30:21] » Okay. Uh, at this time I'll move the
board of county commissioners recess to
[1:30:26] executive session for 20 minutes under
the following exception to the Kansas
[1:30:30] Open Meetings Act pursuant to attorney
client privilege exception. The subject
[1:30:35] to be discussed during the during the
executive session is solar litigation.
[1:30:41] Open session will resume at 10:15 in the
commission chambers. Those in attendance
[1:30:48] in addition to the board of county
commissioners are Bobby Dryling, Bill
[1:30:51] Jeter, and Darren Meyers.
>> Second.
[1:30:55] » Okay, we have a motion and a second. All
those in favor say I.
[1:30:58] » I.
>> I.
[1:31:04] [music]
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[1:31:17] » [music]
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[1:31:42] » Everybody
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[1:31:57] [music]
[1:32:08] go.
[1:32:20] Heat. Heat.
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[1:33:37] » Nat. Heat.
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[1:33:51] Heat.
[music]
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[1:34:43] » Heat. Heat.
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[1:35:01] » Hey, [music]
[1:35:11] [music]
[1:35:16] hey, hey. [music]
Heat. Heat.
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[1:35:38] Heat. Heat. [music]
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[1:36:31] » Heat. Heat.
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[1:37:20] » Heat. Heat.
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[1:38:16] » Heat. Heat. [music]
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[1:38:38] Heat. Heat.
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[1:39:00] Heat. Heat. N.
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[1:39:25] » [music]
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[1:39:40] » Heat.
Heat.
[1:39:47] Heat. Heat.
[music]
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[1:40:11] » [music]
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[1:40:24] [music]
[1:40:32] » Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat.
[1:40:37] » [music]
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[1:41:00] [music]
[1:41:04] » Heat.
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[1:41:32] » Heat. Heat.
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[1:43:02] » Heat. Heat.
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[1:43:27] » Hey, [music]
[1:43:32] hey, hey.
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[1:44:00] » Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [music]
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[1:44:42] » Heat. Heat. [music]
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[1:47:19] » Heat. Heat. Heat. [music]
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[1:48:10] » Heat. Heat. Heat.
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[1:48:38] Heat. Heat.
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[1:49:28] » Heat.
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[1:49:48] Heat. Heat.
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[1:51:17] » Heat.
Heat.
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[1:52:08] » Heat. Heat.
[music]
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>> Heat.
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[1:53:47] Heat.
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[1:54:15] » No uh decisions were made and we will
adjourn at 10:18.
[1:54:23] » [music]
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[1:54:38] » Heat. Heat.
[music]
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[1:55:14] » Heat.