[0:00] All right, we are back.
Most of you didn't know we were here
[0:04] yesterday.
We are back. Um, and I'm going to call
[0:09] to order Ford County Commission meeting
for September 8th, 2026. This is meeting
[0:13] number 2026-33.
[0:16] Uh, as usual, we will begin with a
prayer and a pledge of allegiance.
[0:20] Today, we are led by Pastor Margarite
Frell.
[0:28] Lord Jesus, Lord, we thank you for the
opportunity to be here. Lord, we thank
[0:31] you for each one here today, Lord. Lord,
we stand in the need. Lord, bless this
[0:34] meeting to be what you have it to be,
Lord. In the name of Jesus, Lord, in
[0:38] Jesus name. Amen.
>> Amen.
[0:43] To the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for it
[0:48] stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
[0:53] for all.
Thank you very much.
[0:56] » Yes.
[1:02] » Okay. We will move to our consent
agenda. We have meeting minutes for
[1:08] meeting 2026-30
and meeting 2026-31.
[1:15] Uh we also have
our credit card statements.
[1:22] And I make a motion to approve the
consent agenda.
[1:26] » I'll second that.
>> We have a motion and a second. Any
[1:30] further discussion?
[1:34] » All those in favor?
>> I.
[1:39] » Okay. We have approval for claims for
payment uh totaling 2,531,1958.
[1:50] » Mr. Mr. Chairman, I'd make a motion to
approve the claims as presented.
[1:55] » Second.
>> With a motion and a second. Any further
[1:59] discussion?
>> All those in favor?
[2:03] » I
>> I
[2:07] » Okay, we are to open public comment. Uh
there will be a limit to five minutes
[2:11] per individual and 15 minutes per topic.
Final action may be deferred until the
[2:16] next county commission meeting unless an
emergency situation does exist.
[2:22] The microphone is open. Feel free to
come forward.
[2:35] » Afternoon.
>> Afternoon.
[2:40] » My name Larry Howard. I moved to Fort
County in 1975 with United Park Service
[2:49] as a delivery driver
who I stayed with for 37 years until I
[2:55] retired.
I have
[3:00] never attended a commission.
I really had no idea what you did except
[3:08] for road development,
you know, and bridge development, things
[3:14] like that. And that's about as far as it
went with me. I knew you were involved
[3:18] in
EMS shop, sheriff's office,
[3:24] the expo,
but I just never took you seriously ever
[3:32] until, you know, the situation has come
up with the death and
[3:38] all this. And then I became aware that
you involved a lot more than I ever
[3:43] anticipated.
And
[3:48] My immediate area of concern is
the transparency
[3:55] of Ford County Commission to his
constituents
[3:59] by having meetings on a weekday, middle
of the afternoon
[4:05] where the general public generally
excluded
[4:09] their work.
Whereas city commission is extremely
[4:14] transparent and
encourages public participation. It
[4:19] seems that
you all just by
[4:25] the time setting up your meetings
discourage public
[4:31] being involved with what you're doing
and it just raised questions in my mind
[4:39] as to why
it's set that way. I have asked several
[4:44] people and they said, "Oh, it's been
that way as long as I can remember."
[4:47] Well,
still it seems like you're excluding the
[4:53] public from your activities
and you don't advertise. you know,
[5:00] state your positions
to general public as far as the data
[5:06] centers,
the battery storage and all that
[5:12] until
the last few weeks when all this came up
[5:17] and people started speaking out.
95% of the entire county had no idea
[5:25] that data centers were even an issue in
Ford County until we found out. I guess
[5:32] there's already one in North Ford and
there's one already being developed
[5:38] around Spearville and
apparently there's another one being
[5:43] considered for county
and I just wondered why.
[5:51] Nobody seems to know.
It just seems like
[5:58] you're not being
transparent with us. And I think we
[6:03] deserve that.
[6:10] And that's basically what I came to say.
I would like to see become more involved
[6:17] with the citizens of For County.
and inform them more what you're up to
[6:27] instead of finding out through little
blocks in the public notices in the
[6:32] paper. And since we don't have reporters
at the Globe to cover
[6:38] or television station to cover like we
used to.
[6:44] Seems like you guys are sort of working
in secrecy
[6:48] and that concerns me.
That's all I have to say. Okay. Can I
[6:57] can I retort before you walk away?
[7:06] » What's that?
>> I just wanted to address a couple of
[7:07] your things.
>> Yes.
[7:09] » Yeah, absolutely.
[7:13] We we have been advertising.
>> Yeah.
[7:16] » Absolutely.
As much as we possibly can on social
[7:20] media. Uh we've had multiple open forums
with attendance of 3 to 500 people. Um
[7:30] beyond that I I don't know what what
more you want us to do.
[7:33] » Okay. Well, like I say, I've been very
ignorant of everything and I only know
[7:42] what I have seen and suspected.
>> So, that's why I bring it up.
[7:49] » I was going to I was going to address
your comment about the day like the
[7:53] timing of our meetings. Yesterday, we
had a meeting and it's it's a day nobody
[7:58] works, right? But we worked, right?
because it's a it's a disclosed meeting
[8:01] that was long time ago in in the works.
We didn't realize it was going to fall
[8:05] into a holiday, but we worked we had one
person show up to our meeting. So,
[8:09] there's not people that are coming in
masses to attend these. Even the city
[8:13] meeting that's at night only had like
three people there in the audience. But
[8:18] what I can tell you is when I first got
on the commission, we met at 8:30 in the
[8:21] morning. and we would meet to do
business during the working business day
[8:26] because the people that are in this room
next to you are people that are actually
[8:29] physically working on the clock. So, we
tried getting the business done and
[8:33] addressed by the 5:00 time frame. We
moved it to the 3:30 in the afternoon,
[8:37] 3:00 if there's a work session, maybe
2:00 2:30
[8:41] so that people that actually work within
the county can still handle that work.
[8:45] So, it's it's a workload thing. This is
more of a active community county
[8:51] facility if that makes sense.
>> We go first. A lot of times the city's
[8:55] in our meeting. A lot of times they come
and they address us from various forms
[8:59] of their departments. Whether it's the
museum, whether it's why not dodge,
[9:02] whether it's the city administrator,
they'll actually be in the attendance
[9:06] with us. So they'll ask us to go first.
Then we actually make our motions. They
[9:10] go second. So that's why theirs is later
at night. Just like the community
[9:14] college will come to our meetings.
they'll we'll go first, they'll then go
[9:17] after us. The school district does the
exact same thing. So, it's kind of like
[9:21] an honor system, if that makes sense.
That's kind of how the the community
[9:25] works together because if we all win at
the exact same time, if you wanted to
[9:28] address us and you want to address the
city, it just it's too much. So, that's
[9:32] that's where the timing kind of moved.
>> Okay. Have you ever considered evening
[9:38] meetings?
>> We've had evening meetings. We we've
[9:41] there are certain times of the year
where we do different meetings, but we
[9:44] have had evening meetings.
>> Okay.
[9:46] » Zoning board. We we have several groups
that are in front of us too that give us
[9:51] advice, give us um
>> advisory boards.
[9:55] » Advisory boards and and those meetings
are at different times. So, we have to
[10:00] we have to like jock. Ours is kind of
the one that sets the tone of the rest
[10:03] if that makes sense.
>> Okay. I'll carry you forward.
[10:08] » Yeah. I I think the public is
misunderstanding that, but I also think
[10:11] there's always been a big push for that.
Um, and even when we've had meetings at
[10:15] night or even yesterday when there is
nobody working, we're still have having
[10:20] a meeting. We have one person in
attendance.
[10:22] » So when you talk about social media, are
you talking about Facebook or
[10:29] what? Because I don't ever see anything.
[10:35] » Okay. Yeah. So, you probably have to
follow the Ford County
[10:39] » Ford County
>> Facebook page.
[10:41] » Okay.
>> Yeah, we Yeah, do that because we we all
[10:46] meetings on there. Everything gets
advertised on there. There's weather
[10:49] alerts. There's
>> everything.
[10:51] » Um
>> uh and if you'd ever like to come meet
[10:54] in one-on-one, we we do that as well.
Lots of times. We meet with public
[10:59] groups. I met with a group of 15 people
a couple weeks ago. I met with a group
[11:04] of two people the other day. I've met
one-on-one with a few along with our
[11:08] county administrators. Um, again, we we
try to be the accusation of lacking
[11:13] transparency, I think, missed a little
bit with this group, but we we try to do
[11:17] the best that we can and
>> but I don't mean to be throwing
[11:22] accusations or anything. Like I said,
I've just been an ignorant for county
[11:28] resident 51 years.
>> It's okay.
[11:31] » Well, and Mr. Howard, if I could if I
could ask a question and I ask it in um
[11:40] in the spirit that I'd just like you to
consider it. I don't need an answer to
[11:43] it or anything like that, but um
but we've we've sat on this side and
[11:50] particularly now with with the data
center issue that has really been
[11:55] forefront.
We've had a lot of a lot of very similar
[12:00] accusations about you're not being
transparent, you're not you're not
[12:04] informing the public, you're not uh
you're not doing everything that needs
[12:09] to be done so that all of us are are
informed and
[12:14] and to your point where you said, you
know, you've really not been very
[12:18] involved for 51 years that you've been
here.
[12:22] At what point
is it that the public is responsible to
[12:28] find the information they want? Okay.
And that's that's something that I've
[12:34] tried to tried to address during this
too is it's we as a commission or we as
[12:42] individual commissioners
cannot come and feed the public with a
[12:46] fire hose about all the information that
we have in order to make sure that
[12:50] everybody's informed. It's there there
is a certain responsibility of the
[12:55] public to come and seek the information
that they want. So that there's there's
[13:01] a point where we need to be able to get
together and and that transfer of ideas
[13:06] and that transfer of information happens
and there's responsibilities on both
[13:10] sides of that equation. So
>> Oh, one other thing I've heard about
[13:16] these data centers is that there's a
nondisclosure
[13:20] agreement
you and the developer is that something
[13:25] » that's inaccurate. I have not signed any
non-disclosure agreements. Okay, all my
[13:30] questions are answered.
>> Thank you.
[13:34] » If you if you do want more information,
feel free to email and and we can set up
[13:39] any appointment here. You can come in
the offices and and we can sit down and
[13:42] talk.
>> I've got a list of all your emails now
[13:45] on my phone. So,
>> well, I would even encourage going on
[13:48] the for county website. You can get
signed up to where you'll get all of our
[13:52] information of every agenda coming to
you. So you can see if there's something
[13:55] on there that you would like to
participate in and maybe come listen. I
[13:59] mean that's that's blasted out to I
don't know how many people you send that
[14:02] to a week.
>> Yeah. 200 something.
[14:05] » Yeah. So I mean that's just something
the clerk sends out. Yeah. I mean that's
[14:09] a lot of the reoccurring people
throughout the year that we see.
[14:12] » How do I do that?
>> Just send me something in writing. You
[14:15] can email me. Say you would like to
receive the agendas.
[14:18] » Yeah.
>> Okay. You have the clerk's here to help.
[14:21] I know our administration team, Ben's
right behind you, getting ready to write
[14:24] something down. Tanda will definitely
help you out as well. I mean, we we
[14:29] don't want to exclude anybody in the
public that wants to know.
[14:32] » We want you to know.
>> Truly appreciate.
[14:35] » Yeah.
>> Thank you. Appreciate it.
[14:39] » Thank you, sir.
[14:43] Boy, that was tough.
[14:50] » Okay. Anybody else?
>> Okay. Thank you.
[14:59] » All right. We will move on to legal
counsel.
[15:10] » Good afternoon.
>> Welcome.
[15:14] Okay, we have
we have a quick view. Uh, a couple of
[15:20] things. Um,
Angela is the Port County Health
[15:25] Officer. She appointed by the
commissioner to be the Port County
[15:31] Health Officer.
And
[15:35] to do that, she must have a medical
doctor or dentist who is supporting her
[15:41] and consult with her and
you can list all the different things
[15:47] they do.
[15:53] » Basically, it's pretty much the
foundation of all of our operations from
[15:58] client services, hands on to billing for
services.
[16:03] Just as a nutshell,
>> so we learned over the weekend that we
[16:08] or late last week that we have an
opening as far as the consult
[16:13] for county health officer. So here today
to propose
[16:18] uh entering into an agreement with Dr.
Cody
[16:22] to serve as consultant to the
county health officer. So you have
[16:28] before you a consulting agreement with
Dr.
[16:32] and also a resolution which is 2026 27.
[16:52] We apologize for adding so late in the
game, but we learned this weekend
[17:00] function. We really need to have a
consulting person.
[17:09] » Who was our previous consultant manager?
>> That's what I was thinking. So, okay.
[17:17] » Do you have any questions?
>> Have you had a dentist before? I have
[17:22] not
>> I just really learned about that. I
[17:26] didn't even realize that it's an option.
>> Yeah.
[17:32] » 100,000
doctor
[17:40] » that I'm aware of.
>> Yeah.
[17:44] » Dr. Early is
>> she's an MD with family practice.
[17:51] Okay. Not a dentist.
>> Okay.
[17:58] And
[18:02] » Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry. I will let you
say what you say.
[18:07] » Mr. Chairman, I would make a motion to
approve the agreement
[18:12] and adopt resolution 2026 27 as
presented.
[18:17] » I will second that. And with the motion
a second. Any further discussion?
[18:23] All those in favor? I
>> I
[18:27] with regard to consulting agreement.
We need to have consulting agreement.
[18:33] You'll see in there
[18:37] going to be paid Dr. That's a that's a
math that's been there for a long time
[18:41] and probably something that we're going
to need to revisit with her
[18:46] in the near future to make it more.
>> Yeah.
[18:54] » Is this uh something that renews
annually or
[18:59] » it it stays in place but either party
can terminate for 30 days.
[19:04] » Okay. I didn't know if there was a a
regular term that that we would be
[19:10] coming to the end of where we can
readress that.
[19:13] » Not with this.
>> Okay. Is this something we do at budget
[19:16] time or is this just something that does
this come out of your budget? I assume.
[19:20] Yeah.
>> And I I do work with it at budget time,
[19:23] but I don't know that I'm going to have
that luxury with the circumstance. Okay.
[19:28] To wait until that.
[19:32] » Have you been using her to date? like if
you leaned on her.
[19:35] » Yeah.
>> Um this just today.
[19:37] » Okay.
>> Just started.
[19:46] » Everything just kind of transpired
Friday afternoon. Okay. Right now. So,
[19:50] » okay.
[19:54] » Is is this something you'll bring back
to us for a budget item? Is that
[19:59] » Yes.
>> Or is it just change?
[20:00] » We just haven't had an opportunity to
really visit
[20:04] expressed.
>> This was emergency. Get somebody in
[20:07] place so we can operate.
[20:16] » Okay.
>> And and all the duties and I I'll go
[20:19] through everything. We just have not had
the time to sit down and do that yet,
[20:24] but we will.
>> Okay.
[20:32] » Appreciate it.
Thank you.
[20:40] » You're up next.
>> Yeah.
[20:43] » We will take it to our county
administrator's report.
[20:45] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> Good afternoon.
[20:49] » Welcome.
>> Thank you. Um I come before you um right
[20:53] now to see
to seek approval to purchase flu vaccine
[21:00] for this upcoming year. Not to exceed
$40,000 in total. There will be
[21:06] different manufacturers that we were
purchased from, but the the whole to
[21:13] all of it will not exceed 30,000.
>> Angela,
[21:16] » yep.
>> Would you tap that um
[21:20] button on the other side?
>> Yeah. I didn't I see people out here
[21:24] straining to hear what you're saying and
I'm don't think we're on. I think so.
[21:33] Is that better?
>> I don't think the light is on.
[21:38] » Oh, the light's green.
>> The light.
[21:39] » Oh, there it is. Okay.
>> Thank you. Sorry about that.
[21:43] » Sorry.
>> Oh, yeah. I can hear you.
[21:46] » I think Are we okay?
>> All right. First.
[21:49] » Okay. Yes. Second. I'm out here. I would
like permission to purchase flu vaccine
[21:55] for this coming flu season not to exceed
$40,000
[22:01] and we will be purchasing from various
manufacturers a few of them but the
[22:06] total and all the purchases will not
exceed the $40,000
[22:16] and that would include all of our
highdose flu vaccine for 65 five and
[22:22] older flu mist for the ones who don't
tolerate the injection and you know the
[22:27] injection. So,
[22:30] Mr. Chairman, I'd make a motion to
approve the purchase of the flu vaccine
[22:34] for the 2026 season.
[22:42] I'll second
with a motion and a second. Any further
[22:46] discussion?
[22:50] All those in favor?
>> I.
[22:53] » Thank you.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Andrew.
[22:56] » Next up, we have IT Director Matthew.
[23:05] » Hey, gentlemen.
Uh we are at the uh at the time frame to
[23:11] do another network replacement. Um right
now the uh item before you guys is going
[23:18] to be a refreshing of our existing
firewalls that we have in place. Um this
[23:23] is a item that is uh it's
covered under the NASPO contract with
[23:29] Cisco in the state of Kansas. Um and
with HPS being our primary provider for
[23:36] all of our networking equipment. Um this
will replace the u the items the the
[23:40] primary firewalls and our secondary
firewalls for our KDI connections. Um
[23:47] the total amount with the service fees
and for the project setup is going to be
[23:52] $32,719.81.
[23:56] Um this is under my capital improvement
budgeting right now.
[24:13] Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to approve
the upgrade in invoices presented.
[24:18] I'll second that
[24:22] with a motion and a second. Any further
discussion?
[24:29] » All those in favor? I
>> Thank you, gentlemen.
[24:32] » Thank you.
[24:35] Next two items will be for county clerk
Debbie Cox. First topic will be uh
[24:39] outdated ballot disposal. Second one in
regards to camp.
[24:44] » Gentlemen, I am requesting that you
approve us to destroy the ballots for
[24:49] the November 24 election and the
November 25 election. By statute, we
[24:54] keep the evenar balance, which is the 24
ballots for 22 months, the odd year,
[25:00] which is a city and county or local city
elections for 6 months. So, it is time
[25:05] to distort both of those. Um, and I
request that you appoint Nicole Nagel,
[25:11] Republican, and Wayen Falls, Democrat,
to witness the procedure.
[25:22] » Mr. Mr. Chairman, I'd make a motion to
approve the request for the outdated
[25:26] ballot disposal of years 2024 and 2025
general election ballots and the
[25:31] appointment of Nicole Nagel and
Wayen Boltz as witnesses to the process.
[25:43] I will second
with a motion and a second. Any further
[25:47] discussion?
All those in favor? I
[25:54] » the second one is setting the date for
the canvas of the November election. Um
[25:59] I am asking either um Tuesday, November
10th or Thursday, November 12th. We are
[26:05] closed on November 11th for Veterans
Day. Um and it will have to be in the
[26:11] morning. The hours are stated in in the
statute.
[26:18] » You said 12th or 13th. um the 10th or
the 12th.
[26:23] » I'm sorry.
>> Tuesday the 10th or Thursday the 12th.
[26:26] We do have to audit before and that has
to be once we audit the state has to
[26:30] approve our audit before we can have a
campus and we'll be auditing that
[26:34] Thursday before the state time. I think
I can make you hear those word.
[26:39] » Sam,
[26:44] you got any credits? Tuition
>> Tuesday or Wednesday?
[26:50] » Tuesday or Thursday?
>> Tuesday or Thursday? I'm sorry.
[26:52] » No, Wednesday. We're closed.
[26:58] » I think Thursday.
[27:04] And is there a time you said you need to
make?
[27:06] » It has to be before I believe 10:30 in
the morning. So 9:00. Does that work for
[27:12] you?
>> Yeah.
[27:17] » What was the time? I'm sorry.
>> 9:00.
[27:22] » So, Mr. Chairman, I'd make a motion to
set the date for the canvas the votes of
[27:27] the November 3rd election
as Thursday, November 12th at 9:00 a.m.
[27:35] Second
with motion and second. Any further
[27:38] discussion?
[27:41] » All those in favor? I
>> thank you.
[27:48] » Okay, next up we have HR director
Vanessa.
[27:58] Good afternoon.
[28:01] » Um, so in 2023, Ford County invested
approximately 45,000 to participate in
[28:08] the legend paro captive stock loss
program formally administered through.
[28:15] Uh, now that the county has exited the
program, it's eligible to receive the
[28:19] return of its investment. So the
agreement uh that you have before you
[28:24] authorizes us to receive those funds and
the agreement has been reviewed and
[28:30] approved by legal counsel.
[28:44] » Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to
approve the agreement and refund as
[28:48] presented.
I'll second that
[28:56] » with a motion and a second. Any further
discussion?
[29:01] » All those in favor?
>> I I
[29:05] » Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
[29:09] » Next two items will be for Santa Fe
Trail Director.
[29:15] » Welcome.
So, um, as you're aware, we are fully
[29:20] funded with grants through the
Department of Corrections. Um, so we
[29:24] work on a fiscal year instead of a
calendar year. So, because our budgets
[29:28] already been submitted for FY27 due to
the pay adjustments with the
[29:36] pay plan, um, we needed to do an overall
budget revision for both our adult
[29:41] services and our juvenile services.
So I sent those to you as well along
[29:49] with a summary on the changes
by our advisor.
[29:56] So we come before
five counties in our district that
[30:12] they probably wouldn't take it too well
table.
[30:19] I'm just trying to see the font.
>> I know. I'm sorry.
[30:24] » Without embarrassing myself.
>> You want blue better?
[30:28] » No. Size.
>> Yeah. I'm not going to bring out my
[30:33] phone and zoom in in front of all you
people.
[30:38] » This ruler got a magnifying glass on it.
[30:47] Yeah.
[31:04] » Can you give us the highlight of what
the difference was? So just because of
[31:09] the increase in wages for staff um it
resulted in approximately 21,000
[31:19] of an increase on the juvenile side and
about 20,000 on the adult side. So, we
[31:25] just had to make some adjustments and
some other line items in our budget to
[31:32] accommodate the increase in our salaries
and benefits line item.
[31:46] » Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to approve
the revised budget as presented.
[31:54] I'll second that.
[31:57] » Both or just adult?
>> It's just a
[32:02] » Yeah. Oh, yeah. I just
>> two separate
[32:07] » with a motion and a second. Any further
discussion?
[32:12] When you when you readjust it, are you
taking a hit anywhere important? Super
[32:18] important.
>> Nothing that we can't manage.
[32:24] All right, we'll take it to vote. All
those in favor? I
[32:30] » Mr. Chairman, I'd make a motion to
approve the revised budget for the
[32:33] juvenile services as presented.
>> I'll second that one, too.
[32:40] » With a motion and a second. Any further
discussion?
[32:44] All those in favor? I
>> Thank you. Thank you, Sha.
[32:54] Next up we have John Hobby.
[33:06] » I'm sorry you lurking back there.
>> Yeah, hide in the back.
[33:09] » You brought people with you.
>> I did.
[33:11] » You're not bringing them up.
[33:19] » Look at this.
Look at this.
[33:22] » She's being confident.
[33:28] » Love it.
>> On we grow.
[33:32] » This is Maline. She's in our office.
>> She's been working on designing the 113
[33:38] road foundation project going north of
Highway 50, which is talking about this
[33:43] before. Uh we did a field chair review
of the preliminary plans today. question
[33:47] came up see the road in person and build
the plans with rope bridge and myself
[33:53] look at some of the details of the
project and talk about
[33:57] those details the budget based on
current construction dollars our
[34:01] budget's looking good we're still going
to be depending on bid looking within
[34:05] that $3 million range that we talked
about for cost um so we'll look finalize
[34:11] those plans here in the next two to
three months and put out the bids this
[34:14] winter for construction in 2027. Go
ahead with that project.
[34:21] Uh we are intending to like I did on
Juul Road close the road during this
[34:26] process. We're going to rip up the
entire road. Uh I thought it would work
[34:29] pretty well um on Juul Road. Somebody
else remember differently to close one
[34:34] mile at a time and just kind of advance
it the enclosure. Uh it's been three
[34:38] miles in this case uh from Highway 50 to
Garnett Road. So, we'll start at Highway
[34:44] 50 and close off that first mile. Tell
the contractor they still have to allow
[34:49] access. We know there is a business
right there on Highway 50 and there are
[34:52] a couple homes going north.
>> Yeah.
[34:54] » So, they'll have to provide access.
>> And is that business expanding?
[34:58] » I'm not sure about it, but it looks like
they're working on
[35:02] » Last thing we heard was they're adding
on to the parking lot in the back to add
[35:05] more trucks.
>> So, that might be something to think
[35:08] about as you bring that access forward.
>> Yeah, for me. Uh so one thing we talked
[35:12] about is uh the road is in pretty poor
condition right up the edge of highway.
[35:18] Uh and with the reclaiming it that
process is kind of a train of equipment
[35:24] which is not going to be real great to
be one on the highway. So we actually
[35:26] talk about reconstructing say like the
first 250 ft
[35:31] » from the highway north. So we don't have
all that reclaiming equipment on the
[35:35] highway itself. So we would tear
everything down and build more
[35:39] traditionally just the first 250 or so
feet and then reclaim from there on just
[35:45] that way next time we have to have
equipment out on the highway reclaim
[35:48] your machine and your
packing equipment that kind of stuff
[35:54] reclaimed rehab reclaim where you have
your your cement you have the water
[35:57] truck and it's it's kind of long train
of equipment right there and they
[36:01] usually want to start and go north from
from the beginning.
[36:05] So that be a little bit of a reition to
the plans they have now. Shouldn't
[36:10] really change the cost, but it'll just
be
[36:12] » staging.
>> More like staging.
[36:15] » Yeah. It's kind of a phase one, phase
two, but I think it be safer to not have
[36:20] much power on the highway.
>> Yeah.
[36:22] » Super busy high
back.
[36:26] » Is that Is that Would you normally start
on the north and work your way south?
[36:30] » Well, you could do it either way. Um, I
think in this case we set the project up
[36:35] to go south to north up to the garnet
road.
[36:38] » Okay,
>> but if you come the other way around
[36:40] either way, you're going to have to
bring that equipment across the highway
[36:43] one way or the other starting there or
finishing anyway.
[36:46] » Okay,
>> it's pretty slow moving stuff.
[36:52] So, we will look to bid that project
like I said this winter around November,
[36:56] December and start construction in the
summer of 2027.
[37:02] Um, next month I've been planning to
bring an engineering design agreement on
[37:07] the the first two segments of the cap
improvement list that we developed over
[37:12] the last couple of months. I have listed
there. There's two segments. There's
[37:16] actually two groups I should say of
segments. Five different segments all
[37:20] together. The first group was 132 road
from Garnet to Juel and then 132 road
[37:27] from Red to Primrose.
to reclaim existing asphalt roads on
[37:32] both those and put them back to asphalt
again. And then the second group which
[37:37] we may end up wanting to split into two
different groups itself just because of
[37:41] cost would be 110 road from Garnett to
Denim and then 126 road from Garnett up
[37:49] to the town of Spearville and 126 road
down Highway 400.
[37:56] go down by the feed lot makes it west.
[38:03] So the five segments combined are pretty
sizable cost
[38:09] budget year wise if you do do it with
two groups we made that second group.
[38:17] So they're looking at 2028, 2029,
possibly 2030,
[38:22] three years, three, four years out.
[38:28] Couple updates on active projects.
Pioneer Creek wind. The only update is
[38:33] things are sort of just going like gate
busters out there building turppins. The
[38:38] contractors are working on the
electrical substation and the electrical
[38:42] switch yard. Pretty much all passes of
the tower. Construction is still
[38:46] underway.
They're still actively working on the
[38:50] operation maintenance facility
[38:54] on Marshall Road. It's still projecting
construction to be complet by the first
[38:59] of the year.
Way I understand foundations. Their goal
[39:03] was to have the concrete foundations
done like in October. So that concluded
[39:09] a lot of the dirt work for building
street roads to those turbines as well
[39:13] as the concrete trucks running down the
roads to
[39:17] concrete foundations. That would
eliminate quite a lot of traffic.
[39:27] Um active projects going down the bottom
on the first page of my list. bridge off
[39:32] system 101
which was the three span concrete bridge
[39:36] that we're replacing with a single span
steel beam construction of the bridge
[39:40] the new bridge itself is complete. Uh
the surveyors were out there staking
[39:46] the road alignment today and our
contractor supposed to be moving in
[39:50] within the next day or two to start
doing the final dirt grading building up
[39:54] the road bed and grading the ditches.
Installation of the guardrail on the
[40:00] bridge will be completed right after
that and then finally seating grass
[40:05] seating and control its right after
that. So the project contractor right
[40:09] now is anticipating be 100% done by the
end of next week.
[40:14] things moving along there
[40:21] off to bridge 31 which is the bridge of
Duck Creek on low 14 road northeast of D
[40:27] City. We are planning to put in a cost
share application to KOT and those
[40:33] applications are due in about two weeks.
is working on getting that application
[40:37] put together and get turned in. See if
we can get some additional funding from
[40:40] outside the county to help with that
project.
[40:45] Depending on the outcome of that, the
county can choose to go ahead if if they
[40:50] do get the cost share with the cost
share or choose to hold off and try to
[40:55] get cost share money in the future.
Um FAS bridge 220. This is the deck
[41:02] repair on the Coronado Bridge. Uh
they're on 117 road south of 400. So the
[41:08] contractor has finished patching the
west half of the bridge or they will
[41:13] finish this week and then we intend to
switch traffic so they can start on the
[41:18] east side of the bridge right after that
presumably next week. Once they finish
[41:23] passing both sides they intend to apply
the sealant. So we're looking at
[41:27] probably early November or something
like that for application of the
[41:32] sealant. Uh so the commissioners do know
that once we talked about this before we
[41:37] start tap hammering on bridge that's got
deteriorated concrete that vibration can
[41:42] loosen up things that we thought were
solid and that seemed to be the case
[41:45] that we ended up having to do more
patching on that first side than
[41:49] anticipated.
If the second aside turns out the same
[41:54] way that potentially about an $80,000
overrun for the project
[42:00] says that the funding is
can handle that overrun if that's the
[42:04] way it goes. We're optimistic that the
east side does not look to be as detered
[42:09] as bad. So the overrun percentage wise
hope would be less on the east side than
[42:14] the first half. We'll just have to see
out there. This bridge hasn't been
[42:19] rehabed since its original construction.
So, I said once they started jackhammer,
[42:25] we have been loosening things up for
summer.
[42:29] Things are tracking along. So, project
completion should be around
[42:33] Thanksgiving. So, that time frame.
[42:41] Next thing I had on my list down here
towards the bottom of this solar forge
[42:47] data center planning and zoning district
noting that had authorized construction
[42:53] of the data hole data that they that's
the building from the data center
[42:58] itself. There's a second building that
they're calling the administrator
[43:01] building
plans for that is coming in the near
[43:06] future they tell us. We don't have a
solid date of solid construction at this
[43:10] time
of the project
[43:15] safe streets and roads for all project.
The county all five of the counties I
[43:20] should say had involvement project
hosting public meetings about a month
[43:25] ago.
We also had a website set up so people
[43:29] could put in their uh comments through
the website related on the road networks
[43:35] of the counties. I'm not sure if that
website's still open or not. I mean,
[43:39] it's probably shut down by now.
I do apologies.
[43:46] But the goal is then to have the final
plan, safety action plan completed by
[43:50] the end of the year. And the goal of
that is to identify areas of
[43:55] improvement. said when hopefully
Congress enacts another highway
[44:01] transportation bill
20 billion 50th anniversary
[44:09] that include construction dollars for
constructing those projects that
[44:14] typically take the plan and use that to
apply for construction in the future.
[44:19] Congress passes that bill.
[44:24] Congress is saying that they do intend
to pass a bill that will include safe
[44:27] streets for all some plan pass.
>> Do you probably don't know this, but off
[44:34] the top of your head, do you know how
many submissions that they got through
[44:36] that website total?
>> I do not.
[44:39] » 500,000.
>> I was
[44:44] perfect.
>> No, that's a good question. I'll ask
[44:47] that question.
Just curious what kind of traffic it
[44:53] generated with five counties involved.
[45:06] And I would anticipate that information
to be in the report. So they ought to
[45:10] have that information.
[45:14] The railroad crossing across Gardet is
another one that we actively pursuing
[45:20] that got anything back from Ka since
middle of July. They said they were
[45:24] working with the railroad to get that
project going again. They were checking
[45:29] with the railroad to see if they were
going to do on-site meeting and I not
[45:33] heard anything back since that time.
reaching out to them
[45:39] typically moves at a pretty slow pace
after 60 days. Not too long yet
[45:47] to go 90 days without asking a police
see where we're at.
[45:51] » Joan, you'll understand.
I got four months left here. This
[45:57] project is important to me and
[46:02] time, I guess, is of the essence for me.
So,
[46:04] » I understand completely.
I will at least restart
[46:10] the next meeting.
>> That crossing is west of Spiritville,
[46:13] not east.
[46:21] » I want to make sure we get this done on
the right crossing.
[46:30] It's all on the map. We got the right
[46:35] Uh the last item I have is to that's a
new business item. The county bridge
[46:40] inspections that are required by federal
highway every two years will be due in
[46:45] February. Uh so again on the October 5th
meeting of county management agreement
[46:50] to perform the bridge inspection as the
past
[46:56] in the past we've included cities in the
same agreement
[47:00] and then the city reimburses the county
for the cost of getting the bridge
[47:03] inspections done just provides
efficiency and helps keep the cost
[47:07] affordable for both sides to buy them
together
[47:11] bridge they're okay with doing it that
way I'll reach out to the city injury
[47:14] staff and they'll check with
still on board with that
[47:19] case then I'll bring that agreement to
October 15
[47:36] where you go to school now
>> I graduated back
[47:41] » okay what made you pick Kirk and Michael
all the way over to Ellsworth
[47:46] One of my goals when I graduate
[47:59] » team's been pretty welcoming.
>> Yeah.
[48:08] » Nice.
>> Did a great job.
[48:10] » Yeah.
>> So, kind of in engineering is sort of
[48:12] like the medical field. Once you
graduate, you're an intern, okay?
[48:15] » So to speak, until you're able to get
licensed. So we have summer interns who
[48:20] are still at school and then we have
engineering interns or at least in
[48:24] training. Now we call them engineering
interns.
[48:28] Once she passes her professional exam
and get at least four years of
[48:32] experience, she can become a licensed
professional this year.
[48:36] » Okay.
>> It's a minimum four year process.
[48:42] Nice neat she's been able to come out
and join us the field review and the
[48:45] plans she's been working on.
>> Yeah.
[48:48] » Thank you for coming out.
>> Good to have you.
[48:50] » Stuck her head into see condition.
>> Anything scary in there?
[48:56] » Nope.
>> No snakes, no possum.
[48:59] » You didn't scream once.
>> Scream. We saw birds. We saw cats. We
[49:03] saw bunnies.
>> Nice.
[49:08] » Yep.
[49:13] It's great.
>> Hey, thank you, gentlemen.
[49:15] » Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you. See you
in October.
[49:17] » Looking forward to it.
>> Bring cooler weather with you.
[49:24] » It's 107 out there.
[49:30] » All right. Upcoming meetings. Our next
border county commission meeting will be
[49:33] on Monday, September 21st at 3:30. The
KPG annual meeting will be September
[49:38] 17th and 18th at the casino here in
Dodge. I know Chairman Thomas will be
[49:44] speaking on the 17th. I believe uh
Commissioner Boy will be on the panel.
[49:50] Um Commissioner Tacid is on the board.
So we will have
[49:54] have presence from all commissioners at
that event. Uh KAC annual conference
[49:59] will be December 8th through the 10th in
Witchah. And that concludes our report.
[50:04] » Thank you.
Gentlemen, thank you for stepping up
[50:08] doing the welcome there on on Thursday,
chairman and
[50:12] » and panel there.
>> Y
[50:16] thank me out the county good.
>> The county has been a member of that
[50:21] group since its inception. I think
that's been over 30 years ago. So, um,
[50:27] as far as a as far as a lobbying group
for the county in the state,
[50:35] I value that one probably more than any
other that we've all
[50:40] » Thank you.
>> Good to have something local.
[50:48] All right, with that, we've got a
few executive sessions to step into
[50:54] here. So, we will kick off the first one
here. Um,
[50:59] we are going to step into executive
session with attorney client privilege
[51:02] exception of the Kansas Open Meetings
Act. Uh, I move the board recess into
[51:06] executive session to discuss a pending
appeal before the board of tax appeals
[51:11] pursuant to the attorney client
privilege exception of the Kansas Open
[51:14] Meetings Act, KSA 75-4319B2.
[51:20] The open meeting to resume at this
location at
[51:26] » we will go 4:30
p.m.
[51:32] » I got 4:22. I've given people a minute
to get out and then your seven minutes.
[51:37] Uh in addition to the commissioners, the
interim county administrator, uh
[51:41] assistant county administrator, the
county appraiser, county counselor,
[51:46] assistant county counselor, uh should be
included in the executive session.
[51:50] » I have a second
>> with a motion and a second. Any further
[51:52] discussion?
All those in favor? I
[51:56] » I
[52:00] » Okay, we will commence the meeting. Um,
I would like to make a motion to
[52:12] award
>> hire
[52:15] » hire uh Keller Craig and Associates um
to provide appraisal services on do we
[52:22] need specific property?
>> Southerntherlands
[52:26] » on Southerntherlands at 1510 Soul
Street. um not to exceed.
[52:34] » We prefer you not put that in there
because it's a it's a sliding scale
[52:37] depending upon what we ask to do.
>> Okay.
[52:44] » So, just prove this. We have an
engagement agreement. Okay.
[52:57] » Okay.
Make a motion to hire Keller Craig and
[53:00] Associates uh to provide appraisal
services for Southerntherlands at 1510
[53:05] Soul Street, Dodge City, Kansas 67801.
[53:11] » Second
with a motion and a second. Any further
[53:15] discussion?
[53:18] All those in favor?
>> I I
[53:23] Okay, now we will step back into
executive session. Uh, attorney client
[53:28] privilege exception to the Kansas Open
Meetings Act. Uh, I move the board
[53:33] recess into executive session to discuss
personnel and operational concerns
[53:37] within a Ford County Department pursuant
to the attorney client privilege and the
[53:41] personnel matters of non-elected
personnel exceptions to the Kansas Open
[53:44] Meetings Act KSA75-4319B1
[53:50] and two. the open meeting to resume at
this location.
[53:59] » Okay, we will go for 4:46
p.m.
[54:07] In addition to the commissioners, the
interim county administrator, assistant
[54:10] county administrator, human resources
director, county counselor, and
[54:13] assistant county counselor should be
included in the executive session.
[54:18] » Second with a motion and a second. Any
further discussion?
[54:22] All those in favor?
>> I I
[54:26] will see.
>> Okay, we are uh back from executive
[54:31] session. No action will be taken uh from
the last executive session, although we
[54:34] are going to step into a third and final
executive session. Uh attorney client
[54:39] privilege exception to the Kansas Open
Meetings Act. I move the board into
[54:42] recess into executive session to discuss
zoning board processes and procedures
[54:46] pertu pursuant to the attorney client
privilege exception to the Kansas open
[54:50] meetings act KSA75-4319B1
[54:55] and2 the open meeting to resume at this
location at 501
[55:02] p.m. In addition to the commissioners,
the interim county administrator, uh,
[55:06] assistant county administrator, the
planning and zoning director, county
[55:09] counsel, and assistant county counselor
should be included in the executive
[55:11] session.
>> Second.
[55:13] » With a motion, a second. Any further
discussion?
[55:17] All those in favor?
>> I
[55:20] will not take any action coming out of
uh our executive session and all that is
[55:26] left is adjournment. So, I will make a
motion to adjurnn.
[55:31] Second
>> with a motion and a second. Any further
[55:33] discussion?
All those in favor?