BARTON COUNTY, Kan. — Barton County Commissioners this morning approved renewal of the conditional use permit for a salvage yard in the 500 block of Southwest 20 Road near the Great Bend Airport. When this permit was first approved, one of the requirements was that this permit be renewed annually and other conditions met, which have been and still are.
It also requires soil and water testing every three years, and Environmental Manager Judy Goreham said that will take place in August ahead of next year’s renewal.
A bid was accepted from Straight-Line Striping of Grand Island, Nebraska for centerline and edge striping on 96 miles of county roads in the southwest part of the county. Straight-Line, which has done this work for the county for several years, had the low of two bids submitted. The exact cost of this year’s project will depend on the quantities of material used including both the paint and glass beads that provide reflectivity for the stripes.
Commissioners tabled action on a cold-mix asphalt contract after County Works Director Chris Schartz and Commissioners Duane Reif had some discussions with department heads regarding some other options they want to look at.
A proposal was from Haynes Electric for the required high amperage cables and exercise test for a generator system at the Courthouse, at a cost of $7.500. The HVAC project at the Courthouse made provision to provide for a generator to power the courthouse in the event of a power outage. Updating of the electrical panel to facilitate it was part of the project.
The annual renewal of the Peopleware software package from Computer Information Concepts for just under $47,000. This software package includes various tax administration, budget and fund accounting, personnel and indexing and imaging programs.
Commissioners approved the 2026 fiscal year budget and grant request for submission to the Kansas Department of Corrections for the 20th Judicial District Juvenile Services. This grant involves general funding for prevention and graduated sanctions for juvenile offenders, evidence-based programs, and reinvestment funding. Between those three areas the total grant funding from KDOC comes to just over $1.4 million for the office which serves Barton, Ellsworth, Rice, Stafford and Russell counties.
Representatives from Claflin, Ellinwood, Great Bend and Hoisington will be meeting Thursday to discuss specifications for this year’s facade improvement grant program. Barton County has committed $120,000 for these grants, and as part of a revamp of the program for this year, the four cities were invited to provide financial support to increase the dollar amount available for projects. As part of that, each city will be able to tailor grant specifications to the particular situations in their community.
During the meeting, it was reported that since the program began over $1.7 million, including matching funds, has been invested in 62 facade improvements which involved multiple local, with an increased tax base resulting.
