McPHERSON COUNTY, Kan. — No action was taken by McPherson County Commissioners Monday on a request for a moratorium on small tract subdivisions. The request came from McPherson County Planning Board chair Kathy Nicholson, who was speaking for herself and not the full board.
Nicholson said the current regulations include exceptions that create a loophole undermining standard processes and threatening the county’s long term goals for agricultural preservation which has always been a key part of McPherson County’s land use regulations, along with public health and land use consistency.
The exceptions involve a number of items, most notably increased the size for subdivision of a property from 20 to 40 acres without Planning Board approval, along with not requiring preliminary plat submission, a lack of notification requirements or public hearings, and other factors involving infrastructure.
The Commission plans to look at this next week. If approved, the moratorium would not affect the four subdivision applications now pending.
The Commission gave final approval to hiring a new noxious weed director. Michael Benda of Salina has been a noxious weed supervisor in Saline County. He will begin his McPherson County duties next month. In other personnel items, Commissioners also approved a new hire for the Register of Deeds office, a person who previously worked for the Old Mill Museum in Lindsborg when it was a county operation.
Bids were awarded on several public works purchases including traffic paint and reflective beads for this year’s road projects. Allstates Coatings had the low bid of $52,800 for the paint, and Crafco the low bid of $57,800 for the beads. There were four bids submitted for paint and three for beads.
It approved the purchase from Midway Motors of a RAM 5500 crew work truck for just under $70,000, to which a flatbed will be added after delivery. Two bids were submitted on that.
It also accepted a just under $141,000 bid from KanEquip for a new mowing tractor for county road right of way, also with two bids for purchase, one of which also submitted a lease proposal. Also to be purchased from KanEquip is a flex wing mower for just under $25,500. Public Works Director David Bohnenblust also provided an update on current projects.
The Commission accepted a bid from Jim’s Plumbing for installation of a new water system at the 4-H grounds in McPherson. County Administrator Rick Witte said water lines, hydrants, and the waste dump station have ongoing leak problems, and the existing system has no shutoffs for individual buildings or hydrants. It also was not able to use the system during the winter months due to most faucet shut offs being above ground.
This project also will cover the animal wash racks and restrooms on the property. Two bids were submitted for the project. At the request of the Commission, an additional line with flow through metering will be extended to a ball field on the north end of the property.
The Commission approved the next two years for a Juvenile Collaboration Grant through the Kansas Department of Corrections for Harvey-McPherson County Community Corrections. This funding supports two programs, the first of which is for an offender-victim ministry program that works in both counties with an existing truancy program. The other item is a full-time juvenile intake supervisor, which the grant will cover salary and benefits over a two-year period.
Commissioners Monday also reviewed and approved what should be the annual certification report for ARPA funds. McPherson County received just over $5.5 million in ARPA funding. Of that, a little over $662,000 was used for premium pay for in person work hours from April 4, 2020, to April 3, 2021. The remainder was used for a number of county projects including building out a new 911 infrastructure including erection of new towers, various building projects, bridges, ambulance replacement reimbursement, and other miscellaneous items.
