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Allen County Commissioners Sign Letter of Support on Behalf of Thrive Allen County Connected with City of Elsmore SEED Grant

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By Lucky Kidd

 

ALLEN COUNTY, Kan. — Allen County Zoning Administrator Terry Call told County Commissioners Tuesday he has again been contacted by representatives of Mission Clean Energy regarding a proposal to construct a battery storage facility.

This 300-megawatt facility would require between 15 and 30 acres, with an estimated construction cost of around $300 million. Mission is looking at a site in the southeast part of the county and have been in discussions with a landowner for a 20-acre site.

As Allen County is zoned the County would be able to adopt regulations specific to this use. Call said the city of Halstead in south central Kansas is developing regulations for a similar project now and he has a copy of what they are looking at. Commissioners discussed the potential of putting a moratorium in battery storage projects pending development of regulations, but no action was immediately taken.

Commissioners signed a letter of support on behalf of Thrive Allen County connected with a grant being sought by the city of Elsmore. The SEED Grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce would, if approved, provide funds for renovation of the Elsmore Community Building, a priority identified during a recent Thrive Community Conversation.

Commissioners were also informed of another grant opportunity, the Historic Economic Access Lifeline program, which can provide up to $100,000 in funds for historic building preservation work. The grants have to be applied for by a local government or non-profit such as Thrive on behalf of a building owner, and it is recommended the sponsors only be involved with one application.

Road and Bridge Superintendent Jeremy Hopkins said there were minimal problems from last weekend’s rainfall, which according to one report amounted to around seven inches in the Savonburg area. In his report to Allen County Commissioners this morning Hopkins said there weren’t any washouts of roads, but there were some “ripples” in places.

Hopkins said they have taken delivery on a new motor grader and are looking for a second with plans to have an existing grader rebuilt to serve as a backup.

Public Works Director Mitch Garner said the new hangar at the airport is now enclosed, and they are waiting on the electric and concrete work to be done. Garner said he is currently working on getting bids for another hangar project planned for next year.

Commissioners also signed a pair of letters related to funding for dirt work on runway and taxiway extensions, which are having to be changed since they were listed as being with the city of Iola and not Allen County as they were supposed to be.

Emergency Management Director Jason Trego gave an update on the storm siren in Elsmore, which is working but is not able to cover the entire community. It’s unclear as to who owns the siren, but it is rather old, and it was indicated the county may be able to seek a grant on the city’s behalf to replace it. Trego said there is also a grant program in the works that could cover local match requirements for storm siren grants.

He’s also working on a grant that would upgrade county-owned sirens at Carlyle, Mildred and Petrolia with a GPS-based cellular technology that would allow them to be automatically sounded when the area is within a warning polygon. There are some questions as to if cell signals some of those areas would be adequate for this to work.

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