McPHERSON COUNTY, Kan. — McPherson County Commissioners have adopted a moratorium on commercial battery energy storage systems through January 2028. Planning and zoning administrator Jon Kinsey said the moratorium will give the county’s Planning Board and staff an opportunity to review and make recommendations on what should or should not be allowed.
This moratorium is similar to one Harvey County Commissioners have adopted, where a BESS system project in the Halstead area has generated considerable controversy. It also reflects what the county has done for solar and wind generation projects. The Planning Board is expected to begin looking at this issue after the first of the year.
Commissioners at Monday’s meeting approved signing of permits for the Enterprise pipeline repair project crossing 14th Avenue south of Navajo Road north of McPherson, a project that’s slated to begin next Monday with the entire length of pipe under 14th or Old Highway 81 to have a sleeve put on. Enterprise’s Burell Barnes said by doing the entire pipe now, they take care of both the existing situation and prevent future problems.
As agreed to by the company and Public Works Director David Bohnenblust, 14th will be completely closed for 7-9 days including time for the project itself and county setup and take down. Enterprise is also posting a bond connected with the project, with road removal and replacement to be handled by County crews. The agreement also sets out the detour routes for the project including an alternate route in case of rain issues.
Commissioners approved an agreement with Kirkham Michael to handle bridge inspections for at least the next two years. Public Works Director David Bohnenblust said McPherson County has been doing their own inspections for at least 50 years, Sedgwick County the only other county in Kansas now doing this in-house.
McPherson County’s bridge inspector is retiring later this year, and there is a long-time frame to get an inspector properly trained and certified. This contract, which involves the 460 bridges over 20 feet in length in the county which have to be inspected every two years of the 1,140 total bridge structures the county has. Kirkham-Michael will charge $40 per bridge, or $193,200 for the two-year contract, with 40 bridges inspected each month.
The Commission also approved purchase of semi and trailer tires for Public Works, the semi tires from Smoky Valley Tire in Lindsborg and the trailer tires through Galva Tire.
A proposal for a compensation study of McPherson County employees was presented to the County Commission Monday. The Arnold Group’s C3 Compensation Division submitted a proposal presented by Phillip Hayes, which will address among other things pay compression issues, especially for long time employees, along with benefits.
One of the factors that impacts McPherson County compensation is the considerable competition for employees with private industry. Commissioners agreed to a $51,692 proposal over three years, and an additional updating of job descriptions at an additional cost of $8,422.
Commissioners approved the write-off of uncollectible debt for the second quarter of 2025. Julia Jensen, billing specialist for the Health Department said this will involve $22.50 in debt which can’t be submitted to the Kansas Debt Recovery System, and $62.50 being written off as the statute of limitations for medical debt has passed. Commissioners also approved the end of introductory period raise for County Appraiser Stacy Hubbard as per her contract.
