BY KEITH LIPPOLDT
klippoldt@gbtribune.com
The Barton County Commissioners were presented with several different subjects to pore through Tuesday at the Agenda meeting at the Courthouse. Subjects ranged from Proclamations to the Facade Improvement Grants to annexation of 30 feet of roadway and ditch in Ellinwood.
Amy Ferguson, Rise Up Central Kansas Coordinator, along with several members of Oxford House, presented a request for approval of Proclamation 2025-09 that would establish April 24, 2025, as Drug-Endangered Children Awareness Day in Barton County. According to the agenda, this designation sheds light on the families impacted by substance use disorder, the risks associated with early exposure and the profound influence of intervention services.
“I want to thank you for letting us come again,” Ferguson said. “We’re always glad to be able to present in front of you. I want to introduce the Oxfords. You saw them a couple weeks ago, but I just don’t think we could ever have eyes on them enough, because they are often the first step to getting families back together and being able to help us address children that are drug endangered. Everybody in this room here was a drug endangered child themselves.
“So we’re here to bring awareness to an often overlooked group, children who are living in homes where substance use is present. These are our drug endangered children. They are significantly affected by instability, trauma and neglect that too often come with caregivers substance misuse. Our goal is to unite community partners, people with lived the experience, healthcare providers and advocates, and law enforcement to better identify and support these children. The proclamation serves as a formal recognition of their needs and commitment to working together to provide them with state safety, stability and hope. Thank you for standing with us as we continue to build a safer, more responsive community than ever.”
Tracy from Oxford House recognized Further Rise Up Central Kansas, Central Kansas Partnership, Oxford Sober Living, Kansas Children’s Service League, the Barton County Probation Services, 20th Judicial District Juvenile Services, Barton County Youth Care, the Barton County Young Men’s Organization, the Center for Counseling and Consultation, Essdack, First United Methodist Church, the Kansas Department of Children and Families, Barton County Health Department, as well as public health and law enforcement agencies as entities that have joined in supporting the more than 8 million children younger than age 18 who live with at least one adult who has experienced drug and alcohol abuse.
Commissioner Duane Reif appreciated Ferguson and the Oxford House residents for their presentation.
“I’d like to thank you for being here this morning,” Reif said. “Not only for the awareness in this room, but for Barton County in general, and to know that it can be done. Thank you all for being here and thank you for the awareness.”
Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson made a motion to adopt the Proclamation that was seconded by Commissioner Donna Zimmerman. The motion passed 4-0. Commissioner Barb Esfeld was attending a Commissioners Conference in Manhattan.
Proclamation 2025-10
The Commissioners made a Proclamation for another former Commissioner, James H. Nolte, who passed away April 20 at the age of 97.
Nolte served as Barton County Commissioner from 1989 through 1997. He is credited with the establishment of the 911 system in the County, the state-wide move to establish regional juvenile correction facilities, the purchase of the Administrative Building for the Sheriff’s Office, and the creation of the Barton County Economic Development Committee among other projects.
“I just learned, that former Commissioner Jim Nolte passed away on April 20th,” Zimmerman said. “It’s sad that we’re back here again, honoring a previous county employee who spent a good deal of time here at the county. I remember him well serving a couple of terms.”
FIG 25 Update
Barton County and the participating cities of Claflin, Ellinwood and Hoisington have kicked off Round 4 of the Facade Improvement Grant Program, FIG 25. This program provides financial assistance to businesses and property owners for facade improvements that improve appearance and image to “increase economic prosperity, accessibility and quality of life” in the above mentioned Barton County cities as well as Great Bend.
There are currently two projects scheduled for Claflin, Ellinwood and Hoisington. These businesses will be granted $20,000 for improvements - $10,000 each from Barton County and $10,000 from the respective cities. There are six projects currently scheduled for Great Bend. These businesses will receive $10,000 from the County. The City of Great Bend chose not to participate with matching funds.
If a project goes over the approved funding, it is the responsibility of the business or property owner to pay the surplus.
Another requirement is that local contractors need to be considered to complete the improvements. Of the 63 projects approved to this point throughout the county, 43 local contractors have been hired. Ten of these projects are currently nearing completion.
For the 63 projects approved to this point, the total worth totals $1,926,691.28. By the time the remaining 10 projects have been completed, the County will have distributed $1,088,130.78.
Applications for FIG 25 are available on the County website.
“I have now officially lived in Barton County more than half of my life,” Hutchinson said. “So, living here the last 23 years, this program has created the biggest change in our downtowns that I’ve seen, hands down, by far, and I’m proud that we’re able to continue it. We started out with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that was designated to help spark our economy to get moving again after COVID. And this was one of the programs that we decided to put together and kick off. And as that ARPA money dwindles down, we have to figure out ‘are we going to be able to continue this?’ And the way to continue it is by splitting it with the cities. Great Bend, for instance. I know for sure that 50% of our property tax dollars come from the city of Great Bend, so 50% of it comes from the rest of the county. That’s how we come up with the math for this program. I’m excited to see FIG 25 kicking off.”
Ellinwood annexation
In what County Counselor Patrick Hoffman described as a “true piece of housekeeping,” the City of Ellinwood requested that a 30 foot section of roadway and adjoining ditch on N. Park Avenue, be annexed from the County to the City. Ellinwood owned the other side of the proposed annexed road so it only made since to annex it.
“The City is in the process of cleaning up their boundary lines with the new hospital as part of their city,” Hoffman explained. “This is just half of a roadway that currently is not in the city limits that they’d like to put fully in the city limits. Allowing this annexation will not have any negative impact on the County at all, and will cost us $0. The staff strongly recommends supporting it.”
After discussion, Zimmerman made the motion to allow the annexation. Hutchinson seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Resolution Approval
Resolution 2025-08 is a “Resolution Transferring and Carrying Over 2024 Unexpended Funds to the Capital Improvement and Equipment Replacement Funds. County Administrator Matt Patzner explained that after accounting of all 2024 transactions, monies are suggested for transfer to the Capital Improvement and Equipment Replacement Funds.
“It’s the County’s practice to transfer unexpended funds from one year to the next,’ Patzner said. “After discussions with the commissioners, and in light of uncertainty with the economy, the proposed transfers will better position the county for the future. Here they are as follows. To Capital Improvement, a total of $464,804.09 with $300,000 of that going to the General Fund Capital Improvement line. $164,804.09 will go to the Federal Funds Exchange Reserve Fund. And then for equipment replacement, a total of $150,000 for the Road and Bridge Equipment Replacement Fund. Note that that doesn’t include the $1.3 million in tax credits because that happened in 2025 and this is going to be a snapshot at the end of 2024.
Zimmerman asked Patzner what the transfer did to the balance of the Reserve funds. Patzner replied that the transfer would put the County up to $8 million in reserve.
“I think that is something to celebrate,” Zimmerman said.
Reif made the motion to adopt the resolution. Zimmerman seconded and the motion carried 4-0.
