The Bourbon County Commission passed a temporary 365-day development moratorium and selected Confluence as its comprehensive planning consultant Monday, moving the county closer to adopting zoning.
Development Moratorium
The commission enacted a 365-day temporary freeze on utility-scale power generation, crypto mining, data center and waste disposal operations under Resolution 24-26. The freeze passed 3-0, with Commissioners Joe Allen and Gregg Motley abstaining.
The moratorium is designed to grant the county time to develop permanent land regulations. Commercial solar projects from Tennyson Creek Solar LLC, Tennyson Creek Solar II LLC and Hinton Creek Solar LLC are explicitly exempt from the restriction.
"Well, this is the first I've seen it since I've been on this board, I'm not against it at all, but I just don't have a lot of experience with what you guys did a year ago that I would like to research," Commissioner Joe Allen said, explaining his vote.
Motley said he felt the same way as Allen.
In response to Allen requesting a week to research the moratorium, Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee warned against delaying the freeze, saying the previous moratorium had expired the day prior.
"You'll be without one," Milburn-Kee said. "It would've been great if you could have renewed one, but now you're going to be without one if you don't. You can always repeal it."
Planning and Zoning Consultant
Following a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Committee, the board voted 4-0 to hire consulting firm Confluence to create the county's comprehensive plan and zoning regulations. Commissioner Motley abstained from the vote pending a personal review of the agreement documents.
The proposed agreement from Confluence, which is currently doing similar work for Cherokee County, is valued at $152,000, designating $105,500 for the comprehensive plan and $46,500 for zoning regulations.
"So Confluence was the more expensive group, but we felt that they would represent the county the best," Planning and Zoning Committee Member Brian Ashworth said. "I think everybody felt that way by the end of the conversation."
The committee recommended Confluence partly because it manages community outreach directly, rather than relying on a local steering committee.
"You're better to have the representatives from the company handle the community engagement as compared to people from the community that could very well have an agenda, so you have people from the company that have no agenda," committee member Pete Owenby said.
With the commission's approval, the committee will now ask Confluence for their "best and final" offer, and bring that back to the commission in the form of a contract.
Commission Chair Samuel Tran voiced strong support for the long-term economic utility of the plan.
"I like the fact that this document, when it comes to fruition, gives people within this community a blueprint, people coming into this community a blueprint," Tran said. "So the city could use it, we could use it, entrepreneurs who come to this community can use it, and industry can use it."
Hidden Valley Roads
The commission formally resolved a debate regarding maintenance of the roads at Hidden Valley Lake by unanimously adopting Resolution 23-26, which states the county holds no legal maintenance obligations for the subdivision.
Public Works Director Kenny Allen reviewed the subdivision's roads for the Commission, citing infrastructure deficiencies including an unengineered road base, inadequate drainage and undefined or inconsistent right-of-way widths.
"The Hidden Valley roadways are not part of the county maintained system," Allen said. "To bring these roads into condition suitable for county maintenance would require substantial reconstruction rather than routine maintenance."
Allen said limited past maintenance activity on the roads had been conducted through private arrangements between the homeowners association and an operator who had used non-county equipment.
Allen told the Commission that taking over the subdivision would require significant capital investment and severely strain the current road budget as well as the county's ability to maintain its existing road network.
Chairman Tran said he consulted with county counsel Bob Johnson before finalizing the board's stance to protect the county from liability.
"We do not have easement," Tran said. "We don't have legal standing to be on the property and we do not have the funding or the manpower to do what the community's asking us to do, nor do we have the precedent for which this is setting."
Commission Room Election Space Debate
A debate emerged over County Clerk Susan Walker's formal request to utilize the commission room for early voting and election night processing.
During a discussion between Commissioner Joe Allen and Walker regarding how many years the commission room has been used for election purposes, Tran referenced the incident that preceded the state's ongoing court case with Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee.
"It only took one year. So my suggestion would be move this election function to the main atrium and use (Appraiser) Matt Quick's office," Tran said. "He's got a conference room in there. He's got everything in there."
Walker said Tran's suggested location would not work for election staff and would not provide the necessary security.
"That's not a convenient place for our judges and election people to do it," Walker said. "I have to have a secure area for my workers, and this is the secure area."
An initial motion by Milburn-Kee to deny the clerk's request to utilize the commission room, while allowing her to use Public Works staff to assist her with setting up equipment, failed 2-3, with Milburn-Kee and Tran voting in favor and Commissioners Allen, Beerbower and Motley voting against.
Milburn-Kee said she routinely utilizes the room during weekends and off-hours.
"And I do use this room. I would rather not be excluded from the room," Milburn-Kee said. "And this is the only space I can use; I don't have another space in the courthouse."
Commissioner David Beerbower said that, to his knowledge, the commission room and hallway had been used for elections for many years, and that while they could not discuss incidents that had occurred in the past, "I don't see a repeat."
Beerbower also expressed skepticism that other departments would volunteer their space under the circumstances.
"I don't think the appraiser's going to forfeit his office or any of the others that are over there going to forfeit their office for the same reason why you guys are calling this out now," Beerbower said. "I mean, because of... I don't know why, I mean, I'm baffled and I'm going to shut up."
A motion by Commissioner Gregg Motley to approve the request as originally stated by the clerk passed 3-2, with Motley, Allen and Beerbower voting in favor and Tran and Milburn-Kee voting against.
Other Action
In other action, the commission:
- Received a presentation from INA Alert of Ellinwood, Kan., highlighting their ongoing security and camera system installations at Fort Scott Community College and surrounding regional hospitals.
- Terminated a five-year-old Elm Creek Lake dam renovation grant with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks in a unanimous vote due to outdated cost estimates.
- Appointed local citizen Michael Hoyt to the Southeast Kansas Area Agency on Aging board to represent Bourbon County, with a motion from Motley approved 3-2, with Motley, Allen and Beerbower voting in favor and Tran and Milburn-Kee voting against.
- Adjusted the 2027 budget planning schedule to require direct, in-person budget presentations from county department heads with the commission and representatives from Baker Tilly, starting with Public Works on June 29, 2026.
- Agreed to contact county website administrator Mat Casner about providing a way for the county clerk and emergency manager to post notices on the front page of the county website.
- Approved a motion granting financial consulting firm Baker Tilly read-only remote access to the county's CIC platform to accelerate budget data collection.
- Heard public comment from local landowner Mark Warren regarding extensive agricultural water damage and drainage issues across three of his properties.
- Approved the June 5 accounts payable batch ($184,461.59) while setting aside two invoices for rock crusher training totaling roughly $8,000, and approved the June 12 batch ($833,269.76).
- Approved two separate payroll registers covering check dates of June 12 and June 15, 2026.
- Authorized the commission chair to sign an MLS real estate listing extension, with Commissioner Milburn-Kee recusing herself from the vote.
