City and County officials prepare for a significant workforce influx as the former Valu and Timken buildings return to operation.
A local housing shortage took center stage during the joint meeting between the Bourbon County Commission and Fort Scott City Commission on Thursday night. Officials are urgently seeking solutions to accommodate an influx of new workers expected due to the recent purchases of the former Valu Merchandisers and Timken buildings.
City Commissioner Tim Van Hoecke highlighted the dual challenge of preparing for new businesses while securing housing for their workforce. He said that the upcoming commercial developments are anticipated to bring initial waves of 200 and 60 employees.
"I think that housing is absolutely going to be something key for us because hopefully we'd like to have people that are working in these new jobs . . . we're hoping that they're staying here and spending their money in the county and the city and not commuting back and forth every day," Van Hoecke said.
Fort Scott City Manager Brad Matkin said that he and Housing Coordinator Lisa Dillon plan on meeting with both landowners and contractors to address the gap.
"So we are going to start meeting, or she is going to start meeting with landowners that have land that they want to sell," Matkin said, "And then we're going to meet with the contractors in Fort Scott to see if they would like to start building houses or we'll have to go outside to start finding contractors."
City Commissioner Matthew Wells said that a primary hurdle is the thin profit margin for developers building low-to-moderate-income homes. He stated that contractors are currently seeing only a $3,000 to $5,000 profit margin on such projects locally.
"It's very hard for a lot of them to see why they're going to build moderate to low income housing when they can go to a different county, not only get a stipend, but then build a more expensive home and increase their profit margins," Wells said.
County Commissioner Gregg Motley gave a local example of the problem, while also discussing a potential solution.
"A couple of Presbyterians were tired of looking at some dilapidated houses behind the Presbyterian church and they bought those houses and tore them down and then they worked with the trades at the school districts to build some nice rental properties," Motley said. "And they leased those for two years and then they sold each of them at a $10,000 loss . . .."
Motley said the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation has been discussing a program that would potentially pair donated lots from the land bank with trades program labor to create new housing, with the Foundation providing grants to bridge the $10,000 to $20,000 loss that occurs on each new home built.
"We (the Foundation) need to do something that's more impactful to the community, and housing is where it's at," Motley said.
Waste Management and Recycling Initiatives
The conversation eventually shifted to local waste management, including requests for a county-wide dump day. County Commission Chairman Samuel Tran cautioned against overwhelming the county's transfer station.
"The way the rules work is you can't keep anything on the pad for more than 24 hours and nothing in the trailer for more than 48 hours," Tran said.
Tran also said that past clean-up days have overwhelmed County staff and infrastructure.
“...I haven't been around for one of these days, but my understanding talking to the people, the employees, is they get overwhelmed,” Tran said, “They really get overwhelmed. The whole system gets overwhelmed.”
To prevent long lines and excess tonnage, officials brainstormed issuing landfill coupons tied to vehicle registration months. The two commissions also discussed the possibility of a county recycling center to reduce the total volume of trash in the county, which is currently estimated to be transporting three semi trailers full of household waste to Allen County each day.
Other Topics Discussed
- Freeman Hospital: Commissioner Gregg Motley said that Freeman hospital is hoping to start receiving Medicaid and Medicaid payments next month after a long delay from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
“So they've been open since September 7th and basically seeing patients for free,” Motley said, “...they're hoping that they can retroactively bill most of those Medicare, Medicaid patients, because 70% plus of patients that see Freeman doctors and nurses out there are Medicare, Medicaid.” - 911 Dispatch Funding: The commissions discussed working to create a more equitable funding agreement for shared dispatch services to ensure Fort Scott residents do not bear a disproportionate financial burden.
- DMV Reopening: The Department of Motor Vehicles office is currently being moved into the courthouse; while furniture is in place, the office remains closed until state contractors finalize the computer network.
