GIRARD, Kan. — The Crawford County Commission waded through some alphabet soup at Tuesday’s regular meeting, starting off with the Southeast Kansas Juvenile Detention Center (SEKJDC) Director Mike Walden delivering an update on JDC operations.
Co-owned by 10 southeast Kansas counties, the JDC is housing 14 juveniles out of a capacity of 25. Not all are from SEK as the center is also accepting out-of-jurisdiction kids (kids not from one of the 10 counties). Walden explains the reasons for doing this are simple — it’s a source of revenue ($175 per night for each juvenile) and other centers are either full or short-staffed.
Housing out-of-jurisdiction kids provided $300,000 last year, and up to $200,000 so far this year, Walden said. This has allowed him to reduce the cost burden on the 10 counties that support the facility. With an annual operating cost of roughly $1.3 million, he has been able to operate on a budget of $900,000 (divided among the 10 counties based on population and usage).
Walden hopes to add another revenue stream to the JDC by housing CINC kids, or Children In Need of Care. These are not kids in trouble with the law, but those that need a safe place. The state pays the costs of CINC residents, and Walden has been working at creating a place for them at JDC separate from the other residents. He hopes to have it running within the year.
Jeff Fischer, an engineer with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), paid a visit to update the commission on on-going projects and to learn about any new issues of concern.
Almost immediately, new issues came up. First, the intersection of K-126 and K-7 south of Girard. While clearly marked as a four-way stop, drivers are still going through it, said commissioner Bruce Blair, especially at night. Blair said in the dark, the stop signs sort of appear out of nowhere and wanted to know if better lighting could be installed, such as street lights to illuminate the intersection well before a driver comes to it.
Another problem area is the US-69 and US-160 intersection at the State Park north of Frontenac. For drivers on 160, the green light is too short, and they often find themselves int he middle of the intersection when the lights go green for those on 69.
The same is true at the intersection of US-69 and Quincy Street on the bypass. Fischer said the Quincy Street intersection, as well as the Fourth Street and 20th Street intersections with the US-69 bypass are scheduled to become roundabouts, with work starting in the next year.
Walden said K-7 from Girard to Fort Scott should be completed in the next two years, starting at the Bourbon County line and moving south to Girard. Blair asked if there was anything KDOT could do or has advice to offer when it comes to redirecting traffic during construction on major thoroughfares, like K-7.
The issue is that the traffic gets diverted onto narrow county roads that are not designed for heavy traffic, leaving those roads damaged.
Blair wanted to know who to talk to about resolving that issue.
The commissioners approved a request for EMS Director Michael Burnett to enter into a new communications software contract with a new provider. Burnett said the new provider can do what the current provider does and for $20,000 less per year without having to buy new equipment.
The commissioners heard concerns about setbacks regarding the Shasta solar project. Landowner Rick Elnicki said he attended the last meeting of the planning and zoning board where it was put forward that setbacks for the project would be set at 300 feet from all boundaries, and increase from the original 50 feet.
For Elnicki, and Shasta, this is a no-go. Elnicki mapped two of his properties that are within the project area with the proposed 300-foot set back. One property, 185 acres, would be reduced by 56% to 81 acres of usable space. Another would be reduced from 465 acres to 311 usable space, a loss of 33% of the land.
Elnicki said he talked to Shasta and they found, on average, about 50% of the negotiated land would be swallowed up by the 300-foot setback, making the project unfeasible.
The commissioners said the current zoning proposals are still a “living document” that has yet to be finalized. Until it is finalized and forwarded to the commission for approval, they will not interfere or make suggestions.
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