Chuck Apt laid out plans Tuesday for a board to administer funds Allen County commissioners will earmark for economic development.
Initially, $200,000 to $250,000 is expected to be set aside from reserves.
Apt, an Iola attorney, stressed he would approach chairmanship of the boards — one to decide mechanics and a second to accept and decide requests for funding — as a citizen, not an attorney, which would preclude legal advice. Legal comments will be the venue of County Counselor Alan Weber.
Several people “have given me lists” of possible nominees for the boards, Apt said. Each board will have six members in addition to Apt.
“I think having some younger people,” those looking to the future, “would be good on the board to develop policies,” he said. Then, “the second with more experienced people to decide applications.” He will have recommendations for both groups for commissioners to review next Tuesday.
Apt stressed the economic development board’s purpose is to assess whether an application fit within the framework of what the county wants to accomplish, including whether a business plan projects success.
“I want to get this done as quickly as possible and hit the ground running,” Apt said.
His involvement stemmed from a presentation he made on the day commissioners agreed to support the G&W grocery with a $180,000 grant, after company officials said the construction bid for the store was $500,000 above what was budgeted. Iola Industries kicked in $170,000. Iola agreed to make utility extensions on its nickel.
Apt said then he thought such arrangements should be done within a framework, such as what will be put in place by the county economic development board, rather than in a reactionary fashion.
Commissioners took Apt’s comments to heart, and appointed him to chair the effort.
NATHAN FAWSON asked commissioners to increase the county’s annual financial participation with Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center by $29,120, to a total of $149,115.
The center, which provides services in Allen and five other southeast Kansas counties, has lost more than $1 million in funding, mostly from cuts at the state level. That includes a 4 percent reduction in Medicaid reimbursement.
That has led to some programs being cut and reductions in staff, Fawson said. The center’s budget is slightly less than $8 million, which was overspent a bit last year, he added.
Of the center’s 3,800 clients in 2016, about 1,000 were from Allen County.
Commissioners said they would consider Fawson’s request during construction of the 2018 budget this summer.
In other business, commissioners:
— Approved a bid of $18,099 from Don Diebolt to put a new roof on the Allen County Fair Association’s sheep barn in Riverside Park.
— Accepted a bid of $5,728.05 from Tholen’s Heating and Cooling to install a new heating and cooling system at the LaHarpe Senior Center, to replace one no longer functioning.
In both cases only one bid was received.
— Learned a new restaurant may become part of the Iola landscape. Bill McAdam, Moran, said he had signed a contract with an unidentified party that would lead to construction of a restaurant northwest of the highways 54 and 169 intersection. “I’ll tell you about it when I get the money,” McAdam said.
— Ron Boren, an Iolan with interest in powered parachutes, asked when a hangar at Allen County Airport damaged during a windstorm about two months ago would be repaired. Commissioners said they would focus on the concern.
