Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners

Documenter name: Linda Shriver

Agency: Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners

Date: Aug. 14, 2024

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

The meeting began at 9:00 a.m. with Chairman Ryan Baty leading a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The commissioners present were Ryan Baty (4th District), Jim Howell (3rd District), Sarah Lopez (2nd District), David Dennis (3rd District), and Pete Meitzner (1st District). Also in attendance were four staff members and around 50 members of the public, including reporters, presenters, honorees, and a documenter.

Chairman Baty announced that although public comments for the zoning issue #DER-2023-00017 concerning zoning changes for solar wind farms had closed at last week’s meeting, the agenda had been amended to allow additional public comments.

ROLL CALL

All Commissioners present.

COUNTY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Stephanie Birmingham, Strategic Communications Office, thanked the 700+ election workers who worked at the 107 polling places for the primary election that was held August 6. They worked from 4:45 a.m. to 7:00p.m.  She also thanked the Boy Scouts from Troops 733 and 1733 in Delano, for volunteering to help when the polls closed, by carrying boxes and cleaning up polling stations. Three of those Scouts and two Scoutmasters were present as well.

Laura Rainwater, Chair of the Sedgwick County Election Office, added that 200 more volunteers are still needed for the November general election.

Dennis expressed his support for Scouting.

Birmingham then introduced two Sedgwick County 911  dispatchers, who were the recent recipients of KAKE‘s Hometown Heroes recognition. Elora Forshee, Director of 911 Emergency Communication, spoke on their behalf, explaining that Lyle Skeen and Rebekah Martling were recognized for helping to save the life of a woman who was trapped in her house during a house fire in January 2024.  The two dispatchers were also honored at a Wind Surge baseball game this summer.

Birmingham also reminded the meeting of a public budget meeting that will be held next week, August 21,  9:00 a.m. in this same location.  It will be concerning the 2025 recommended budget, and the opportunity to sign-up for comments will be on the Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners website.

Due to the Fire Chief’s schedule, the agenda was changed to allow for the Fire District #1 Governing Body to meet ahead of the posted agenda.

Budget Discussion

Chairman Baty addressed a letter from the Fire Steering Council requesting that the proposed 2% sliding scale pay raise for firefighters, set to take effect in 2026, be moved up to 2025. Baty emphasized the need for the county to remain competitive and outlined how this adjustment was financially feasible.

Lindsay Poe Rousseau, the County Commission’s CFO, concurred with this assessment. The motion to approve the adjustment was passed unanimously, and Commissioner Meitzner clarified,for transparency, that the Board had met the previous day to discuss the issue.

The Fire District #1 meeting was adjourned at 9:37 a.m.

Public Agenda

• Mayor Pat Stivers of Maize stated that renewable energy is very important to Maize, but that due to the expected population growth of the city, he is not in favor of large-scale solar farms in the Maize area.
• James Williams, Public Relations Officer for Black Hills Energy, agreed with the Board’s decision to reject the zoning change.  He said it was in Black Hill’s interests to restrict the population growth in northwest Sedgwick  County.  He agreed with the Berkley Group study.
• Jane Burns, citizen, appreciated the commission’s input. She cited an exhibition on renewable energy at the Sedgwick County Extension Office, and felt it was “well-vetted”. She urged the Commission to reject the “hasty” Berkeley Group plan.  She felt that all the expected growth in that area will need additional electricity, and wants the “Kansas sun to provide” the electricity.
• Andrea Crisp, speaking for Seniors Speak Out for Senior Centers, listed the increased expenses that Senior Centers are dealing with, but the funding has not increased.  She asked that the Commission keep Senior Centers in mind in budget-making.
• Jennifer Connolly, citizen, reiterated Crisp’s comments concerning senior  centers, but said she came to talk about solar energy. She is in favor of solar farms, and cited that Evergy is currently building a large-scale solar farm outside of Lawrence.  She is concerned about how energy prices are negotiated, and wants a deregulated market.
• Kent Rowe, citizen, said that he addressed the city of Maize last fall, and chided them for not having a renewable energy plan. He said that solar farms improve the  biomes they’re built on.  He discussed the pluses of solar farms and the negatives of fossil fuels. Baty interjected that the Goddard school district uses solar power for its schools.
• Walt Chappell, citizen, discussed climate change, and is concerned about the future.  He protested the Commission’s decisions that are made “behind closed doors”.   He said he has conferred with several districts across the country about what they’ve done.  He said, if we want progress, we have to provide electricity.  The proposed rates will kill any projects coming to the county.
• Mitch Lucas, Venergy Group, LLC, thanked the board for their hard work to draft best policies concerning large-scale solar farming. Howell then questioned Lucas on various aspects he was concerned about. Howell said that an article in last Wednesday’s Eagle about solar farming noted that large-scale solar farming has been temporarily banned in several Kansas counties. Lucas said that Russell has the state’s largest solar farm, and a solar farm is going up in Dodge City. Howell expressed concern about the use of lithium batteries for storage of excess power. Lucas said he wasn’t an electrical engineer. Howell added that he’s heard from citizens concerned about transmission lines and costs. They discussed the allowed height of the solar panels, how panels track the sun, and water cooling, among other issues.
• Terri Nicholson, Mayor of Colwich, thanked the Commission for their hard work. She supports the Commission’s proposal.
• Faith Martin, a citizen, had several concerns.   She listened to the Sedgwick County’s Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) #5 meeting yesterday and she has issues with several things discussed. She is concerned that the DEI program manager position is being eliminated. She is in favor of keeping this position. She is concerned about what the sales tax is used for vs. what property tax is used for. She is also concerned about the proposal to drop a $500,000 to fund WSU.  Howell countered each point. The DEI position is a $100,000 position, and Howell feels the county has addressed DEI issues with training and that the position would be redundant, but that they can revisit in 5 years to see if there is a need at that time.  He explained property tax spending versus sales tax spending.  He also explained the merger of the Tax Office with the Elections Office, by saying that the peak seasons for each office do not overlap and that it would be more economical for the two offices to combine.

Dennis added that they discussed the 12 items on today’s agenda at the meeting yesterday. He appreciates knowing what is coming up.

NEW BUSINESS

Scott Wadle, Director of Planning, recommended that the Board adopt the findings of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, approve the proposed amendments, sign the resolution and authorize the resolution to be published.

• One option would be to adopt the original Berkeley Group recommendations.
• Another option would be to adopt the plan but with amendments
• A third option would be to return the plan back to MAPC for further study.

There was discussion about various amendments that could be incorporated. They discussed the differences in small, medium and large solar farms; what liability insurance would be required; fencing requirements; groundwater testing; required warning signage, as well as a multitude of issues.  Baty asked what happens if nothing is decided at this meeting.  The commission attorney replied that the issue reverts back to the original zoning. There were concerns about transmission lines. Meitzner expressed concern about the impact on property taxes. Howell was concerned about property rights, use of herbicides, obsolescence of panel materials, easements, and water usage concerns.

Howell said that hevdoesn’t like the Berkeley Group proposal; he likes the MAPC’s proposal better.  He stated that he “probably won’t vote”.

Baty’s first concern is property rights.  He thinks this is a good opportunity for farmers to keep the land in the family for future generations. Baty also expressed questions about the substations.  Howell questioned if the energy will go straight to the grid or will it need battery storage.

Chief Timmons of District 1 Fire Station said that this project is not planning for storage.  Howell again asked about lithium batteries.  Timmons replied that there is a power structure by the Sedgwick County Zoo that has lithium battery storage. They have a hydrogen detection system in place.

Dennis said that Sedgwick County is a zoned county, and that he is looking at the rules and regulations for the entire county.  He wants to protect our growing city, and questioned the urban area of influence.  Howell wants to reduce the maximum allowed size for solar farms, and wants to postpone this decision.

Baty made a motion to approve the alternative set of recommendations with three changes to the Berkeley Group plan.  The MAPC plan left too many variables.  The alternative plan provides more guidance. He said that we are an urban county, and his goal is to protect small cities. His motion would include changes to size of the farms and how many farms could be contiguous.

Howell wants to reduce the maximum size.  He says he’s not anti-solar; he wants to postpone the decision.

Meitzner was supportive of the motion and of Baty’s additional amendments.  The vote was taken with 2 for and 3 against.  The motion did not pass.

Lopez stated that she hates to limit what the cities want to be allowed.

There was a motion and a second to approve the MAPC’s proposal.  The motion carried with 4 for and 1 against. The motion carried.

There was a motion and second to consider an off-agenda item.  Motion carried unanimously.  Anissa Redd of the Workforce Alliance of Sedgwick County said that the Alliance is applying for a grant.  They are required to get a letter of support from the Commission.  There was a motion and a second to supply the letter.  The motion was carried unanimously.

REAL ESTATE AGREEMENT FOR EMS POST 1

This was presented by Andrew Dilts, Director of Facilities Maintenance. The EMS Post 1 has lost their previous location and has been operating out of another post’s facility.  They are requesting the Commission to approve the real estate contract to purchase a property on West 13th and Sheridan.  Howell moved to approve, Dennis seconded.  The motion was carried unanimously.

PRESENTATION OF QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT

Poe Rousseau submitted and explained the quarterly financial report.  Basically, the County is in good financial shape.  There was a motion and a second to receive the financial report.  Motion carried unanimously.

For items E through N, a motion was made to approve all of them.  Motion was seconded.  Motion carried.

BUDGET DISCUSSION

Reminder of next week’s budget meeting on August 21.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

The Board broke for 10 minutes for the executive session.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion and second to adjourn at 1:15 p.m.

Summary

Summarize the 3 most important outcomes or takeaways from your notes....

• ...zoning changes and renewable energy are current hotly debated issues.
• ...Budget issues are always on the mind of city/county officials and approval of the future budget looms ahead.
• ...this board deals with very complicated issues.  The 2-hour scheduled meeting lasted over 4 hours, and could have easily gone longer.

Follow-Up Questions

What are you left wondering? Ask up to 3 of your own follow-up questions...

• ...will solar panel farms ever come to Sedgwick County?
• ...How can renewable energy advocates organize to be more effective in their advocacy?

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@citybureau.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line.