ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The 15th Street fire station will soon be completely in the hands of the City of Liberal.
Tuesday, Seward County commissioners voted 4-1. with Vice Chairman Steve Helm voting no, to accept an offer from the city to buy out the county’s portion of the fire station for $500,000.
The city originally made the offer at a joint meeting between the county commission and the Liberal City Commission, but the original offer took a section of the memorandum of understanding concerning giving the county the right of first refusal out of the contract.
The original MOU dates back to 2007 and details the term, financial expectations, maintenance requirements and potential dissolution between the two parties.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Seward County Administrator April Warden likewise wanted to keep the “unless otherwise agreed” portion in Section 12(b), which reads, “Upon termination by city, unless otherwise agreed, city shall remain the sole occupant and owner of the facility. City shall pay county 40 percent of the appraised value of the facility, based on an appraisal obtained by the city.”
Warden said Section 13, the right of first refusal to the county, would be left in the contract in the event the city decides to sell the station.
“The City of Liberal hopes this offer will allow both the city and the county fire departments the room they need to grow and to serve Liberal,” she said. “Seward County staff does recommend you accept the offer from the City of Liberal for the buyout of Seward County’s portion of the 15th Street fire station. We would ask you to approve this pending the contract legal counsel will work with their legal counsel on.”
Commissioner Presephoni Fuller made the motion to accept the offer pending a review of the contract by County Counsel Nathan Foreman and Liberal City Attorney Lynn Koehn.
Commissioner Tammy Sutherland-Abbott seconded the motion with the agreement the money is to be designated only for use at the county’s fire station on 18th Street. Chairman Scott Carr said any funds leftover would be used to pay down the mortgage on that building.
Helm explained why he voted against the motion.
“I did some research with the census from 2010 to 2024, which is the latest data available,” he said. “Seward County is not growing. Seward County is losing population. So is the city of Liberal. Seward County’s never going to grow square footage wise. Seward County’s land size is the biggest it’s ever going to get. The only thing that seems to be growing in Seward County and Liberal is taking money from the taxpayer. I am not in favor of this, although it appears the city’s going to exercise their right to force us to give them the building, but I’m not for this.”
Commissioners also unanimously approved hiring Hansen’s Tree Service from St. Louis as a tree grinding service to bring the Seward County Landfill into compliance with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
“Our grinder we have now has been giving us tons of maintenance issues,” Landfill Foreman Tyler Antrim said. “We’ve spent close to $28,000 in maintenance alone this last year. We thought this might be a good option instead of purchasing a new grinder in 2026 in the amount of anywhere from $800,000 to $1 million plus. Right now, Hanson Tree Service said they could come out and do it with a $7,500 mobilization and a $750 per hour while grinding.”
Antrim estimated the job needed could be done in about 30 hours or less.
“The machines they’re bringing in can blow through the piles we have fairly quick,” he said. “Lease purchase on a grinder is going to cost us about $150,000 a year in payments.”
Because of support equipment in place at the landfill, Antrim said the county is getting cheaper costs for the project.
“We can help them move materials out of the way so they’re not constantly having to move that machine and take more time,” he said.
Antrim said safety precautions will be in place as work is done.
“When they’re grinding, that area will be shut down to where that grinder’s at,” he said. “Also that area where we grind will be labeled flying debris could be present.”
Antrim said Hansen’s does have insurance, but he wanted to get approval from the commission before he asked for it, and he did receive a quote from another company for about $10,000 to mobilize and $800 an hour. No companies located in the vicinity of Southwest Kansas were available.
“Everywhere else is in the Kansas City area. Hansen did say they could be on call for us in case they have any issues,” he said. “We can use that for FEMA operating as well.”
Helm made the motion to approve Hansen’s for $7,500 for mobilization and demobilization and $750 an hour for grinding pending the approval of the company’s insurance.
Tuesday’s last action item concerned the appointment the appointment of Seward County Fire Chief Andrew Barkley as the interim Emergency Management director.
Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution appointing Barkley as the interim director. Wednesday, Warden said Tim Newman, who was hired to replace longtime Emergency Management Director Greg Standard earlier this year, is no longer employed with the county. She did say the move was involuntary, but she gave no reason as to why Newman is not employed at the county.
