The Elk County Commission meets weekly on Mondays at 1 p.m. The following report was generated from the approved minutes of the Jan. 12 meeting, which were approved at a recent meeting.
E l k Coun t y Commissioners called the Organizational Meeting to order at 1 p.m. on Jan. 12. The commission approved to elect commissioner Doug Hendricks as chairman for 2026, designated The Prairie Star as the official county newspaper, approved the meal reimbursement rates of $15 per meal and $30 per day and adopted Resolution #26-01.
Commissioners also approved to appoint Kandy Dowell as Health Officer and to retain County Treasurer Rachel Ware as Investment Officer. It was also approved for Ware, Jessica Kessler, County Clerk Kerry Harrod, Deputy Treasurer Kristina Kraft, Deputy Clerk Stefni Hebb, Payroll Clerk Malarie Chamberlain and Commissioner Hendricks as authorized users on bank signature cards at Howard State Bank and Bank of Commerce.
Commissioners approved to adopt the 2026 Holidays as presented, 2026 commission meeting dates as presented and payroll and warrant dates as presented. Those dated can be found on the county website at www. elkcountyks.org. Closing the courthouse on Dec. 31 for year-end balancing was also approved.
The Organizational Meeting was adjourned at 1:08 p.m. and the regular meeting was called to order at 1:08 p.m. with the approval of the Dec. 8 and Dec. 29, 2025 meeting minutes as presented.
Department reports were heard from EMS, County Counselor Paul Dean, Emergency Management, Register of Deeds and Rural Fire.
Clerk Harrod noted that the year-end transfers for the Road Department and the Noxious Weed Department needed changed. Commissioners approved to not transfer $72,000 from the Road Department to the Road Special Equipment Reserve Fund. It was noted that no funds would be transferred from the Road Department. Commissioners also approved to amend the motion made on Dec. 8, 2025 regarding the transfer of $27,000 from the Noxious Weed Department to the Road Special Equipment Reserve Fund. It was approved to transfer $20,000 from the Noxious Weed Department to the Road Special Equipment Reserve Fund. It was noted that the County Audit is scheduled for April 6-7.
Commissioners approved memberships to KWORCC with an estimated premium of $29,946 for 2026 and KAC for $1,339.55 for 2026. Resolution 26-02 for the ROZ Student Loan Repayment Program for 2026 was also adopted. Commissioners approved the 2026 Pay Scale as presented.
Two executive sessions were held for a total of 12 minutes. The first session was for 5 minutes for nonelected personnel to discuss employee review to include EMS Director Gillian Beaumont and Dean. After returning to open meeting, commissioners approved a merit increase for Abigail Bowman from $13.38/hr to $15/hr. The second executive session, for 7 minutes, was for legal to include Dean. No action was taken after returning to open meeting. Abatements PP26-001, PP26-004 and TK26-003 were approved. Payroll in the amount of $293,941.54 and Warrants in the amount of $64,477.04 were also approved.
The Phillips Road Opening Petition was discussed. Commissioners denied the petition pursuant to KSA 68-117 as there is access to the property and it is not land locked. Commissioners also declined to lay out a public road extension of Road 4 to the Phillips property as it does have an existing easement.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:18 p.m. The next meeting of the Elk County Commission will be held on Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.
