Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Meeting minutes and resolution approvals opened the regular Cloud County Commission meeting on Monday, June 16. Commissioners Ron Copple, Dannie Kearn and Chairman Mike Cleveland met at 9 a.m. in the commissioner’s room at the Cloud County Courthouse, 811 Washington Street in Concordia.
The first resolution, 2025-16, appointed Kent Otott as the Cloud County Emergency Management Coordinator. Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of Otott’s appointment to the position.
Commissioners approved another resolution, 2025-15, which approved the abatement of the properties sold during the April 7, 2025, tax foreclosure sale. The full list of the tax foreclosure sale can be found at the end of this article.
After a few acknowledgements of staff activities, commissioners walked down to the large meeting room in the basement of the courthouse for the monthly Cloud County Department Head meeting.
Various county departments attended this meeting, including solid waste, health, juvenile services, maintenance, emergency management and highway and weed departments.
During this meeting, the departments provided an overview of their current activities and any challenges they might have faced recently. Outside internal communications, Cloud County Appraiser Jodie LeDuc announced that the next tax foreclosure sale will be on any property that has not paid taxes between 2018 and 2021.
Cloud County Clerk Shella Thoman also announced that there will be no primary elections in the county this year, with the next election occurring in November.
Once the department head meeting ended, commissioners returned to the Commissioner Room, a floor above and continued the regular meeting.
Before Cloud County Health Department Administrator Tonya Sulanka’s appointment with the commission, County Highway and Weed Department Administrator Rod Michaud provided further details on his road projects.
Michaud covered a few more projects he plans to begin later this year, but then Cloud County Health Department Administrator Tonya Sulanka arrived for her appointment with commissioners.
According to Sulanka, the health department continues to face its funding challenge, with yet another budget cut to a significant service Cloud County provides—the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant and Children (WIC).
“WIC funding is getting cut by 8-10%,” Sulanka said. “We’re not even doing the breastfeeding counselor group every month now, that’s gone. We can’t fund it.”
Sulanka said that the health department team aims to cut salaries instead of programs, which commissioners agreed was important to the county. This is a continued cut from earlier this year, with Sulanka continuing to make workforce considerations as Fiscal Year 2026 approaches.
With the health department’s presentation finished, commissioners moved on to their next appointment with 12th Judicial District Chief Judge Kim Cudney and District Magistrate Judge Jennifer O’Hare.
The judges spoke with commissioners about financials and a few other courthouse matters, and then Pawnee Mental Health Chief Executive Officer Michael Rezkalla to discuss budget considerations.
After discussing the local mental health organization’s budget, commissioners attended the Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC) lunch meeting.
The last appointment commissioners tackled was with Cloud County Maintenance Director Jeff Thoman, who presented a few upgrades, like installing new hand sanitizers and some furniture assistance for 12th Judicial District employees.
