Tuesday, July 15, 2025
The Cloud County Commission met for its regular meeting at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 23, in the Commissioner Room at the Cloud County Courthouse, 811 Washington Street, in Concordia.
Commissioners Ron Copple, Dannie Kearn, Chairman Mike Cleveland and Clerk Shella Thoman comprised the usual roster for the meeting and began the day’s agenda by meeting with Cloud County Fair Board Treasurer Danny McReynolds.
During this meeting, McReynolds provided an update on the Fair Board’s financials since the board has made multiple upgrades to the fairgrounds in recent years. Last year, the carnival also put great financial strain on the board, and so this year’s fair will not provide a carnival.
“Our plan is to survive right now and be able to get through stuff and try to do things that are sponsored,” McReynolds said. “So we’re trying to put stuff together that is not costing us a lot so that we are able to breathe to get through till we can pay that off and be able to then focus on others.”
The other financial squeezes for the board include loan payments. Recently, the board has updated the fairgrounds' kitchen, road and some electrical systems, using loans and local donations to complete the upgrades.
McReynolds asked the county for an additional $5,000 for the 2026 budget year, which commissioners will review until final budget decisions are made.
Yet, budgeting this year seems to remain a challenge.
“The budget’s pretty ugly,” Cleveland said. “But, it always starts ugly, and then we work from there.”
After a few more minutes of discussion, McReynolds ended his budget presentation and Cloud County Highway and Weed Administrator Rod Michaud joined the meeting for a highway update.
Michaud said that his department has successfully used hot mix from the local Hall Brothers Asphalt Plant northeast of Concordia in the last few weeks for extensive repairs on Camp Road. More repairs remain, but hot mix production is on hold at the local plant for some machinery maintenance.
According to Michaud, there should be more hot mix available in the near future. In the meantime, county highway department employees have worked on the Delphos Road.
Thistle maintenance was another topic Michaud reported on, with compliments to county landowners.
“I’m still notifying landowners about thistles,” Michaud said. “And that’s going surprisingly well—better than I anticipated it to.”
Michaud then asked commissioners for a 5-minute executive session at 9:16 a.m. that lasted until 9:21 a.m. and took no action once the session ended.
After more discussion about commercial driver’s license (CDL) training and new job openings at the highway department, commissioners moved on to their next appointment with Cloud County Health Department Office Manager Taylynn Thomas.
Thomas met with commissioners in a 10-minute executive session to discuss her employee evaluation. Commissioners took no action when returning to the regular meeting.
Earlier this year, the Cloud County Commission voted to switch the home health management software to a MatrixCare, and according to Cloud County Home Health Nurse Kendra Annon, it’s already become a boon for the department.
“I know the new system is—when I figured it—about $2,100 more a month than the previous one,” Annon said. “But, just in May, we brought in about $7,200 for Medicare.”
Annon said that the monthly average for private insurance patients is about $1,500. She also reported that with the new system, the department can take on more home health patients. Its current roster is 32 total patients, with five Medicare patients.
County health employees have reported positively about the new system, with Annon saying it has shortened the amount of time she spends in her office immensely. She said she now has more time to visit home health patients.
Routine business followed Annon’s presentation, with commissioners unanimously approving the previous meeting’s minutes, abatements and an Amateur Radio Week Proclamation for June 22-28.
Gary Caspers then joined the meeting to present a Juvenile Detention Update and 2026 budget request, which is unchanged from the previous year at $2,424.
After a quick executive session with County Appraiser Kim Winsett, commissioners welcomed Richard Hubert with the Cloud County Commission on Aging for a department update and budget request.
According to Hubert, the commission alongside the Concordia Senior Center accomplished one of its goals since its separation from the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging last year.
“Since May of last year, we served 11,435 meals, and that’s actually more than a year before we separated,” Hubert said.
Hubert also reported that the Concordia Senior Center averages between 150 and 200 instances of visitors using services and activities each month, which is between three and six seniors per day.
Financial challenges remain ahead of the commission on aging, though, with Hubert asking Cloud County to fully fund its programs of one mill.
Commissioners will review the budget request and will make official budget decisions at a later date.
After Hubert finished his discussion with commissioners, they moved on to chat with Salina attorney Mike Montoya about Trail Road litigations. Cloud County resident Ryan McMillan joined the discussion after a 20-minute executive session.
The meeting then adjourned at 2:53 p.m. after commissioners worked on the new solid waste billing system.
