County Discusses Airport Grant

With $404,000 granted to the Ulysses Airport last month, the Grant County commission discussed who best to do the project at its April 1 meeting in Ulysses.

The funds are a part of the $14.3 million Kansas Airport Improvement Program, and Ulysses is one of five projects planned for southwest Kansas. Ulysses was given the most money of any of the five local projects – $404,000 – with the money being used for new fencing on the northwest side of the airport.

Local matching funds are required, though the amount varies depending on the project. With the matching local funds, the total project value is more than $34 million.

At the Ulysses Airport, $66,500 will be used for the design of a fence project along the northwestern side of the airport and $337,500 for constructing the fence. The fence is needed because cattle entering the runway has been a problem.

The county had talked last year about needing a fence to hold back the cattle, and a representative from Lautner Farms suggested putting in for a grant, which the county did and was awarded $404,000.

“I don’t know if Lautner sent an engineer out there and talked about a fence, but when they got back, they estimated a fence could cost four hundred and some thousand dollars,” said commissioner Marty Long. “So that’s what they put in their requisition.

“But that doesn’t mean we won’t take bids and that fence not cost 60-80 thousand dollars.”

County Clerk Sheila Brown said the commission had previously discussed that maybe they didn’t want Lautner to do the fence.

“Because it’s a paid-out grant, they have to follow all the same steps as you do,” Brown said, adding Lautner provided the costs for the design and construction of the fence. “I need to know some direction on what you want to do.”

“I think it’s imperative he (Lautner) bid this,” Long said.

“They have all the contractors in the database,” Brown added. “So, it’s a lot easier.”

Brown had not yet received the contract from the state as of April 1 and the commission will have 120 days to sign it.

“I think the consensus of the commissioners is to have Lautner go ahead and spearhead this,” Long said. “The design and construction.”

Other local projects include crack seal at the Hugoton Airport, as well as pavement repairs near the terminal and hangars; replace the Automated Weather Observation System at Stanton County Airport; a well to support the pilot lounge, hangars, and aerial applicators and crack seal in Satanta.

•In other action, Brown gave her report to the commission, saying that Grant County had a low turnout in the Presidential Preference Election.

“We had a 6.45% turnout on the Presidential Preference Primary, but we were not the lowest in the state,” Brown said. “I noticed that Johnson County had 4.32 (percent); Johnson County, that’s a lot of people there. It was bad all over.”

Brown also noted that she is already gearing up for the Aug. 6 Primary Election; up for election on the county level are Grant County Commissioner District 3 Mark McGaughey, the County Clerk, County Treasurer Terri Trotman, Register of Deeds Dana McDaniel, County Attorney Kelly Premer-Chavez, Sheriff James Biddle, Magistrate Judge Mike Winner, as well as the Precinct Committees. There will be a new county clerk as Brown is retiring this year.

“If you’re interested in doing any of those things, come on in the office and pick up your packet,” Brown added.

The deadline to file is Noon on June 3, and the deadline to change party affiliation is also June 3 at Noon.

“The Republican and Democrat parties put a law in place that says that that’s the deadline,” Brown said. “If you’re unaffiliated – in other words you don’t have a party, you’re an unaffiliated voter, you can affiliate clear up to the day of the election.”

Brown also noted there’s a new political party in Kansas – the United Kansas Party – and she is now getting the petition pages for Grant County for that.