Rarely used crisis items will be homeless

Wanted: The evicted tenant seeks safe storage space for a large number of rarely used items.

These include several industrial generators and a set of trailers, including a 60-foot-high radio relay tower that can be converted to 200-foot-high, and another that can replace the sheriff’s dispatch office as a mobile command post.

Marion County was asked to leave the storage space it rented from Country Side Feeds in Hillsboro for $250 per month.

The feed company needs this space, as well as other spaces it leases to other companies, to expand its business. It has asked the county to clean up its property by mid-January.

Most are emergency preparedness items, including a large number of items provided by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday, the emergency manager Randy Frank described the situation to the county commissioner.

"We are a little unhappy," he said.

Some items were previously stored in a shed in Pilsen and in the county store on Marion Cobble Street, but since then, the number of items stored has increased, adding three items such as shelf files. County Evaluator's Office.

Commissioner Dave Crofoot (Dave Crofoot) wanted to know on Monday whether all items—especially the 200-foot relay tower—are still valid and necessary.

The tower is designed to replace or enhance any state-owned Kansas Interoperability Communication System tower network, which is used by almost all public safety and government agencies, including Marion County law enforcement, ambulance, and fire services.

The mobile unit can be filled with Aulne's 800 MHz radio repeater, which covers most of Marion County or any other repeater in the area.

Almost every nearby tower in the surrounding counties has a range that extends to parts of Marion County. If the Aulne Tower is unavailable or overloaded, it can provide limited services here, just like the grid of a cell phone tower.

The state established this tower in Marion County as a backup to a larger area, not just the county.

"Can we give this tower trailer to someone else?" Croft asked Frank.

"It depends on the sheriff," Frank replied, "because he signed all these things."

In order to avoid an outbreak of disputes among department heads, committee chairman Randy Dallke quickly added: "The committee has signed."

However, he later made suggestions for other materials stored in Countryside Feeds: "We can ask the Department of Homeland Security if any other counties accept it."

Crofoot suggested that the city of Marion may be willing to let the county rent a former auto body repair shop owned by the city at 828 N. Roosevelt St. in the city’s industrial park.

The city believes that the building has been sold to the developer of the southern wind farm in Marion County, but the new owner of the wind farm has allowed the purchase option to lapse and has little interest in the building.

The building is currently rented out to Pilsen Packrats on a monthly basis as a place for its real estate sales. In recent weeks, there have been unconfirmed rumors about potential long-term buyers.

Commissioner David Mueller pointed out that the city owed the building approximately $200,000.

County Secretary Tina Spencer added: “They may want to sell it to people who have to pay taxes.”

As a government agency, the county does not pay property taxes if it owns the building.

Dalk agrees that the city may wish to avoid selling to the county, adding: "I have attended a disturbing meeting on this issue."

In the end, the committee members decided to first consider whether the county’s road and bridge department can store some or all of the materials in its N. Coble St store.

The second option is to temporarily store some or all of the items at the county fair in Hillsboro.

Ask Marion's building at 828 N. Roosevelt St. to be listed as the third option.

Crofoot was instructed to consult with city officials and report within a week whether the city was interested in renting or selling the building.