By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

The Cottonwood Extension District, a partnership between the Ellis and Barton County Kansas State Extension Districts, continued to move forward Monday, after both county commissions approved a revised operational agreement.

Both Ellis and Barton County Commissions had previously signed off on the agreement creating the Cottonwood Extension District No. 17 effective July 1, but the district also had to be approved by the Kansas State Extension Director and the Kansas Attorney General.

According to Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes, the Attorney General’s office suggested changes to two paragraphs dealing with the appointment and subsequent election of board members.

The Ellis County Commission voted Monday to allow Commission Chair Barb Wasinger to sign off on the agreement. Barton County commissioners also approved the changes at their meeting Monday.

The Ellis County Commission also appointed four people to represent the county on the district’s governing board at Monday’s meeting.

As part of the collaboration, each county is to appoint four members to an eight-member Extension board. District governing body members will then be elected by the public in general elections.

The Ellis County Commission selected Rhiannon Corn, Alan Roth, Nathan Leiker and Ramey Wasinger to the board. County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes said all four have been involved in the creation of the district.

“Those four folks currently represent Ellis County Extension as members of the transitional board that has been meeting and discussing the formation in conjunction with Barton County,” said Smith-Hanes.

Corn and Roth will serve on the board through the remainder of the year and be up for re-election in November while Leiker and Wasinger will serve through 2019. Each county will have two members on two-year terms and two members on four-year terms.

They were nominated by the Ellis County Extension Council.

In other business:

• the commission approved a resolution to become the host county for the Northwest Kansas Juvenile Services.
• Approved Wasinger to approve expenditures for the Courthouse Preservation Committee
• Approved the financed options for a new reclaimer and the purchase of cold mix asphalt and cold in place recycling to resurface current asphalt road surfaces
• Gave the Public Works Director approval to advertise and hire a new Landfill Foreman
• Approved revisions to the County Administrator’s job description to allow the administrator to appoint or remove department directors and approve employee change of status