Small Town News

County Commission Sends Hospital Issue Back To PBC For More Study

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The Barber County Commissioners at their October 16 meeting passed a resolution sending the question of what to do with the hospital projects back to the Barber County Public Building Commission.

Commissioners Paul Harbaugh, Steve Garten and Mike Thomas met with representatives from both the Kiowa and Medicine Lodge hospitals to discuss the resolution before voting to pass the measure.

Resolution No. 2009-12 (which is published on Page 2 of this issue) gives a detailed rundown of what has happened with the proposed building projects so far, noting that both hospitals confirmed "inefficiencies" that existed in both facilities and agreed to work together for a resolution that would form a Public Building Commission and authorize the issuance of revenue bonds not to exceed $26,500,000, which is the amount arrived at for construction of two new hospital facilities after a study by Critical Access Group.

The resolution notes that the resolution passed by a vote of 1,246 Yes to 1,139 No creating the PBC.

After a lengthy study, the PBC voted 5-2 to recommend the County Commission that the proposed projects of the hospital districts be approved and financed through the issuance of revenue bonds payable through payments to be made from the hospital district and the county.

The resolution goes on to state that after evaluation of the need for the projects and the amount of ad valorem revenue necessary to be levied to pay the county's share of the revenue bond payments, county commissioner determined that the payments "would be an unnecessarily onerous burden and cause economic hardship to property owners" and "create such a high tax level in the County to be a possible hindrance to economic development" and therefore did not accept the recommendation of the Public Building Commission.

The resolution then requests that the PBC conduct a further study to determine less costly ways the Barber County medical service needs can be met and to make recommendation to the county commissioners regarding their findings as soon as possible.

It further states that the study by the PBC should be done through "independent health industry professionals" approved by the PBC and County Commission, and upon approval of such consultants the commission will pay the reasonable costs and expenses of any such consultants.

The resolution also requests that the PBC engage the entire community as part of the reevaluation process to assure to the extent possible that the community has been made aware in advance of the exact nature of any proposal and its cost.



Copyright 2009 The Kiowa News, Kiowa, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Kiowa News Kiowa, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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