Two new CCCC board members sworn in

Dave Garnas and Amber Hanson, filling the positions left vacant by the resignations of Mark Matthew and Patricia Macfarlane, were sworn in as members of the Cloud County Community College board of trustees during a meeting on Tuesday night.
Matthew and Macfarlane, his wife, resigned as members of the board of trustees because they are moving out of the area.
Cloud County Community College (CCCC) received five letters of interest for the open board positions.
During a special meeting in June, the board voted to appoint Garnas, administrator of North Central Kansas Medical Center, to fill the unexpired term of Macfarlane.
The board voted to appoint Hanson, who works for the Kansas State School of the Blind in the outreach and field service department, to fill the unexpired term of Matthew.
Hanson was appointed by the board to fill Macfarlane’s positions as a member of the benefits committee and as the negotiation team alternate position.
Garnas was appointed to fill Matthew’s position on the audit and finance committee.
During the meeting, those in attendance observed a moment of silence for board member Jim Koch, who passed away on July 8.
Koch was serving his first term on the board of trustees, and had filed for re-election.
In action taken during the meeting, the board approved setting the 2023-2024 budget hearing and revenue neutral rate (RNR) hearing for September 5 beginning at 5 p.m. in Room 257 of the President’s addition.
It is the intent of the college to propose the same tax rate as 2022-2023 of 29.241 mills.
CCCC president Amber Knoettgen reported to the board that the RNR is 27 mills.
The RNR is the rate calculated to compare prior year ad valorem tax to current year estimates.
Because the proposed tax rate for the budget exceeds the RNR, the board must have a hearing and pass a resolution to authorize the rate increase.
“We want to be able to take the float and keep our mill where it is at, so we have to have an RNR hearing,” Knoettgen said.
The board discussed budget options during a special meeting in June.
It was reported to the board that the college has stabilized the enrollment the past two years and is being aggressive in trying to increase enrollment, and that the recommendation is to formulate a budget based on a five percent increase in enrollment to 31,500 credit hours.
Included in the consent agenda approved by the board, was the hiring of Christopher Jones as a psychology instructor.
A graduate of Houston International University with a bachelor of arts degree in social work, Jones received a master of arts degree in community/clinical psychology from Texas Southern University. He was the associate director of counseling/grants administrator - education research consultant with Village Psychotherapy Associates/Houston Research Group.
It was reported to the board during the meeting that the college is looking into the possibility of returning the two Northwind 100 kilowatt wind turbines to their original height of 30 meters.
Receiving more than $1.5 million in funding from various sources, CCCC erected the two Northwind Turbines and a Nordtank NTK 130 turbine in 2010.
In 2011, the Federal Aviation Administration determined that the turbines were too tall for as close as they were to Blosser Municipal Airport and issued a determination of hazard against them.
The two Northwind turbines were lowered from 30 meters to 18 meters and the Nordtank turbine was deactivated and is used only for training.
Because the city of Concordia opened Runway 18/36 at the airport two years ago, the college wants to find out if it can return the towers to their original height.
Board member, and former renewable energy instructor at the college, Bruce Graham said that lowering the height of the turbines has caused significant vibration issues.
“It is causing our turbines to vibrate a lot faster. If they were taller, they would vibrate slower and wouldn’t shake everything that is inside there and its electrical components,” Graham said.
Graham said that the Northwind turbines were designed to be 30 meters and 37 meters tall and that there is software to help mitigate the vibration.
Because the college’s turbines are the only two in the world that are 18 meters, there is no software designed for them.
It is estimated that it would cost a little under $50,000 to restore the turbines to their original height.
The board met in executive session with Knoettgen, interim vice president for academic affairs Brandon Galm, vice president of student services Brandt Hutchinson, resources director Chris Wilson and college attorney Justin Ferrell for negotiations.
No action was taken following the executive session.