The Cloud County Commission met at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 4, with multiple county officials and employees in attendance, alongside commissioners Ron Copple, Dannie Kearn and chairman Mike Cleveland. Organizations including North Central Kansas Court Appointed Special Advocate (NCK CASA), Pawnee Mental Health and the Kansas Department of Transportation.
In routine business, the commission approved three new corrections officer hires, including Dylan Brazel, Kelsey Blackwood and Daniel Blackwood. Commissioners also approved a commercial driver's license (CDL) training agreement for Daniel Blackwood and unanimously adopted two proclamations for May, which is Motorcycle Awareness Month and Mental Health Month.
In employee reports, Cloud County Solid Waste Director Mike Hake met with commissioners to assist in a public hearing that was for delinquent solid waste fees in the county.
“Hearing no objections, the hearing was closed and commissioners voted unanimously to move the fees to the 2026 tax statements,” Cleveland said. “These were only for the first half of 2025, as the second half of 2025 was already billed on the 2025 tax statement by our new policy.”
Hake also reported that the recycling center has begun its summer hours, which are 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but the after-hours recycling trailers will still be available for residents to drop off recyclable items.
Infrastructure discussions began next, where highway administrator Rod Michaud reported that bridge replacement construction on 170th Road between Gold and Fawn roads will begin soon and that highway employees continue cleanup and disposal at the County Yard.
In further reports, KDOT engineer Charles Bower joined Michaud to say that KDOT is abandoning the spur of Highway 194, where the Mitchell County Road and Bridge department will take over maintenance.
NCK CASA Executive Director Tony Miller attended the meeting to discuss the annual CASA budget request.
“The request is the same as it has been for the last two years, $15,000,” Cleveland said.
The commission will review the request for further budget considerations later.
Cloud County Maintenance Manager Jeff Thoman reported by phone that the courthouse's new elevator service is Metro Elevator and performed maintenance on the entryway elevator on Thursday, May 7.
After a quick executive session with Cloud County Health Department leadership, the commission continued open discussion with Pawnee Mental Health's 2027 budget request and the various services that the organization does for the county.
The commission discussed attending a meeting about the plan for concrete pouring at the Ross Doyen Memorial Bridge on Tuesday, May 12. Due to increased heavy truck traffic throughout the day, the county will close 190th Road from Kansas Highway 9 to Union Road for most of the day.
Cleveland provided a brief report on the $300,000 wind farm funds received in March, where the county has access to $150,000 of those funds to grant to local non-profit organizations, while the other half goes to CloudCorp's In the Cloud grants.
“We received grant requests for $453,727, representing project costs of $1,798,990. Commissioners funded grant requests for $148,200, leaving $1,800 in the reserve fund,” Cleveland said. “The grants that were made went to 19 entities to fill requests from $500 to $20,000, with the majority being $10,000 or less. The details of recipients and amounts will be in the April 27, 2026, meeting minutes.”
The commission then adjourned at 11:32 a.m., with the next meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. on Monday, May 11, at the Cloud County Courthouse, 811 Washington Street in Concordia.
