Ellis County Commission approves bond projects

By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post

The Ellis County Commission approved a resolution authorizing the sale of up to $11 million in bonds to fund multiple county projects during its Tuesday meeting.

These include the law enforcement center remodel, emergency medical services building, courthouse and administrative HVAC improvements, and a fire services storage building.

Darin Myers, county administrator, said the storage building is included only as a placeholder and could be covered by grants, with no funding set aside for it at this time.

Bids for the bonds are due on March 9 and will be paid over the next 20 years using existing savings, not by raising taxes, Myers said.

Tallgrass development solar project review agreements

Commissioners approved agreements that would allow legal and technical experts to review documents for the proposed Tallgrass Development solar project.

"This is providing legal expertise where we are not experts," Commissioner Nathan Leiker said.

The proposed $275 million solar project would be in southwest Ellis County. Project documents include a conditional-use permit, county resolutions, payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement and road use agreement.

Myers said no county taxpayer dollars or county subsidies will fund the project or review process, and any tax incentives would come from state or federal programs.

Steven Link, senior project developer, addressed several concerns, including decommissioning and environmental impacts.

"These are very pricey projects. We do study all the risks involved with these before we bring them to market," Link said.

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