A conditional use permit for a new quarry in Lyon County will remain tabled until further notice following the Lyon County Commission’s weekly action meeting Thursday morning.
Commissioners voted unanimously to indefinitely table the request from US Stone, which is seeking to operate a quarry in the 1200 block of Road C, for the second consecutive time after doing so during its May 29th meeting. The reason for the original tabling was to allow time for a traffic study and survey of a proposed haul route for the quarry, which would need significant improvements to bring it up to standard.
According to Lyon County Engineer Wayne Scritchfield’s estimates from the survey, the cost of improvements to bring the road network up to standard would be roughly $1 million or more, which would be paid for by US Stone and not county tax dollars. One of the major questions amongst commissioners Thursday is whether US Stone would be willing to make such an investment and no representatives from the company were in attendance to answer said question.
County resident Mark Remmer, who lives in the area and is one of the individuals that has opposed the quarry, suggested the county simply deny the permit request, saying the company has not been “engaging” the county on the matter. Additionally, Remmer stated, “As a resident of the Flint Hills, I hate to see the Flint Hills destroyed for something that in my opinion is relatively trivial.”
KVOE News asked Remmer if US Stone was willing to make the needed improvements to the road network, if it would change his opinion on the matter? Remmer told KVOE News that he can’t say “no,” however, he feels he would still have the same safety concerns.
Commissioners did consider outright denying the CUP Thursday; however, they ultimately felt it was only fair to allow US Stone to come before the commission before making a decision, hence the motion to table the item. Commission Chairman Ken Duft.
There is currently no date for when the matter will come back before commissioners for further consideration.
In other business, commissioners approved signing a contract with Ben Moore Studio for architectural design work on the proposed Lyon County Communications Range and training facility. As has been reported previously, current plans are to construct a facility that would house both the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office’s new training equipment while also providing a new dedicated space for Lyon County 911 operations.
While commissioners did approve the contract unanimously, Commissioner Doug Peck had some concerns regarding the overall cost of the project. An exact price has not been set just yet; however, it is estimated that the project could cost roughly $3 million, but the total projected cost will not be available until the design work is complete.
With this in mind, Peck asked if there was a possibility 911 could move to the soon-to-be former Emporia Fire Department station inside of White Auditorium once the new headquarters is completed to save some money. Lyon County Emergency Communications Center Director Roxanne Van Gundy says she appreciates that the county is trying to be diligent with its dollars; however, the fire station would require significant upgrades to house the department.
Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Cope noted that the current location of 911 inside the Emporia Police Department headquarters was meant to be a temporary location; however, it has been there for 14 years now. When asked if he felt moving operations to the EFD space was feasible, he did not believe so, saying it would simply be “trying to put a band-aid on the wound.”
The training facility component of the project will include a new targeting system, paid for with a portion of Federal dollars allocated through a grant from US Senator Jerry Moran to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office back in December.
The range must be in use by May of 2026 or the grant dollars must be repaid to the government. The entire project is set to be paid for through county sales tax dollars and not property taxes.
In separate action Thursday, commissioners also authorized the submission of an application to the Kansas Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant program on behalf of Imaginarium, which is planning to relocate from the Emporia Main Street incubator space to the former Grave’s Drugs storefront at 609 Commercial Street. Commissioners also chose to take no action on a proposed joint task force for mill levy reduction between the City of Emporia, Lyon County, USD 253 Emporia and the Emporia Recreation Commission.
The county’s decision follows similar action by USD 253 school board members Wednesday night. The ERC has yet to consider the proposal.
Also Thursday, commissioners received their latest round of appropriation requests from the following entities, both on Wednesday and Thursday:
Thursday’s requests:
Emporia Senior Center: Seeking $115,000 up from 2025 request of $90,000
Emporia Public Library: $215,000 flat from 2025 request
North Lyon County Library: $24,326 up from 2025 request of $23,326
Americus Library: $49,492 up from 2025 request of $44,492
Flint Hills Technical College: $73,906.68 down from 2025 request of $230,000.
Law Enforcement: Increased request by 2.34 percent
Emergency Management: Increased request by 2.4 percent
Lyon County Jail: Increased request by 0.44 percent
Wednesday requests:
Kansas State Extension Office: $400,000 up from 2025 request of $308,000
Kansas Legal Services: $17,500 up from 2025 request of $17,000
Newman Regional Health: $850,000 up from 2025 request of $650,000
North Lyon County Senior Center: $7,540 flat from 2025 request
Lyon County Register of Deeds: Budget request increased 2.2 percent
Lyon County Attorney: Budget request increased 3 percent
The Lyon County Commission will reconvene for a fence viewing on Wednesday and will convene its regular action meeting a day later than normal on Friday at 9 am due to the Juneteenth holiday.
