Land opened up for hunting; City commission approves lease agreement with state department of wildlife and parks; acreage is mostly city-owned but located in county

In the next couple of weeks, sportsmen -- and women -- will be allowed to hunt on city-owned land in Bourbon County.

City commissioners on Tuesday approved a 15-year lease with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism that will enable people to hunt and bow hunt on 609 acres, which are not contiguous. Tracts include the area of Rock Creek Lake, the very south part of Lake Fort Scott, Condensary Road by the water treatment plant and the west side of Fort Scott Municipal Airport, among other locales, said District Wildlife Biologist Justin Harbit.

Under the contract with Kansas Department of Wildlife, City Manager Dave Martin said the city will receive a lump sum of $54,810. Martin said bow hunting only -- no firearms -- will be allowed on the land near the airport and water treatment plant.

Martin said the funds will go into the general fund. The Fort Scott City Commission unanimously voted Aug. 15 to cut $75,000 from the city's 2013 budget to make up for lost money due to a clerical error found the previous week following an annual state audit.

Asked if this meant the city could restore some of the cuts made, Martin said, "We'll just see how the year progresses. It's a budget. ... You look at where you are each month." He added the city also has to make sure there are no shortfalls anywhere else.

The soon-to-be opened acreage had previously been closed to public access, although Martin said he had received many requests that it be made available for hunting.

During their respective seasons, people will be able to hunt deer, turkeys, squirrels, rabbits and quail, among other species. No target shooting will be allowed. "It will be open for public access as long as you're hunting during one of the hunting seasons, have a hunting license and all your tags," Harbit said.

Next year, the land will be available for hunting from Sept. 1-May 31. This year, the season will be cut a little shorter because the contract was just approved. Harbit said seasons for most of what people hunt for occur in the fall. Rabbits can be sought pretty much year-round while squirrel season runs from July 1-Feb. 28, Harbit said.

"This is only for hunting access, not for camping, picnicking, or target shooting," Harbit said.

Martin said Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks will take care of posting signs and liability. "So to me it was a good thing to try," Martin said.

He said the option to open the land for hunting was always available, but he didn't know about it until recently. He said the city had many meetings with the department to make sure officials understood all the particulars.

In other business:

* Martin, Mayor Jim Adams and commissioner Cindy Bartelsmeyer will attend the League of Kansas Municipalities meeting Oct. 6-8 in Topeka. Alternates are Assistant City Manager Susan Brown, Public Works Director Eric Bailey and City Secretary Diane Clay.

* Fire Chief Paul Ballou, recently appointed interim emergency manager for Bourbon County. County commissioners also named Delwin Mumbower deputy interim emergency manager. Ballou said the position will be open through Sept. 21. He said the biggest part of the job is pre-disaster planning, talking to businesses and responders to make sure a plan is in place in case of disaster. Another large part of the position is post-disaster management.

The large grass fire that recently took place in the northwest part of Bourbon County traveled into several other counties, which resulted in those emergency managers working together. Ballou and Mumbower, coordinator for Bourbon County Rural Fire District No. 3, are temporarily replacing Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers, who accepted a position as a training and exercise specialist with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management in Salina. His last day was Aug. 31.

Adams and Martin said they appreciated Ballou stepping up. "It just shows again how we're working together," Martin said.

*Martin said this coming Saturday is Airport Day and said Manager Kenny Howard and his board do a great job of putting on that event.

* On the subject of the Fort Scott Police Department, Martin said things are "marching along as they are. ... At this point, we're not going to make any structural changes."

* Martin noted that veterans who place the flags on national holidays need help, because they're getting older. He said Ballou recruited some of his firemen and the Fort Scott Community College baseball team stepped up to help.