Jail site: it's a done deal

Bourbon County now owns an additional 6 acres, which will be developed into the new Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center.

On Monday afternoon, Bourbon County Commission Chair Barbara Albright signed papers finalizing the land transaction.

On Nov. 12, 2015, commissioners signed a contingency agreement to purchase the property at 323 E. 20th Street from Cullor, Inc. for $200,000.

As part of the contingency, environmental studies, a property survey and geological testing had to be completed.

Even though there were no issues discovered during the surveys and tests, it was discovered there were some vacated city streets on the property. To ensure there would not be issues with the streets in the future, on May 17 the Fort Scott City Commissioners voted to officially vacate those streets.

The purchase means the county can now move forward with construction of a $6.8 million jail project.

On April 7, 2015, voters approved a bond issue to fund the project through a .4-percent retail sales tax increase. The issue passed by 16 votes. The new sales tax increase went into effect Oct. 1, 2015.