Sen. Alley gets feedback from Cowley county commission

Cowley County commissioners had a request list for state Sen. Larry Alley, R-Winfield, when he stopped by the commission meeting Tuesday morning.

Alley said he has been visiting all the county commissions in Senate District 32 that includes parts of seven counties: Cowley, Barber, Comanche, Harper, Sumner, Kingman and Sedgwick. He is collecting information on what counties want him to focus on in the next legislative session that starts Jan. 14.

The No. 1 issue facing the county is money, Cowley County Commission chair Alan Groom said.

Following up on the need for money, commissioner Wayne Wilt said the county would like help applying for a grant that would pair the county with another so that each could get a bridge built. Cowley County has many bridges that need to be replaced, but does not have the resources at hand to do the job.

Counselor Mark Krusor said the county would like the state to look at giving counties the same power cities have to require nuisance properties to be cleaned up. Wilt said the chief opponents of such legislation — the Farm Bureau and the cattlemen’s association — are afraid such legislation would lead to zoning. Krusor said the county is not looking for zoning but for remedy in certain nuisance cases that they do not currently have.