The Lyon County Commission declined to renew its membership with the Flint Hills Regional Council for 2019 Thursday morning at the courthouse.
The Flint Hills Regional Council is a voluntary service association formed between a number of counties, cities and municipalities to provide services of mutual benefit to the region with a mission to enhance economic viability and overall quality of life for Flints Hills residents.
Lyon County has been a member for five years, but Chair Rollie Martin said he wasn’t sure if the county was seeing a true benefit from its involvement. He said he believed the county should see some sort of “measurable success” after five years of membership.
Commissioner Scott Briggs, who has served as the county’s liaison for the last two years, disagreed.
“I don’t know how you quantify the success of it or not the success of it,” Briggs said. “It’s the relationships you build, and I think the relationships should still be there.”
Commissioner Dan Slater said he agreed with Martin that the county wasn’t benefiting enough to justify the cost of membership. The idea behind the organization was “fantastic,” but he wasn’t seeing a benefit to Lyon County.
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)