Hillsboro Free Press

The Marion County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting on Monday and opened with information from Hillsboro City Administrator Matt Stiles. Stiles informed the commissioners that he, along with several others, is applying for the KDOC SEED grant. “It’s for a lot of different things, but we are looking at helping grocery stores primarily. I’m trying to put everyone together so we don’t have a bunch of applications from the county since it can only be awarded once to the county,” said Stiles. There are several items on the list from multiple towns in Marion County and this way [...]

Tabor College has been selected for a $90,000 Rural Business Development Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant, set for Aug. 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, will provide services to Hillsboro, Marion County, and much of central Kansas for starting and growing businesses. The former Tabor Welcome Center, located on the corner of D and Washington streets, will serve as the program incubator. Staci Janzen, professor of business administration at Tabor, has been named program director. Source: Hillsboro Free Press

Recycling was the main topic of business for the weekly Marion County Board of Commissioners on Monday. Weed/HHW/Transfer Station/Recycle Director Josh Housman gave an update on Department business letting the commissioners know that he is still a few employees short. Commissioner Kent Becker told Housman that he got a call from Fort Riley and they reported that they are ready to start taking recycling again which he feels would be really helpful to Hillsboro and Marion. Source: Hillsboro Free Press

The Hillsboro Elementary Community Garden Club has been having fun while working hard on cleaning up the garden and harvesting all the growing vegetables. They have been giving away a lot of fresh veggies to community members. “Thank you so much to the City of Hillsboro for helping make the garden club successful,” said President Emerson Corby. Source: Hillsboro Free Press

...sometimes, the customer has no idea just how close to a crisis they were and how very hard their cities worked to keep them from ever having to experience the slightest inconvenience. This happened in Marion County recently when the water plant had an issue beginning on June 15 with a 24-inch valve, which restricted flow of water into the distribution system. The approximately 40-year-old valve likely had a gasket come loose and wrap around the internal valve mechanism. ... Thanks to the quick thinking of Water and Wastewater Superintendent Morgan Marler and all the teamwork of the Peabody and Hillsboro [...]

EMS Director Travis Parmley informed the Marion County Board of Commissioners on Monday that the new building, located in Hillsboro, is completed, and they should be all moved in by the end of the day. Those on duty were able to sleep there that night. There is still landscaping to be done and some other small projects, but overall, the building is ready. The project has been in progress for months and the board and Parmley expressed appreciation that the building was complete. On other building news, Parmley and the board discussed the Annex remodel and various bids for work that [...]

USD 410 students presented to the Hillsboro City Council in a special city council meeting on Wednesday, March 9. ... Two different groups, led by teacher Darrel Knoll, presented during the 30-minute meeting, and both gave some simple and fairly cost-effective ideas to improve the town of Hillsboro. The first group offered some revisions of the shelter houses in the park. The group consisted of Callie Plenert, Katherine Maxfield and Emily Paulus. They talked about how the shelter houses are outdated and need updating and fixing. The group suggested revamping and improving the shelter houses located in the park. “People usually [...]

The Hillsboro City Council heard in their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 1 that sales tax is continuing the strong upward trend from 2021. “Sales tax collection in 2022 has started off 25% higher than January 2021. In total we received $75,552.83 in January for sales in December 2021,” said Hillsboro City Administrator Matt Stiles. Stiles gave the council an update on the proposed shipping container housing on 3rd Street. The council heard public concerns about the project at the Jan. 18 council meeting. The project was referred back to the Planning Commission for further discussion. Source: Hillsboro Free Press

Hillsboro experienced a record-breaking tax income with December’s sales tax, according to Hillsboro City Administrator Matt Stiles in the Hillsboro City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 4. Stiles said they do not know the exact reasons for the month’s collections of $872,024.52, which was 23 percent higher than 2020 and 47 percent than the rolling five-year average. “There could be any number of reasons. Car sales were high, and we also have new businesses doing well with The Building Center and bomgaars,” said Stiles. Mayor Lou Thurston added, “And frankly all of our businesses do a really good job and work [...]

While many in Marion County and surrounding areas experienced some damage on Dec. 15 from the extreme winds, the damages paled in comparison to what western Kansas faced when the storm caused fires to spread throughout the central and western part of the state. According to the Kansas Forest Service, 400,000 acres burned in 11 counties in western Kansas with smaller fires in other counties. Many in Marion County are doing something about it. Jonas Frantz and Kelly Novak of Tampa, KS have gotten together and organized efforts to get supplies and money to those who need help in western Kansas, [...]