County approves $100‑a‑year lease with Leroy for radio tower site; emergency management outlines exercises and tower timeline

The Coffey County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize the chairman to sign a land‑lease agreement with the City of Leroy for a 75‑by‑75‑foot tract at 424 Ninth Street in Leroy, Kansas, at a lease rate of $100 per year. The site will host one of three planned county radio towers to improve public safety communications.

The motion was made at the recommendation of the Emergency Management director and was approved after the county attorney reviewed the form of the agreement. During the department update, the emergency management director told the board that most land issues are complete and that the county is “just waiting for tower parts to come in and towers to be built,” saying, “we should have all the land things complete.” The director also briefed commissioners on recent training and preparedness activity: the county hosted severe‑weather awareness outreach, the National Weather Service cancelled the statewide tornado drill due to weather, and the National Weather Service public weather talk is scheduled for March 20 at 7 p.m. at the 4‑H Building.

Emergency Management also outlined exercises tied to Wolf Creek: a pre‑exercise on April 9 and an evaluated exercise on June 8. The department plans to schedule Emergency Operations Center role training for commissioners and staff the week of March 24 and other exercises tied to those dates.

Commissioners approved the lease and directed the chairman to sign. The county attorney indicated he had reviewed the agreement as to form.

Provenance: The land lease motion and emergency management department update appear in the transcript during the department update segment and vote recorded during the morning business items.