Ellis County reviews $10M bond plan to fund law-enforcement remodel, courthouse HVAC and facilities upgrades

County commissioners on Nov. 18 reviewed detailed plans and cost estimates for a package of building projects and agreed to move forward with bond planning and financial outreach rather than immediately authorizing a bond sale.

Staff presented a prioritized list of projects centered on renovating the law-enforcement center (LEC) and improving the courthouse’s failing HVAC system, along with lower-cost projects such as transfer-station repairs, a proposed EMS facility in Ellis and a fire-storage building. Darren Myers, who led the presentation, said staff would pursue a bond sale in early 2026 if the commission endorses the plan, and emphasized that the county’s approach is “to fund these projects without impacting property taxes.”

Why it matters: County buildings that house critical public safety and judicial functions are approaching end of life in several systems. Commissioners were particularly attentive to the risk of courthouse HVAC failure in winter — staff warned that a prolonged outage could force court closures and substantial disruption to trials and juries.

What staff proposed and the trade-offs - Law-enforcement center: Staff showed plans to move the dispatch center into a larger basement training room (roughly doubling the space), add offices, evidence storage and an improved front-desk layout. The presentation described a design-build approach for the LEC and an estimated project cost in the low millions (staff described a core design-build estimate and additional outside work that would be bid separately). Greg Herbert, buildings and grounds, noted the project also requires routing new electrical/network drops and adding HVAC capacity for the basement; “the air handler that’s down there now is from 1976,” he said.

- Courthouse HVAC: Staff reviewed two main options. Replacing the existing VRF-style units with newer VRF equipment carries a lower upfront expense but continues a repair-heavy approach; staff said commissioners have seen recurring repair invoices of roughly $20,000–$30,000 annually. Converting to a heat-pump / chiller-style system has a higher estimated budget but a longer expected life (staff cited roughly 30–40 years), reducing long-term repair risk.

- Transfer station: A roughly 1,600-square-foot metal addition and apron to improve handling of lightweight “fluff” was scoped. Hutton’s conceptual estimate was about $1.1 million; local contractor estimates for a reduced-scope package put costs closer to $250,000. Staff recommended funding the transfer-station work from the solid-waste enterprise fund rather than the bond.

- EMS facility (Ellis) and fire-storage building: A pre-engineered EMS/fire facility in Ellis was estimated by Hutton at about $3.5 million with optional bays and a mezzanine; removing options and trimming contingency could reduce that to roughly $2.6 million. The proposed public-works-area fire-storage building could be delivered as an unfinished insulated metal building for roughly $250,000 (alternative fuller-scope estimates were higher). Staff also noted volunteer labor could reduce interior finish costs for the storage facility.

Financing and timing Staff said earlier Hutton estimates totaled about $14.5 million but re-scoping and removing the transfer station from the bond package brought the working total to roughly $10.7 million. Ransom Financial will be asked to prepare bond documents; staff proposed distributing legal documents in December, a public protest period, and targeting bond sale documents in early 2026 with funds available by April to begin work. Myers said the county will consider multiple revenue sources — capital reserves, sales tax receipts, pilot payments from energy projects and unspent public-works sale proceeds — and reiterated intent to avoid a property-tax increase to pay debt service.

Commission discussion and next steps Commissioners debated bond sizing (options discussed ranged from about $9 million to $11 million) and term lengths (15–20 years), weighing shorter terms and lower total interest against programmatic flexibility if pilot payments or sales-tax revenue change. No bond resolution or sale was authorized at the meeting; commissioners instructed staff to continue work with Ransom Financial, refine scopes and return with documentation in December. The commission recessed for a 20-minute executive session to discuss potential litigation under the Kansas Open Meeting Act and adjourned after returning; no decisions from executive session were announced publicly.

Quotes “Before you, as a continued discussion from last week … Hutton was here and Mr. Glassman from Glassman Corporation to discuss some of the projects,” said Darren Myers, introducing staff’s review. “We intend to fund these projects without impacting property taxes,” he told commissioners during the financing discussion.

“If that system actually does go down over the winter … we would have to close the courthouse,” Myers added, summarizing operational risk. Greg Herbert, buildings and grounds, noted the age of existing equipment: “the air handler that’s down there now is from 1976.” Bill Jeter, county counselor, recalled past ventilation problems at the facility, underscoring the mechanical concerns.

What’s next: Staff will work with financial advisors to prepare bond documents for December presentations. Commissioners signaled support to proceed with planning and to return with bid-ready scopes and updated cost estimates before any authorization to sell bonds.

Ending: No vote to issue bonds was taken at the Nov. 18 meeting. The commission recessed to an executive session to discuss potential litigation and adjourned after the session with no public decisions reported.