Commissioner Metland moves multiple executive sessions on Thresher and Ferrisher wind CUP proposals

The Seward County Commission voted to enter multiple closed executive sessions on May 18, 2026 to consult legal counsel about conditional-use permit proposals for two wind-energy projects, recorded in the meeting as the Thresher and Ferrisher projects.

"I move for the County Commission to enter Executive Session," the mover said when introducing the first motion for a 15-minute session to consult counsel under the cited Kansas statute. The motions named county administration and outside counsel as attendees, including Nick Keckley and an attorney recorded in the transcript as Trish (transcript spelling varies). The transcript also records that April (transcript variant) and Brock (transcript variant) were to be included.

The commission recorded that the first short executive session passed with one commissioner absent; a later motion to enter a one-hour executive session for the Ferrisher CUP was recorded as passing 5–0, and subsequent short sessions on the Thresher CUP were also convened. The Chair stated after return from the sessions that "no action" resulted from the closed consultations.

The motions repeatedly cited KSA provisions (transcript reads variations such as "KSA 70 five-forty three-nineteen B2" and "75Dash4319B2") as the legal basis for attorney–client privileged consultation. The transcript lists the Ferrisher application as "CU 20 25 dash 2" and the Thresher item as a CUP proposal; the commission scheduled and confirmed resumption times during the meeting amid some timing clarifications.