The Barton County Commission will return to meeting on Tuesday mornings following the approval of a resolution setting the new day Wednesday. The change will go into effect with the July 11 meeting.

They would still meet at 9 a.m. By that time the meeting changes, the Courthouse HVAC project could be in full swing, and the commission may meet in the former JC Penney building at 1500 Kansas. 

This location, along with the building at 1709 Main and 1520 Main, will house county offices for a year until the work is complete. 

However, if the project is delayed, commissioners may still be meeting in their Courthouse chambers.

“Tuesdays have always worked better,” said commission Chairman Shawn Hutchinson, District 3. “That has always been a good way to go.”

Wednesday’s action follows a move made in January 2022 when the commission changed its meeting dates from Tuesdays to Wednesdays to accommodate County Counselor Patrick Hoffman, who had just also been named the Reno County counselor and they met on Tuesdays.

However, the Reno County Commission in March voted to move its meetings, starting in July, to Wednesday. At that point, there was interest among commissioners to return to Tuesdays.

When commissioners made the move to Wednesdays, it marked the second time in about five months meeting days were changed. They were moved from Mondays to Tuesdays in August 2021.

The meetings had been on Monday mornings for decades. But many of the commissioners had full-time jobs and were playing catch-up on Mondays, and many county department heads needed more time to prepare.

This prompted the switch to Tuesdays.