Changing the day of the week on which the Barton County Commission meets has been bandied about commission meetings on and off for several weeks. Commissioners looked at staying on Mondays and moving to Wednesdays.

However, Monday morning they agreed on a change and approved a resolution moving the meetings to Tuesdays starting Sept. 7. They will still meet at 9 a.m. in their courthouse chambers, 1400 Main in Great Bend.

“We have met on Mondays mornings forever,” commission Chairman Jim Daily, District 4, said. They have talked in the past about moving, but it never met with commission favor until now.

“That allows for those folks who are department heads, or other citizens, to get their Monday mornings over with,” he said. It may also allow more people from the public to attend.

“It would give us an opportunity as well, as the commissioners, to have another or a day prior to meeting so we can do some of the same things,” he said.

“This has come up a number of times and I don’t want people to think that we can’t come to an agreement,” District 5 Commissioner Jennifer Schartz said. “We just tried to search for a better time. And it has just taken some work to figure out what works best for the area media and personal schedules.”

District 1 Commissioner Kirby Krier said he spoke with a representative for the Hoisington Dispatch and Ellinwood Leader. He was told that if they can have the write-ups commissioners provide by noon on Tuesdays, it would work.

“If this works, we can continue it,” he said. “But, if it doesn’t work, I would probably want to go back to Mondays.”

But, the all agreed it was worth trying.

The issue first came up July 19 when the commission discussed changing to Wednesday. 

Schartz said four-fifths of the commission were retired and can set their own schedule. The exception was District 3 Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson who still operates his own business. 

Hutchinson indicated Monday is sort of the day he gets his week started and said Wednesday would work better. Hutchinson said there may be others who might be able to run for commission if the meeting were moved to Wednesday, and it might be easier for the public to attend meetings.

However, it was noted that the weekly Hoisington Dispatch and Ellinwood Leader go to print on Tuesday, so Wednesdays would make it difficult for them to get commission news printed in a timely manner.

It was noted that a Wednesday move would require a change in how all departments would have to process their accounts payable. It might also conflict with the various state county association meeting schedules. 

Hutchinson said he is here “for the people” and appreciated the commission looking into it for him, but didn’t not want to make it more difficult. He didn’t want them to change just for him.   

The matter was tabled for further discussion and addressed again Aug. 9.

The issue with the newspaper deadlines was still a concern, but commissioners said some department heads might favor the commission meeting on Mondays. It was also discussed keeping Mondays, but bumping the start time to 10 a.m. instead of 9.