It wasn’t part of its regular agenda, but the Barton County Commission was glad to take up the matter.
Hoisington Chamber of Commerce Board President Brian Wilborn approached commissioners Monday morning advising them of the Kansas State Fair organizers to move the statewide event to include Labor Day weekend. He and others in Hoisington fear this will hurt the city’s annual Labor Day festivities.
He said they realize the fair’s importance. “But, this could hurt our 117-year-long party.”
The Hoisington activities are an economic boon to the entire county, he said.
Wilborn said fair officials are conducting a survey on line to gauge support. The deadline to participate is Wednesday.
It can be found at: https://kansasedu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eguytA3PeKsOaY5).
He encouraged area residents to take the survey and support Hoisington.
He was not alone, commission Chairman Don Cates did the same. And, the commission approved a resolution in support of not moving the fair, and have it submitted to those making the decision.
No date for a final ruling on the fair change has been set. The 2014 fair will be as it has been.
In other business Monday morning, the Barton County Commission:
 • Approved submitting a letter of support for Sunflower Diversified Services which has plans to submit a Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) grant application. The $291,000 grant would be used to continue the operation of the General Public Transportation System, said SDS Transportation Supervisor Sarah Krom.
Krom said Sunflower will match the money, which will be for the 2015 fiscal year, but there is not county funds involved.
Sunflower operates a fleet of eight busses that serve Barton, Pawnee, Rice, Rush and Stafford counties. Rides cost $2 each, regardless of the distance.
They are on track to serve 48,000 riders this year.
• Learned that CynDee Christiansen, Teen Court coordinator, received a grant from Cox Communications to offset the expense of bringing The BULLY Project to Barton County. The BULLY Project film, directed by Sundance and Emmy award-winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch, is a documentary that follows five children and their families over the course of a school year.
The movie will be shown exclusively at Great Bend’s Village Cinemas Nov. 16. Theater owners have granted use of all six screens to show the film, if technical arrangements can be made with the movie’s producer. Otherwise, it will be shown on one screen.
Over the past couple years, Christiansen said she’s seen a lot of cases of battery and disorderly conduct come through Teen Court, many of which are related to bullying. This was the impetus to find an anti-bullying program.
The BULLY Project also included training for county officials. She said she has all the schools on board with the effort and is working to get the word out to as many people as possible.
• Approved setting aside the $6,261 bid accepted On Oct. 21 to replace the fence at the site of the damaged communications near Doonans. The fence bid was just part of the project.
County Administrator Richard Boeckman said after the bid was approved, he heard from another vendor who felt there hadn’t been an adequate opportunity to submit a proposal. Now, a new bid request has been sent out and the process is starting over.
The action doesn’t impact the  bids for the tower (Hayden Towers of Topeka for $144,000), for the removal of the damaged equipment (Stone Waste Management for $2,800) and for the new electrical service (Hammeke Electric for $2,500).