By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Barton County Commission has utilized resources via the Kansas Natural Resource Coalition in recent months, especially as it pertains to the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) that was proposed to pass through the county. Tuesday morning, County Administrator Matt Patzner appeared before the board of commissioners to renew membership in the group.
"The Kansas Natural Resource Coalition serves as a conduit between local, state, and federal governments to promote balanced, necessary, and effective administrative policy-making initiatives that materially affect the natural or human systems governed by individual member counties," Patzner said.
Barton County will once again pay $5,000 for its annual membership. The exact number of counties in KNRC is not published but Commission Chair Tricia Schlessiger said Barton County said the organization of counties throughout the state serves a local purpose.
"I personally feel this is an important organization for us to be a part of," she said. "They've been involved actively in the NIETC corridor and also the Quivira water issues. Those are two things that affect our county directly."
Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson reminded other commissioners that the KNRC helped set up the tri-county meeting with Pawnee and Russell counties last October, which was particularly rare in that all three county commission boards took action from the meeting regarding the proposed NIETC.