Reno County Commission meeting features Plevna tornado recovery and Health Department Annual Report

Reno County Commission Meeting Summary – May 28, 2025

The Reno County Commission held its regular meeting on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the Veterans Room at the Reno County Courthouse. A livestream of the meeting is available at Reno County YouTube Streams, and the agenda and related documents can be accessed at Reno County Agendas. 

Plevna Tornado Relief and Recovery Update

Adam Weishaar, Reno County Emergency Management Director, spoke to commissioners about the EF3 tornado that struck Plevna, a rural town in Reno County, on Sunday, May 18th. This was in response to Chairman Don Bogner's acknowledgment of 6.B Proclamation of a State of Local Disaster Emergency for Reno County, Kansas, in the Consent Agenda. Weishaar gave details about the EF3 tornado which also impacted Pratt and Stafford counties. He said that the EF3 rated tornado took a 32 mile trek with approximately 158 mph winds and at its widest point was about a mile-wide which was in Reno County.  After Plevna was struck by the tornado, immediately after that, all our Rural County Districts and Reno County Sheriff's Office organized a grid search of every home in that area and checked on every single resident who was impacted by the tornado. Fortunately there were no injuries and no deaths reported related to the tornado. At the same time a structure fire was reported and fire units had to leave the scene to go work the structure fire. Community needs were assessed and the Red Cross was activated. The Salvation Army was activiated to set up shelter and feeding operations. Because there was no power in Plevna, an emergency shelter was established at the Abbyville Community Center. In total there were nine homes destroyed within Plevna city limits and outside the city limits, with approximately 28 homes that were impacted including the nine that were destroyed. There was a Multi Agency Resource Center (MARC) on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to help connect our citizens with all of the resources available to them which was held at the Abbyville Church.  Nineteen families attended the MARC and requested assisstance. The Voluntary Organization After Disasters (VOAD) takes in all of the donated dollars and distributes it to the tornado victims, all through the United Way of Reno County. Each dollar that is donated is given to victims, there isn't an administrative fee taken out. Monetary donations are very important right now in that the county will not qualify for any state or federal help because we did not meet any disaster threshholds. The dollars pouring in from the community are what we are relying on to take care of the victims. Of the 19 families, ten of them do not have insurance on their homes or their properties. 

"It's amazing living in Reno County and seeing the outreach from the citizens. We've been out there every day and there is tons and tons of volunteers out there. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of labor that have been done completely free of charge. It was almost not safe to walk the streets because there were so many pieces of heavy equipment cleaning up the tornado debris. It was really impressive and it speaks volumes to the sense of community that's in Reno County," said Weishaar. "Reno County Public Works has been in the Plevna area with dumptrucks taking debris to the landfill. Our work is not done in the community, we are going to keep walking hand in hand with the victims."

The Reno County VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) group is going to continue raising funds through the United Way with details at www.unitedwayofrenocounty.org/disasters. There is a benefit concert being held this Friday, May 20, 2025, at Sandhill Brewing, with portions of the proceeds go to the Plevna tornado victims. 

County Counselor Patrick Hoffman told commissioners that any structure that was damaged as a result of the tornado can fill out an application to have their taxes adjusted due to the damage or loss to the structure. Then later as they rebuild, they can fill out a different application for the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan (NRP) to get their county portion of their taxes rebated. 

To contact the Appraiser's office call 620-694-2915 or go to https://www.renocountyks.gov/Appraiser.  To look at the NRP information, go to https://www.renocountyks.gov/neighborhood-revitalization-project 

Annual Reports

• Karla Nichols, Reno County Health Department Director, presented the health department's annual report.

Administrative Updates

• County Administrator Randy Partington shared monthly department updates and discussed the BOCC commission meetings and the final schedule in June for Budget Study Sessions with department heads. He also shared that the Employee Appreciation Picnic will be on June 11th. The Budget Study Session meeting on Wednesday, June 18th will start earlier at 8:30 a.m. These study sessions are not live streamed but are open to the public. Partington also talked about the Financial Report for FY25.

• County Counselor Patrick Hoffman said that he has a couple of amendments he would like to propose to the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) at the June 25th BOCC meeting. The NRP is a topic that requires a public notice to go in the newspaper before they can discuss it. He said that he thinks a few city partners will participate if we make a couple of adjustments to make it easier for them. 

County Commission Report/Comments were shared and two Executive Sessions were held for Non-Elected Personnel. 

Burn Permits Study Session

After the meeting adjourned, a study session was held to talk about the Reno County Burn Permits. Participants included:

• Adam Weishaar, Emergency Management Director

• Travis Vogt, Fire Administrator

• Dusty Tacha, State Prescribed Fire Specialist, USDA, NRCS. 

• All Reno County Commissioners: Don Bogner, Ron Hirst, Randy Parks, Ron Vincent and Richard Winger

• Patrick Hoffman, County Counselor

• Randy Partington, County Administrator

• Kevin Irwin, 911 Director for Hutchinson and Reno County

• Stacie Eaves, 911 Assistant Director for Hutchinson and Reno County

Next Meeting

The next Reno County Commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at 9 a.m., in the Veterans Room, Reno County Courthouse, 206 W. First Avenue.

Adam Weishaar, Emergency Management DirectorReno County CommissionKarla Nichols, Health Dept Director Patrick Hoffman, County CounselorReno County CommissionBurn Permit Study SessionBurn Permit Study Session