The Chase County Commission voted Oct. 31 to relocate the Road & Bridge office to space at 201 Walnut and to restrict after-hours access from the adjoining fire station.

Commissioners and department leaders debated the move for more than an hour, focusing on records security, desk and file access and how the public and non-county personnel use the fire-station area. Concerns centered on desks being in an open area and who would have access outside normal business hours.

"My concern is I feel that that needs to be restricted," said Matt during debate about how an open front area could be accessed from the fire station. Commissioners discussed locking strategies, rekeying file storage and providing Road & Bridge staff with keys to secure records and desks.

Tom and Steve (department staff) described storage options and suggested using heavy file cabinets from the courthouse second floor to create secure storage downstairs. Commissioners agreed the county could rekey storage and require staff to lock doors at the end of the day.

Commissioner Hazelton moved to relocate Road & Bridge to 201 Walnut with the condition that access from the fire-station side be restricted outside normal business hours; the motion was seconded and the board voted in favor. The board also agreed to treat the move as a trial "4 to 6 months" period to work out scheduling and security concerns.

The commission discussed maintaining the area as a meeting and training space, with scheduling managed to ensure availability for county and fire-department events. No specific capital budget appropriation for the move was adopted during the meeting; the motion addressed the physical relocation and access restrictions only.

The commission directed staff to coordinate lock systems, key assignments and record-storage arrangements and to report back if additional security or facility modifications are needed.