Ellsworth County commissioners wil see if anything can be done with a portion of Fourth Road to assist the tourism efforts of a new Wilson entrepreneur.

Matthew Fulkerson, who has purchased the former missile base property east of Wilson, asked commissioners Monday whether the half-mile stretch of road off of Old 40 Highway going to the property could be smoothed out. He plans to renovate the property into a tourist attraction with tours of the complex and camp ground. Fourth Road, commissioners noted, is a Wilson Township road Fulkerson said he talked to a township official and it would be cost prohibitive for the township to smooth the road.

Dale Houston, county road and bridge supervisor, said he is meeting with a person later Monday and will ask him how much it would cost to mill the road down and reseal it.

Commissioners also suggested Fulkerson look into applying for grants to help pay for his planned renovations.

In other business:

• Approval was given to Joshua Tipton to apply as an operations section chief for the Kansas regional incident command. He is endorsed by Ellsworth/Russell County Emergency Management director Keith Haberer and county EMS director Nathan Florian.

“I think Josh would be a tremendous asset,” Haberer said.

Tipton said he formerly had that job when he was Wilson Police chief. He had to reapply for the job since he now works for the EMS as public relations officer.

• Florian said he had a bid to insulate and Sheetrock the upstairs classroom at the EMS building. A wall in the classroom needs covered due to exposed electrical wires. Florian said he and his crew could do the installation work which would save the county money. However, he would need scaffolding to do so. Commissioners gave Florian the go ahead to do the work in-house.

Florian said he has been talking to Kansas Gas Service and the company has grants that could help finish a downstairs classroom now under construction. There is a possibility EMS could receive up to $21,000 with no matching funds necessary. Commissioners gave Florian approval to continue searching for grant funds for the project.

• Florian was given the go ahead by commissioners to look at increasing rates charged to insurance companies for ambulance runs. He said the increased funds coming into the county’s coffers would help offset the cost of needed repairs.

Florian said last year, Ellsworth County EMS left $198,000 on the table for basic life saving ambulance runs alone, compared to surrounding counties.

He emphasized taxpayers would not see an increase in their insurance rates, since they are already paying it.

“We’re just not getting the benefits of it,” Florian said.