17th Annual SPIRIT Conference Meets In Liberal

The City Of Liberal played host to the 17th Annual SPIRIT Conference which saw several speakers, guests and SPIRIT Board members in attendance. The conference was held at the Liberal Air Museum and featured welcomes from Mayor Tim Long, County Commission Chair Jim Rice, and former Gov. of Kansas Bill Graves. Representatives from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico were present at the conference as was Former SPIRIT Director Max Zimmerman. The audience heard from KDOT, engineer, Larry Thompson, ODOT engineer Ron McDaniel, TxDOT engineer Marty Smith, and NMDOT engineer Matt Grush as each gave an update on what each of their respective states has done and has planned with 54 Highway. Jeff Parsons and Earl Watt also spoke one the benefits of 4-laning Highway 54. Featured speakers were Kansas Dept. of Transportation Secretary, Mike King, and Deputy Secretary, Jerry Younger. Both made presentations and fielded questions from the audience. Jack Taylor, Executive Director of SPIRIT, said overall the conference was a huge success, with great participation and excellent speakers. The afternoon wrapped up with a SPIRIT Board meeting.