Commissioners debate what to do with remaining SPARK funds

For the second week in a row, county commissioners debated how best to spend unallocated SPARK funds awarded to Allen County.

Earlier this summer, the county received $2.4 million from Kansas’s SPARK task force, which is responsible for distributing federal aid provided via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The vast majority of that money has been spent, but time is of the essence; if the remaining funds aren’t used by the end of the year, they must be returned to the federal government.

With that in mind, Thrive Allen County CEO Lisse Regehr approached commissioners Tuesday with what, she believes, is a “great way to keep those federal dollars in our community.”

Regehr recommended commissioners allocate $24,000 to buy three UVC cleaning and disinfecting machines from Kneisley Manufacturing of Iola.

The proposition arose, according to Regehr, after last week’s county commission meeting, when Regehr was approached by Mona Hull of Kids Kingdom, a childcare center in Iola. Hull asked Regehr if there was any way the county could help centers like Kids Kingdom sanitize their facilities and play areas.

“Our local childcare centers have been hit particularly hard by COVID,” said Regehr, noting that many have had to either close temporarily or send teachers and students into quarantine.

Regehr reported that Ron Hageman, Kneisley’s COO, has guaranteed the company could deliver three machines to The Growing Place of Humboldt, Kids Kingdom and Munchkinland and More, also of Iola, for $24,000. At $8,000 a machine, that’s a considerable discount from the standard price.

“It’s a local product developed to protect against COVID,” Regehr told the Register. “The funding is there, and it’s just the right amount.”

Commissioners, though, demurred. Both commissioners Jerry Daniels and Bruce Symes preferred to wait until a more complete account of expenditures and remaining funds could be provided by Thrive. That information, Regehr assured them, would be available next week.

SYMES also took advantage of Tuesday’s meeting to stress the importance of citizens doing all they can to battle the coronavirus.

“We as a commission have made the decision to align ourselves with our health department, which recommends following the governor’s mask order,” said Symes. “But we’ve got cases going up. Numbers are not going in the right direction.” As of today’s press time, active cases in Allen County stood at 83, with the total case count at 256. Ten people have been hospitalized and one person has died, according to data provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. 

Symes reported receiving three letters from citizens requesting that the commission take steps to enforce the mask order, which he seemed hesitant to endorse, remarking that doing so “doesn’t seem feasible.” 

Instead, Symes said he’d like to take “an opportunity to remind folks to stay vigilant,” to do “things we’ve talked about a lot but not so much recently: wearing masks where appropriate, social distancing as we can, avoiding large groups, good hygiene, washing our hands. This has been a long haul, and it’ll continue to be a long haul.

“I think people are getting tired and maybe complacent. This isn’t the time for that. It’s time to double up our vigilance,” Symes said, emphasizing that keeping case numbers low allows for area businesses to stay open.