Vaxxed. Or. Masked.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Allen County commissioners continued to align its COVID-19 policy with recommendations from health professionals, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
According to the CDC, “if you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic.”
Moreover, “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physical distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”
In sum, then, the official stance of the county is that vaccinated people can now go maskless, etc., whereas unvaccinated people are recommended to continue following all COVID-19 precautions.
Commissioners noted that they had all been vaccinated, and encouraged community members to do the same.
During his weekly report, public works director Mitch Garner said the county’s low water bridges had been slightly flooded due to recent rains, but noted that conditions had not necessitated any major repairs.
He also provided an update on the county’s rock crusher, which is currently undergoing repairs at Murphy Tractor in Humboldt.
Commissioners noted that they’d all three traveled to Murphy to check in on the process, and consensus seemed to be that the county is largely responsible for the maintenance required to prevent future problems.
“We’ve got to do a better job of maintaining [the machine],” said commissioner Jerry Daniels. “It should’ve been done before.”
Staff at Murphy Tractor also agreed to help develop a maintenance strategy for the beleaguered rock crusher.
Speaking of heavy equipment, Garner additionally noted that he would be traveling to Salina next Monday to watch a demo for a pothole-patching machine that the county might purchase.
Proprietor Scotty Welch was on-hand to provide an update for commissioners on the forthcoming opening for Humboldt’s new Our Market grocery store.
He said “we’re getting really close to opening,” and hopes to launch in the next two-three weeks.
Welch said that all equipment was working properly, and that most of the interior work had been completed. Hence, they were mostly waiting on groceries and other products.
Welch added that meat butchering for the store itself will begin today.
Recall, commissioners agreed to financially assist Our Market via the purchase of high-efficiency refrigeration equipment.
Carla Nemecek of K-State Southwind and Extension returned for a third time to talk with commissioners about windows at the new Extension office.
She said it had not been made clear that the bid from Peerless did not include labor, so commissioners ultimately returned to their original bid from Whitworth Construction in Chanute.
Nemecek also spoke with commissioners about her recent promotion to Eastern Regional Director for K-State Extension.
She said she’d continue to live and work in Iola, though would now be overseeing the entire eastern third of the state.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” she said.
Jonathon Goering, economic development director for Thrive Allen County, said everything was in place for commissioners to tour Peerless Products this Thursday at 10 a.m.
He also said that he’d been continuing to meet regarding the airport utilities expansion, and was preparing to send out bids on the work.
Goering mentioned as well that he was planning to meet with commissioner David Lee to talk about incentives that the county might offer potential businesses/industries.
Jason Trego, emergency manager, said he’d been working with Thrive Allen County to gather income data on Elsmore in order to apply for a storm shelter grant.
He said that data had already been gathered for other cities in the county, and hoped that everything would be in place prior to the grant application deadline in October.
Two new dispatchers have also begun to answer calls at the emergency response center.
Clerk Sherrie Reibel spoke with commissioners about revising the county’s purchasing policy, but they decided to revisit the issue at a later time.
Reibel also discussed finding the best location for an upcoming meeting of county leaders, which Allen County is hosting in September.
Commissioners approved as well, a resolution of reappointment for Jamie Clark as county appraiser for another four years.
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