Tuesday, Allen County commissioners voted to give $500 to three area food banks and left the door open for donating to other banks/pantries as well.
“The food pantries have been hit fairly hard, and a lot of people are using the pantry given the situation we’re in,” said commissioner Jerry Daniels.
Indeed, food banks across the country have seen a dramatic increase in people using the service, due to unemployment and other factors brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this point, donations will be made to the Allen County Community Pantry (Iola), Humboldt Food Pantry and Humanity House. Commissioners suggested that other similar entities could likewise approach the county for assistance.
“All three of those [pantries] serve large areas of the county,” Daniels noted.
THE meeting began with Darolyn “Crickett” Maley asking commissioners about continuation of the courthouse closure, and suggested that as treasurer the shut-down was making it difficult for her office to conduct business.
She was especially concerned about residents wanting to visit the office to pay taxes or fill out what she described as “full-blown title applications.”
“If we’re doing an appointment, I have to have a door that’s open,” she said.
At this stage commissioners have closed the courthouse to the public, but county employees continue to work and department heads are free to make one-on-one appointments with the public for essential business.
Gov. Laura Kelly has also extended grace periods on many items such as vehicle tag renewals.
“It’s really hard to do an appointment,” Maley continued to emphasize, and though other counties have similar arrangements to Allen said, “it doesn’t really seem to be working for us.”
Maley and commissioners then batted around several ideas, including opening the courthouse for limited windows of time while limiting access.
In terms of limiting access, commissioner Bruce Symes wondered if there was any “merit” to taking residents’ temperatures at the door, so as to ensure they weren’t sick.
Sheriff Bryan Murphy said that he may have access to thermometer guns for this purpose, but wasn’t sure when they’d be available.
Following discussion, commissioners decided to wait and see what decisions were made by Kelly and legislators this coming week before making any changes regarding courthouse access. The state’s stay-at-home order was to end April 19.
