Wednesday was a busy day for city and county officials.
The day began with the second Emporia City and Lyon County Commission joint meeting inside the Little Theatre at White Auditorium. The main agenda items included discussions regarding the new 800 MHz radio transition project.
The Lyon County Commission has declared its intent to begin handling their half of the project. This includes all infrastructure work, 911 consoles and the purchase of all county department radios.
County Commissioner Scott Briggs says the county’s decision to move forward is with the best interest of both first responders and community members in mind.
KVOE News has told you recently of the Lyon County 911 Board’s proposal to transition the county’s current UHF radio system to an 800 MHz trunked system. The transition is needed for multiple reasons, chief among those is the fact the current system is nearing its end of life.
While the county will be responsible for the infrastructure and their department radios, which will cost $3.5 million, the city will be responsible for replacing all city responder radios.
Also during the meeting, Bruce Boettcher of BG Consultants discussed the logistics surrounding sewer improvement work near the Lyon County Courthouse. The work is a part of the Downtown Sanitary Sewer System project which got underway two and a half weeks ago.
Work around the courthouse is not slated to begin until September according to Boettcher. However, Boettcher adds, due to the location and potential impact to local officials it is important to ensure everyone understands the ins and outs of the work as early as possible.
The work will entail lining and point repair work with no digging needed at the courthouse. Some night lining will also be required in certain areas of the project due to existing businesses, such as restaurants and the jailhouse not being able to shut down during the day.
We will have more information on the anticipated work as the proposed date draws closer.
Also during the joint meeting, commissioners were updated on work at the Emporia Municipal Airport and discussed new zoning regulations.
