The city of Emporia’s mask mandate will now continue through December, with some additions, following back-to-back meetings for Emporia City Commissioners Wednesday.
Commissioners unanimously approved to extend the mandate while at the same time adopting the county-wide mask mandate issued by Lyon County Commissioners two weeks ago. The adoption of the county order will see the city mandate keep its previous requirements for mask usage on top of adding in additional requirements from the county.
This includes masks being required by people in line to enter indoor public spaces, workers in any space visited by customers or members of the public regardless of who else may be inside, employees in common areas and people in activities or events either held or managed by the Kansas Legislature among other topics. The purpose of the adoption of the county order was for “ease of enforcement” and for the clarification of requirements for all county and city residents.
The city had the option of allowing their order to simply expire and placing the city under the county’s order solely. Commissioner Susan Brinkman was not in favor of that course of action as there is no telling what the County may do moving forward.
When it comes to enforcement of the mandate, commissioners were reminded the order is legally enforceable with fines of $25, $50 and $100 depending on the number of violations. However; according to interim Emporia Police Chief Ed Owens there has not been a single citation issued for a violation since the order was issued three months ago.
Owens stated Wednesday, the department has chosen to embrace education over punishment when it comes to violations. This approach found favor with city commissioner Jon Geitz.
The city’s mask mandate now continues until Dec. 22.
In other business, commissioners approved Emporia Main Street’s contract with the city. The approval followed some adjustments to the contract dating back to conversations held in September regarding city representation on Main Street’s Board of Directors.
According to the new contract, the commission will now appoint an additional voting member and one non-voting ex-officio member to the board bringing the city’s representation to three members.
A SPARK project update from city consultant Jim Witt and approval of the city’s maintenance contract with the Emporia Public Library for 2021 also gained unanimous approval.
The Emporia City Commission will reconvene next Wednesday inside the Municipal Courtroom at White Auditorium.
