The City of Emporia and Lyon County are both being asked to provide additional staff for upcoming vaccination clinics.
During the city/county joint meeting Wednesday morning, Lyon County Emergency Manager Jarrod Fell made the request that the city and county each provide six additional staff members to help run upcoming vaccination clinics scheduled to occur twice a week beginning Feb. 18 and 19. According to Fell, the tentative plan is to have two clinics per week starting on those dates Thursday and Friday for the administering of preliminary and secondary vaccination doses.
Fell says he is hoping the city and county can provide the same staff each week.
At this time the plan is to still utilize the Bowyer Community Building for the weekly clinics. According to Fell, all plans are subject to weekly vaccine allocations.
In other business, commissioners discussed the establishment of a sales tax committee for the one-cent countywide sales tax which is currently in year seven of its ten-year life cycle. The sales tax was established back in 2013 and has helped to fund county equipment and vehicle purchases, charitable allocations and infrastructure projects among other expenses according to County Controller Dan Williams.
Williams will be the “point person” for the county on the committee while City Manager Mark McAnarney will serve as the point person for the city. McAnarney stated the sales tax has played a significant role in keeping the city’s debt low over the past seven years.
Word on when the committee will hold its first meeting and exact topics of discussion is currently pending.
Separately, commissioners also discussed the possibility of a future joint venture between the city and county for vacant buildings in the local community as well as firework permits for 2021.
