Lyon County’s emergency operations plan is updated and finalized.
During their recent action session Thursday, commissioners approved promulgation of the operations plan following recent updates and approval by the state of Kansas. Promulgation is the act of formally putting a provision or procedure into effect.
Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell says updates to the plan occur every five years. Fell explains the plan is the county’s “blueprint” for response in times of emergency or disasters.
The plan will be updated once more in 2024 and will then go back to the traditional five-year process. Fell tells KVOE News the two-year update process is a formality to ensure all emergency management agencies in the region are on the same renewal cycle at the request of the state.
In other business, commissioners approved the purchase of new election poll books requested by Election Officer Tammy Vopat. Vopat is seeking the purchase of new books at a cost not to exceed $38,103.
For the past four years, the county has used poll books purchased through KNOWiNK Innovative Election Solutions. With the new equipment, the county will be switching vendors to Election Systems & Software with Vopat saying the new vendor is simply a better fit for the county’s current needs.
Vopat says the new poll books will be available by the primary election in August. Vopat says they will look to either sell back the current poll books to KNOWiNK or to another election office that uses the same election software to recoup a portion of the original equipment’s cost.
Separately Thursday, commissioners approved a quartet of requests from Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods including a utility agreement with AT&T for an upcoming Kansas Department of Transportation bridge replacement at Road J and Troublesome Creek. A request from Community Corrections Director Steve Willis for the purchase of a 2021 Ford Police Interceptor utility vehicle at a cost of $43,246.90 also gained unanimous approval.
Commissioners will reconvene at 9 am next Thursday inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission chambers.
