Lyon County’s Disaster Declaration will now continue through mid-March.
County Commissioners approved extending the declaration during their recent action session Thursday morning. This is the fifth extension for the declaration that has been in place since Mar. 15.
Since its original adoption, the declaration has provided the county with easier access to major resources throughout the pandemic.
Lyon County Emergency Manager Jarrod Fell says without the declaration in place coupled with the well-publicized competition for PPE and other resources at the onset of the pandemic, the coronavirus’ impacts could have been far more severe over the past 10 months.
According to Fell the competition for essential resources seems to have slowed somewhat in recent months.
The declaration was scheduled to expire Thursday.
The declaration will now continue until Mar. 11, nearly a year after its original adoption by the county, at which time commissioners will review a potential sixth extension.
In other business Thursday, commissioners presided over a presentation of the Chief’s Silver Award to Lyon County Deputy Jason Gifford and part-time deputy Rick Moore. Both Gifford and Moore were recognized for their actions that saved the life of a man planning to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge over the Neosho River in the 1800 Block of North Kansas Highway 99 on Feb. 3 2019.
The award is typically given during the annual Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Valor awards banquet which was unable to take place this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Separately, commissioners approved over $34,000 in audit fees for Agler & Gaeddert and a roughly $130,000 premium to the Kansas Workers Risk Cooperative for Counties.
The Lyon County Commission is scheduled to reconvene for its weekly action session next Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse.
