Vaccine Shipments
Kansas hospitals are beginning to receive COVID-19 vaccine shipments this week.
Leslie Campbell, Pottawatomie County health director, says hospital staff will have up to five days to receive the vaccination.
“Once they get their 24,000 doses, they’ll be able to give it to all the hospital personnel,” Campbell said. “Any hospital personnel; it doesn’t have to be nurses.”
The first dose of the vaccine will be followed by a second dose about three to four weeks later.
Campbell says certain county employees will begin receiving vaccines during the last week of December.
“That will be for health department personnel, EMS and any other healthcare workers that maybe weren’t in the first round and didn’t have access through the hospitals,” Campbell said. “Then we will get, in three to four weeks, our second doses.”
Nursing homes will also receive vaccine shipments in the near future.
Hwy. 24/Green Valley Rd. Intersection project update
Pottawatomie County could potentially award a construction contract for the Hwy. 24/Green Valley Rd. Intersection project within the next couple of weeks.
Ebert Construction submitted a low bid of nearly $4 million last week, which came in beneath the engineers estimate of about $4.2 million.
Chad Kinsley, county administrator, says he has requested that the Kansas Department of Transportation, which is sharing the cost of the project with the county, pitch in an extra $250,000.
KDOT has so far agreed to invest about $2.75 million.
The latest bid opening is the second that Pottawatomie County has held for this project.
The first took place during the summer when bids came in nearly 20 percent higher than the engineer’s estimate, which was about $3.3 million at the time.
Each bid submitted during the first opening was rejected.
County employee dress-code change
Pottawatomie County employees will no longer be allowed to wear items that promote political candidates while at at work or while wearing Pottawatomie County clothing.
Crystal Malchose, Pottawatomie County human resources director, says the move was, in part, a response to a county employee wearing an item advocating for a local political candidate during the most recent election cycle.
“We want all citizens to recognize that, regardless of who they vote for (or) what their preference is, we’re going to represent them to the best of our ability,” Malchose said. “We don’t want them seeing ‘vote for…whoever the candidate is,’ if that’s not their candidate, thinking that that employee may not have their best interest at heart.”
Malchose says employees must also follow the rule while “on county property for county reasons,” but are otherwise free to wear attire that promotes politicians.
“If they’re not on the clock and not doing Pott. County work, they can politicize for whoever they want for as long as they want, just so long as they’re not wearing anything that makes it look like Pott. County is supporting that,” Malchose said.
The change is one of several recently proposed changes to the county’s employee Policy Procedure Manual.
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