photo by: Meeting screenshot/Douglas County Commission

The Douglas County Commission meets in an online conference call on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.

The Douglas County Commission could hold its meetings in person next month.

During the commission’s meeting on Wednesday, which was held on an online conference call, County Administrator Sarah Plinsky told the commissioners she recommended they resume in-person meetings after the third phase of Gov. Laura Kelly’s original reopening plan concludes. According to the plan posted on the state’s coronavirus website, that would be after June 22, when the state plan stops restricting the size of gatherings.

The county is not obligated to follow the state plan at this point, since Kelly gave counties the authority to determine their own plans, but Douglas County has indicated that it would for the time being.

Plinsky told the Journal-World after the meeting that means the commissioners could begin holding in-person meetings as early as June 24, the commission’s earliest meeting after June 22. The commission began holding its meetings online in March as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The commissioners all said they supported the plan.

“That works for me if everything goes as planned and … we don’t see any spikes (in coronavirus cases),” said Commissioner Michelle Derusseau.

In other business, the commissioners approved awarding a construction contract to MegaKC Corporation worth about $152,000 to repair a drainage structure for Lakeview Lake in northern Douglas County. They also approved a revision to Lone Star Lake’s regulations in preparation for the county in June to install an ADA-accessible fishing dock along the north shore of the lake’s east arm, which is also known as the “swimming arm.”

Prior to the meeting, fishing was prohibited in the swimming arm between May 1 and Sept. 15, according to a memo to the commissioners. The amended regulations now allow for fishing in the swimming arm during that time, but only from the planned dock.

Both items were included in the meeting’s consent agenda, which allowed the commissioners to approve several items in one motion.