picture by: Chris Conde
Douglas County might quickly take a step to extra instantly join a workforce of psychological well being skilled from Bert Nash with the county’s 911 emergency dispatchers.
County commissioners at their weekly Wednesday assembly will contemplate a plan that may enable Douglas County’s Emergency Communications Heart, which handles 911 calls, to start sending members of the Bert Nash Group Psychological Well being Heart’s Cellular Response Workforce on specific varieties of calls that contain psychological well being elements.
At the moment, the Bert Nash workforce is assigned calls from Headquarters Kansas, which operates a suicide prevention line. However that association has resulted in inadequate use of the Bert Nash program, Bob Tryanski, director of behavioral well being initiatives, stated in a memo to commissioners.
Tryanski additionally stated by way of the memo that it has been tough for the Bert Nash workforce to shortly entry pressing points, and there are too many entry factors within the psychological well being workforce to moderately hold observe of and prioritize.
Tryanski and a piece group inside the county is recommending that Headquarters not be used as a supply of requires the psychological well being workforce, however slightly that these calls will come from the 911 middle.
The County Fee may also contemplate redirecting as much as $45,000 from current funds within the Douglas County Disaster Line price range to buy enhanced communication and geolocation instruments because the Cellular Response Workforce transitions from Headquarters Kansas to Douglas County Emergency Communications Heart.
In different enterprise at Wednesday’s assembly, commissioners will:
• Contemplate approving a preliminary engineering contract for a venture to increase Wakarusa Drive to a degree south of the Wakarusa River.
Commissioners are being requested to approve an roughly $91,000 contract for BG Consultants to being work on laying out the precise path of the brand new highway, and different such particulars.
The Wakarusa Drive extension is anticipated to occur along with the a lot bigger Kansas Division of Transportation venture to develop the western leg of the South Lawrence Visitors from two lanes to 4.
KDOT plans to begin the SLT venture this fall, and goals to finish work by 2028. If county commissioners approve the engineering contract on Wednesday, the Wakarusa Drive extension may start development in October 2025 and open to site visitors sooner or later in 2026, in line with a memo from the county’s Public Works Division.
County commissioners beforehand have given preliminary approvals to the Wakarusa extension venture, however the proposed roadway has created considerations. Because the Journal-World reported, metropolis commissioners withdrew their assist of the Wakarusa venture after listening to considerations from residents starting from environmental points to the highway damaging land that’s sacred to the Native American group. County commissioners, although, determined to maneuver ahead on the highway venture with out town’s partnership.
• Contemplate the approval of transitioning Douglas County’s Cyber Safety insurance coverage supplier to Rubrik Enterprise Version. In keeping with a memo within the agenda, Rubrik will “enable for simplification and ease of administration to make sure 100% information restoration within the occasion of a ransomware assault or cyber incident.”
Douglas County IT requests approval to enter into an settlement with Rubrik’s Backup Resolution for a startup price of not less than $113,000. There may also be an annual price of roughly $79,000, which the County Fee will approve at a later date.
The County Fee’s enterprise assembly will start at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday within the Douglas County Public Works coaching room at 3755 E. twenty fifth St. The assembly may also be obtainable by way of Zoom.