Pottawatomie County commissioners have delayed designating an official county newspaper for the publishing of meeting agendas and minutes.
In the past, the county rotated between some of the county’s small publications but has since used the Wamego Times as its designated paper. A motion by Commission Chair Greg Riat during Monday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting, to go back to a rotation failed. It would have designated the Onaga Herald as the official county paper in 2021, rotating back to the Times in 2022.
“All I’ll say is you have a paper that has the ability for anybody in the county to receive it through digital and it is a locally owned paper,” Riat said.
The Onaga Herald is owned and operated by Joe Harder, of Onaga. The Wamego Times is owned and operated by the Seaton Group, which also publishes the Manhattan Mercury and Junction City Union.
Commissioner Pat Weixelman motioned instead to give more time to determine a course of action and how the county can reach a larger audience, specifically in the Green Valley, St. George area.
“It’s been this way for four or five years and then out of the clear blue sky, with not much thought or vision or anything to it, we’re going to just sit here and change it. I think we owe it to people of the county to have this spelled out to them, what’s going on.” he said.
Weixelman and Commissioner Dee McKee voted in favor of tabling the decision. Both expressed interest in whichever paper gets selected to consider placing racks with their publication in the highly populated Green Valley area.
A concern with that is the fact that many newspapers are cutting back print schedules to cut costs, thus putting more of a premium on subscriptions. With most of the subscriptions coming in their respective communities, placing racks outside of Wamego or Onaga might not be a good business move for either publication.
The Manhattan Mercury was not approached by the county since its offices are physically located on the Riley County side of Manhattan. By statute the designated publication must be located within the boundaries of Pottawatomie County. Read more about the state statute here.
The county also solicited a bid from the St. Marys Star, but did not receive any feedback from the publication.
The Onaga Herald has a digital subscription option, while the Wamego Times is planning to launch a digital option in the near future.
In other business Monday, the commission heard from Flint Hills Christian School board member Dr. Moni El-Aasar about some requests for an ongoing expansion at the school, located in Blue Township.
As it looks to construct an elementary wing to replace existing modular structures, El-Aasar says the school would like the county to allow traffic to be re-aligned into the school parking lot as one way. It would also like to extend an exit onto Elk Creek Road, to the north.
“By having the exit on Elk Creek Road, that will improve the traffic and it will be one direction circulation around the school, which would be a significant improvement,” he said.
As the school approaches the 200 student attendance threshold, a designated school zone is also being requested around the campus. Commissioner Dee McKee was on board with both requests, which have been diverted to Public Works and the County Engineer.
“I’m ok with it. I think it’s a very good school and especially with the numbers continuing to grow. With an engineer on board it’s kind of like having the thinking man on top. I like the idea of moving that driveway over and sharing it so we don’t have three exits,” she said.
Improvements were also requested on the Green Valley Road bridge to improve walkability, which the commissioners say they continue to work on.
