Shawn Linenberger

Tonganoxie city staff will let residents know later this week whether Tuesday’s City Council meeting will be the first in-person session since the COVID-19 pandemic began or whether it will be another virtual meeting.

The expectation as of Tuesday morning was for the meeting to take place at the new Council Chambers at Third and Bury streets in the former public library building, according to Assistant City Manager Dan Porter.

But as with any plans during the pandemic, they are subject to change.

Porter told The Mirror that more information will be posted later this week about access details and requirements on the city’s website, tonganoxie.org. Anyone attending will be required to wear a mask, and temperatures will be taken at the door.

General public access for meetings moving forward will be through the west door, with handicapped and limited mobility access available through the building’s east door. The east door otherwise will be exit only.

City Manager George Brajkovic told the council during the Jan. 4 virtual meeting that there were some hiccups on the IT front earlier that day, but at that time he anticipated the city to still be on schedule to have its next regular meeting in the larger space at Third and Bury streets.

City staff posts agendas for upcoming meetings on the city website, tonganoxie.org, and will be doing the same with information about the Jan. 19 meeting.

The space has been used for municipal court the last several months, but renovations for the move of council chambers from 321 Delaware St. were more complex. The new space, which will allow for proper social distancing and live streaming capability, is about seven times larger than the previous council chambers, which also previously doubled as municipal court space.

The former chambers covered 500 square feet; the new facility is about 3,500 square feet.

Meetings are expected to be shown on a city YouTube channel, much like the Leavenworth County Commission and Tonganoxie USD 464 school board do currently.

CARES Act funding made the city’s upgrade possible. The federal government pandemic relief funding through the CARES Act also is providing pandemic relief to Tonganoxie businesses, And, the city has upgraded current hot spots and added additional ones for more public accessibility to wifi thanks to the funding. Hot spots are available in the Tonganoxie Public Library and Chieftain Park, as well as Gallagher Park, which is just south of Tonganoxie Water Park.