OSWEGO — During last week’s Labette County Commission meeting, commissioners heard a proposal from Emergency Manager Charles Morse on an updated Sanitation Code.
According to Morse, the newly proposed state standards have slimmed down the Sanitation Code. Morse said this new code was concerning to him.
He said that the new code required septic tanks to be installed prior to creating a lagoon.
“The code is saying that in any area that is available, they would prefer an inground system above the lagoon. They are trying to get away from lagoons,” Morse said. “But we probably have more lagoons in Labette County than we do inground systems.”
Morse attributes this to the soil and the fact that lagoons are a third of the price of a septic system. He also said as a county, they can have higher standards than those set by the state, but they can’t be less restrictive. There will be a public hearing on this issue in the future, at which Morse plans to testify against this measure. He said this will cause an undue burden on citizens, . nancially. "It's not of. cial yet. We’ve got our eye on it,” Morse said.
In other matters, Morse noted that during a recent inservice, he discussed cybersecurity with courthouse staff. “I went over some actual, real-life case studies of things that went on,” Morse said. “It was a good conversation; opened a lot of eyes.”
He recommended the commission consider increasing the cybersecurity insurance coverage to $5 million during the next round of renewals. District 2 Commissioner Terry Weidert agreed that the commission needed to consider this. The current policy equates to $3 million in coverage.
In other proposals, Commissioners heard from several Evergy representatives on a potential project in the county. However, all details regarding the proposal took place during executive session, due to the sharing of con. dential information. No action or additional discussion was had concerning this proposal.
In other business, an indigent defense contract was approved for attorney Dawson French to . nish the rest of 2025, and throughout 2026 in the county, and an appraiser’s Parcel Search Agreement and a check for $225 was approved.
This week, commissioners heard an update from the Solid Waste Committee.
Information from this meeting will be included in a future edition of the Parsons Sun. The Labette County Commission meets each Monday at 9 a.m. at the Labette County Courthouse.
