Shawnee County commissioners on Jan. 2 approved a series of contracts, renewals and administrative items, including a three‑year exclusive beverage agreement for Parks and Recreation, IT security renewals, two solid‑waste procurement requests and a collaborative grant agreement for the health department.

The board approved a contract (C451‑2024) with Heartland Coca‑Cola Bottling Company to be the county parks and recreation beverage supplier from January 2025 through December 2027, with rebates and support to be deposited into the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation building maintenance fund. Tim Lorette of the Parks and Recreation Department said staff reviewed proposals and expected about $30,000 in product cost savings compared with the alternate proposal and noted the contract restores an annual payment that was not received for one year under the prior agreement: "We feel comfortable with the terms and with the structure of the contract," Lorette said. The motion to approve the contract passed, 3–0 (mover: Commissioner Aaron Mayes; second: Commissioner Rippon).

County vouchers totaling $400,259.31 were approved. The county clerk noted two items of particular note: $81,267 to AFCO LLC from the Gage Park sales tax for playground equipment, and $105,729 to Miles Automotive under the sheriff's budget for the purchase of three new SUVs. Commissioners voted 3–0 to approve the vouchers.

Information Technology renewals approved included a $22,568 renewal for KnowBe4 employee security training procured through a state or cooperative contract and a $132,061.75 renewal for a security monitoring platform procured at state of Kansas contract pricing. Mark Price of Information Technology described the monitoring service as a 24/7, 365‑day service with the vendor able to isolate and remediate infected machines outside normal business hours: "If something would have happened, they would have been able to take the computers offline, isolate them, remediate and inform us of what happened to, keep us protected and safe," Price said. Both IT items passed 3–0.

Shawnee County Solid Waste received approval to issue requests for quotations for commercial containers (dumpsters) and for industrial roll‑off boxes (10‑ to 40‑yard sizes), funded from the solid waste collections operational budget. Bill Sutton of Solid Waste said the county is updating procurement ahead of potential need; both motions passed, 3–0.

The board approved Health Department authorization to enter a collaborative agreement between the United Way of Kaw Valley and the Shawnee County Health Department for the Nurse‑Family Partnership portion of the state early childhood block grant for state fiscal year 2026. Health Department Director Theresa Fisher said the state now requires each partner to sign the agreement and that the agreement includes a required 15% match for the Nurse‑Family Partnership portion of the budget; commissioners approved the authorization 3–0.

Commissioners also approved Resolution 2025‑1 to convert the Jan. 13 work session into an action meeting (to allow swearing‑in ceremonies, an action meeting and a separate work session recognizing long‑term employees on the same day); the resolution passed 3–0.

Public comment included a lengthy statement by Henry McClure criticizing the county's use of economic development funds and a brief Emergency Management notice about an expected winter storm from Nelson Castell. Administrative staff gave routine reminders about payroll and winter‑closure planning. No executive session was requested.