The Leavenworth County Health Department is ready to provide flu shots in a drive-through clinic and test the county’s plans for providing mass vaccinations, the health department administrative director said.

Donna Martin told the Leavenworth County Commission during a quarterly report on Monday that the department and several county agencies will coordinate their efforts for Thursday’s drive-through flu clinic. The clinic, which will be available for adults 18 years old and older, will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 10th Avenue Park across from Richard W. Warren Middle School.

“We’ve had a lot of people call in, so hopefully that’s a sign that people are coming,” Martin said. “We feel like we’re ready.”

At the clinic, the county health and emergency management departments will coordinate with the Council on Aging, Saint John Hospital, Cushing Hospital, the city of Leavenworth and the sheriff’s office. The drive-through clinic also is an exercise to test the entities plans for providing mass vaccinations, Martin said.

“It’s a big step for us,” she said. “There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of anxiety.”

The first 100 shots will be free, courtesy of Saint John Hospital. Each shot after the initial 100 shots will be $10, payable by cash, check, Medicare Part B and Medicaid.

Those who will receive a flu shot are required to fill out a health history form before attending the clinic. Forms are available at local libraries, city halls in Leavenworth County, the Leavenworth County Courthouse and at www.bepreparedleavenworth.org.

Vehicles that are in line at 1 p.m. will be served. Nine hundred flu shots will be available during Thursday’s clinic, and the county ordered a total of 1,500 shots. Martin said this year’s shots contain protection against three new strains.

Evaluators will monitor the length of time between a certain number of vehicles during the clinic, Martin said.

“It’s going to be a big day,” she said. “We really hope we’re going to get a good turnout.”

For more information, contact the health department at 913-250-2000.

In other commission-related business:

* CELL PHONE — Commissioners tabled a decision on whether to transfer county cell phone and Blackberry management from emergency management to information systems. The emergency management department now oversees the acquisition and maintenance on county cell phones and Blackberry devices, except for three cell phones in the maintenance department.

Commissioner J.C. Tellefson suggested that the cell phone and Blackberry billing remain with emergency management, while maintenance is transferred to information systems. Chuck Magaha, emergency management director, said the maintenance and billing should be “all or nothing” within a county department.

Commissioner Dean Oroke requested that Magaha provide the commission with the number of existing county cell phones and their separate service plans.

Larry Malbrough, information systems director, also said that no written cell phone policy now exists within the county. County Administrator Heather Morgan said a policy will be implemented in the new personnel policy handbook by the beginning of 2009.

* TAX — Morgan told the commission that the state treasurer’s office had improperly overpaid or underpaid the 2008 shares of the fuel tax to Kansas counties. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, 40 counties received too much fuel tax from the treasurer’s office, while 65 counties are now owed money. The Capital-Journal’s Web site states that Leavenworth County was shorted $192,966. Shawnee County was shorted $1 million in 2007 alone, which is the most of any county in the state.

* EMS — Jamie Miller, Emergency Medical Services director, said the EMS department has collected 98 percent of its expected 2008 revenue for ambulance runs. The department published $1.4 million in 2008 revenue projections. It has collected $1,374,829 through September.

During a quarterly report, Miller said EMS also has started tracking its maintenance and mileage on vehicles by their year and model. He said the department will then track trends among its vehicles.

“It’s still a work in progress, but I think we’re getting a better snapshot of where we’re spending our maintenance dollars,” Miller said.

* GIS — The geographic information systems department has documented 128 county cemeteries since it started the project in 2004, said Jeff Culbertson, GIS director, during a quarterly report. He said previous researchers from 1883 to 1995 had documented only 68 county cemeteries.

“Our database of just the smaller cemeteries now has more than 50,000 graves, many of which would have simply disappeared forever,” Culbertson said.

The GIS department also made changes to voter district maps on the county’s Web site. Residents can see their properties on a map, find out what district they reside within and determine their voting location. The maps also show all local districts, commission boundaries and the state senate and representative districts.

A map also exists of each polling location with a 350-foot radius so officials can watch for election signs, Culbertson said.

* APPRAISER — Appraiser Donna Graf said the appraiser’s office field-checked 74 personal property parcels, performed audits on 49 renditions, scanned personal property renditions and certified the final 2008 personal property values to the county clerk during the third quarter.

A 2007 Chevy Malibu that belonged to the county appraiser’s office was rear ended in a vehicular accident on Thursday. Graf said the other party’s insurance declared the vehicle as a total loss and offered a settlement amount of $13,215.

Graf said she contacted Danny Zeck Ford and its representatives stated that they would honor the 2008 vehicle state contract that would provide a 2009 Ford Fusion for $13,891. Graf suggested that the county use money from the appraiser’s office equipment reserve fund for the remaining $676 after the insurance loss settlement.

The commission approved the county administrator’s recommendation to use an old sheriff vehicle that would have been declared surplus property. Commissioners voted 2-1, with Commission Chairman Clyde Graeber opposed.

* LEGAL — Keyta Kelly, county counselor-at-large, said the legal department sold 33 surplus items totaling $7,056 during the third quarter. The department also received 12 new bankruptcy claims and collected $405 in returned funds.

Kelly said ten historical performers were trained on Oct. 11 and 12 for the county’s Christmas Open House in December. Kelly also is planning a Leavenworth County booth for the 2009 Kansas Sampler Festival in Concordia, Kan., she said.