The Shawnee County Board unanimously approved a reorganization and a set of procurement and staffing items at its Dec. 15 meeting.

Angela Lewis, director of administrative services, presented a resolution to rename the Shawnee County Planning Department to the Shawnee County Land Use and Development Department and to move the Environmental Health division and the Noxious Weed Department under the new director's supervision. "The resolution before you renames the Shawnee County Planning Department to the Shawnee County land use and development department," Lewis said. Commissioners approved the resolution 3–0.

Lewis and county leaders then nominated Joanie Thadani, the county's current director of planning and a county employee since 2017 who previously served as a county counselor, for the director role; Thadani accepted and commissioners appointed her 3–0. Thadani said the change will help align divisional goals and joked about short-name options, saying the department would likely be called Land Use and Development.

The board also approved IT procurements presented by Mark Price, information technology director: contract C4772025 with Choice Solutions for Nutanix support and licensing at $29,719.44 and contract C4782025 to purchase Enable endpoint-management software for $25,833. Price explained Nutanix helps the county avoid large VMware renewal costs and allows incremental hardware replacement; commissioners approved both items 3–0.

Solid Waste staff requested and received approval to issue RFQs for commercial dumpsters, to procure roll-off containers, and to create six additional positions (two drivers and four full-time collectors) funded from the solid-waste operational fund (fee-funded, not tax-supported). Bill Sorensen said the department has seen steady customer growth and reported adequate applicant flow for CDL drivers.

All organizational changes and procurements were approved by unanimous votes; staff indicated funding sources (state contract pricing for some IT items, and user fees for solid-waste staffing and container purchases).

What's next: Contracts will be executed and hiring processes will proceed; the new Land Use and Development director will begin overseeing Environmental Health and Noxious Weed divisions under the reorganized structure.