OSAGE COUNTY — Osage County commissioners spent much of their July 7 meeting reviewing the county’s response to the July 4 storm, outlining changes intended to improve preparedness before the next major emergency while continuing the long process of documenting damages for possible FEMA reimbursement.

“I just want to say thanks to all the farmers and stuff, too, that got out there right after the storm and helped clean roads,” said Road & Bridge Foreman Neil Mantle. “It was much appreciated.”

Western District Commissioner Dale Logan said he knew of at least five spots on CR 501 which had been cleared by citizens. Mantle said CR 415 had at least 10 trees down, which took four hours to clear on July 5.

“It was an absolute gift from God that nobody got hurt,” said Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Peters.

Logan praised Road & Bridge personnel who worked over the weekend.

Mantle said his department was keeping track of expenses for possible Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement.

911/EMA Director Ron Hoffman echoed Mantle’s earlier sentiment, telling commissioners, “I’m pretty proud of our citizens. I would have to say that 75% of all the roads that got cleared was the citizens.”

Hoffman added that he had “good, appropriate help,” and didn’t hear of anyone doing anything reckless. “They were helping me on Highway C, and Jeff didn’t have to get out the truck to help,” he said. “He went somewhere else to help.”

Peters gave a big shout out to Cole Backes for clearing eight to 10 miles of highway. “Cole was a godsend,” Hoffman agreed.

Hoffman said the county identified several things that needed to be added to the backup generators, including internet connection for some phones.

Hoffman also said he would like to add Road & Bridge to the Google Doc he and several fire departments use to keep track of road closures and conditions in real time. “I would like to talk to Neil about incorporating it in, so that when we get the hundreds of phone calls, I can just stick it on the list, and we can look at the list without me stopping him to answer the phone, because he was working, too,” he said.

Hoffman said citizens had sent pictures of over 100 locations with storm damage, including a picture of four “tails” coming down from the clouds, although none of the tails appeared to be rotating or touched down. Winds of up to 105 MPH were present during the storm.

Hoffman said the sheriff’s office also assisted three boats requiring assistance during the storm; however, no injuries were reported.

Health Department Administrator Kim Sallin said the department’s generator worked well, but the propane level dipped to 7% by the end of the outage. Sallin said the propane level will be added to the department’s monthly safety inspection checklist. Commissioners voted to set up autofill for the Health Department’s tank, to ensure the vaccine refrigerator and freezer retain power for as long as possible during extended outages.

“Hopefully that (was) a 100-year storm,” said Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin.

“That’s two of them this year,” Peters retorted.

Sallin also said her staff had been visiting food sellers and daycares to ensure necessary perishable items were thrown out after the power outage. She said they had made 25 visits, but noted some establishments were still closed due to lack of power.

Treasurer Valerie Prater told commissioners she plans to set up a separate disaster relief account to track repairs to storm damage, and would transfer whatever amount the commissioners decided upon when she made the transfer to the Health Department for the Quick Care. “We are fortunate to have funds and not have to borrow,” she said.

• Mary Ann Gelven from the Osage County Agritourism Council and Connie Warden of Warden Publishing (Unterrified Democrat) brought copies of the new 48-page Osage County Community Guide to the commissioners.

Gelven described the guide as “much needed,” and said it would be available at businesses both within and outside Osage County.

“Hopefully, it kind of fills a niche as far as letting people know what’s available here in Osage County, what there is to see, and we hope that this is volume one of many volumes,” Warden said. “I would not have been able to have completed this without Mary Ann’s help. I’ll be very honest with you. She has been a tremendous asset to this project.”

“I think it’s very well done, and I’m very proud to accept it,” Griffin said. “I’ll give you all an ‘attaboy’ there because Ag tourism promotes this county more than a lot of people know. You all do what a chamber of commerce would do, and I mean you’re promoting all the businesses and everything. And I hope to encourage all the businesses to get behind you all to support you, too, because you brought a lot of people in our communities.”

Gelven mentioned a recent bank tour group from Phelps County for a “German Heritage tour,” focusing on Westphalia and Freeburg. “A lot of those people said, ‘We would drive Hwy. 63, but we didn’t know what was up in Westphalia,’” Gelven said.

The discussion then turned to the newspaper, with Logan saying he reads the Unterrified Democrat.

“We’re very fortunate to have a newspaper,” Griffin said, adding that a lot of counties no longer do.

“We’re very blessed to have such loyal readers,” Warden responded.

For more information about agritourism, Osage County Agritourism Council’s website is visitosagecounty.com.

• There was a brief discussion of the Hwy. 63 bypass around Westphalia.

“That might be the biggest waste of Missouri tax dollars there ever was, right there, as far as my opinion,” Peters said.

“But we’re gonna save people about a 30-second drive, you know, going around Westphalia,” Logan said, “Gotta be worth $100,000,000 to do that, right?”

• Commissioners discussed holding an event for the reopening of the Pentecostal Bridge, but no date had been established. Logan said they should have more information in a few weeks, but the opening would likely be in early August.

• Discussion continued about the possible closure of CR 736. Patrick Kliethermes said citizen Mark Bomback hired him to assist with the closure process.

“Somebody spent a lot of time on 736, but it’s still not real good,” Peters said.

Most of the discussion centered around who owned the adjacent land and their willingness to close the road.

• Kliethermes also brought Logan right-of-way information for CR 512 and 611.

• Commissioners voted to delay the transition to PTO until they made several changes, but said they plan to discuss that during the July 14 department head meeting.

• Citizen Warren Haslag told commissioners he had the money to extend the chip & seal on CR 401.

• Prater provided a six-month report showing sales tax for the first half of 2026 is up $202,575.38 over the first half of 2025.

ROAD & BRIDGE

Foreman Mantle noted the backhoes being delivered to repair rail lines in Bonnot’s Mill were messing up the asphalt, and some compensation may be due. “The railroad only has one line open,” he said.

• Mantle said the county’s new whipper tractor has shipped and should be getting fitted with the mower soon. He also noted their original quote included bulletproof glass in lieu of wire mesh because of the type of mower it was being used with.

• Quarry rock was hauled on CR 708 (12.56T), 722 (119.50T), 724 (17.321T), 738 (124.56T, 125.38T), and 739 (35.79T); culverts were replaced on CR 400B (17.5T placed at culvert site) and 738 (18.60T placed at culvert site); road work was done on CR 303 and 701; downed trees were removed from CR 211, 274B, 415, 424, 432, 435, and 501; brush mowers were working on CR 275, 512, and 611; and grader operators were active as follows: G01 (CR 511, 512, 505, 506, 508), G03 (CR 207, 722), G04 (CR 610, 611), G05 (CR 725, 739, 734, 735, 736), and G06 (CR 321).

• Whipper tractor W41 (2006 John Deere 6615 w/Alamo Machete Mower) was serviced in house.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Administrator Sallin told commissioners the Quick Care’s nurse practitioner was excited to begin conducting sports physicals prior to the opening, and would start them the first week of August. Sallin said her office will call people who previously expressed interest, as well as publicize the service.

Sallin also said the nurse practitioner had given her a good supply list, so she would be ordering those items, and they were working on how to handle x-ray referrals to ensure the x-rays would be covered by the recipient’s insurance whenever possible.

Peters said he had heard a lot of good things about the Health Department from three different people over the weekend, and they specifically mentioned the ease of getting lab work done at the health department prior to doctors’ appointments, so their doctors could review the results with them during their appointment.

• After thanking Peters for sharing the praise, Sallin warned commissioners that a recent post to the department’s Facebook page regarding Missouri’s cottage food laws was garnering a lot of negative comments. She reiterated that her office doesn’t make those laws, but is responsible for dealing with any complaints or food-borne illnesses that might result when they are not followed. The intent of the post, she said, was to make people aware of the state’s cottage food laws, as most infractions seem to be a result of lack of awareness.

• Sallin told the commissioners that 30% of unexpected deaths in Osage County so far this year were due to suicide or homicide, with two total homicides, two suicides in January, and another three suicides in June. Sallin said she is President of the Tri-County Suicide and Substance Use Prevention Coalition, and Osage County’s suicide figures for this year reiterate the importance of that organization. “That information made me feel like yes, this coalition takes up a lot of my time, but it’s important, and I have to stay with it because no one else is doing it in our county,” she said.

• Sallin said the Shop with a Hero fundraiser resulted in the sale of 950 pork burgers netting $2,951.65 profit despite the heat. Sallin noted the pork burger sale was staffed fully by volunteers.

• The Health Department’s annual pool party will be held at the Linn City Pool on July 18 from 10 a.m. until noon.

• Sallin said the WIC nutritionist they have been using resigned effective July 27, so she is working on hiring someone new for remote appointments for high-risk recipients.

• Sallin said she had received several complaints of standing water and mosquitoes on CR 416, but noted the mosquito dunks are only effective if there’s no rain for several days, and that she had not had time to get out there between storms. “I just wanted to mention it because if you all hear anything that we haven’t been down there, that is correct,” she said. “We have not been down there, partly because of the rain off and on, and partly because the little bit of time stretch that we had, I just could not get down there.”

Peters added that the county is unable to pull the ditches where landowners have had gravel roads treated, as Road & Bridge can’t pull material from the ditches onto the roads if they can’t grade the roads.

• Sallin said the mammogram van was due in Linn on July 10, with 15 ladies signed up, and she was glad the county was able to utilize that service again.

FINANCIAL

• Bills totaling $54,480.04 were approved by commissioners, with the following totals by department: 911/EMA ($10,720.80), Assessor ($2,150), Building & Grounds ($1,858.31), Collector ($70), County Clerk ($700.99), Election ($16,035.96), Health Department ($4,464.20), Misc. ($4,149.28), Public Administration ($599.19), Road & Bridge ($2,375.80), Sheriff-Jail ($10,662.08), and Treatment Court ($585).

• An income report for the County Clerk for the month of June showed a monthly total of $6,881.00, including Liquor License ($6,749), Auction ($53), Notary ($75), and Misc/CC ($4).

• End-of-month bank balances for June showed a total of $16,840,886.15, including AS23 - Assessment ($330,789.99), AX08 - Annex Building ($321,133.88), BG89 - Building & Grounds ($266,030.31), CC55 - Conceal Carry ($11,143.26), CI88 - Capitol Infrastructure ($1,535,785.20), DS61 - DSSSF Fund ($250), ES48 - Election Service ($21,445.33), FC46 - Family Court ($34,710.47), GR01 - General Revenue ($1,992,937.75), HD23 - Health Department ($323,841.34), IS63 - Inmate Security Fund ($42,725), JR60 - Jail Renovation ($2,862,447.20), LACTF - Local Assistance ($116,690.92), LE25 - Law Enforcement ($1,115.73), LERF - Law Enforcement Restitution ($6,308.87), LF38 - Civil Fees Fund ($4,287.06), JR60 - Jail Renovation ($2,862,447.20), LACTF - Local Assistance ($116,690.92), LE25 - Law Enforcement ($1,115.73), LERF - Law Enforcement Restitution ($6,308.87), LF38 - Civil Fees Fund ($4,287.06), OE22 - Emerg. Management ($98,794.96), OPIO - Opioid Settlement ($113,128.78), PA18 - Bad Check ($16,522.56), PA26 Prosecutor Training ($5,988.59), PB21 - Pentecostal Bridge ($1,167,943), RB02 - Road & Bridge ($1,442,710.85), RF36 - Retirement ($79.32), RF42 - Recorder’s Fund ($46,307.18), RR30 - Rollback Reserve ($961,324.95), SE19 - Special Elections - ($10,546.53), SF49 Law Enforcement-911 ($506,256.98), UT33 - Use Tax ($4,578,447.20), VD24 - Domestic Violence ($1,397.10), and HA56 - HAVA Elections ($8,060.05). Please note that not all of these funds are controlled by the county commissioners. Some are controlled by elected officials or committees.

The county also has $616,387.99 in CDs, including Road & Bridge ($119,808.24), Rollback Reserve ($468,468.48), and Law Enforcement-911 ($28,111.27).

• Checks were submitted for signatures.