OSAGE COUNTY —Commissioners spent most of last week interviewing candidates for road and bridge foreman in closed session.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Osage County Commissioners voted to offer the position of road and bridge foreman to Interim Foreman Justin Bridges, who accepted.

“We had a lot of good applicants, but Justin has been with the department for some time and is well respected by both his staff and the commissioners,” said Osage County Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin. “His goals are in line with ours, including raising pay and upgrading equipment. We’re very excited he chose to accept this challenge.”

They also underwent mandatory sexual harassment training with county attorney Amanda Grellner.

ROAD and BRIDGE

Osage County Interim Road and Bridge Foreman Justin Bridges reported that all graders are operating again, and approximately 1,450 tons of rock were spread on roads last week. He also anticipated having one plow truck back by the end of the week.

On the truck with the oil mixture issue, the technician referred them to a diagnostician. “I didn’t get the impression that he thought it was too immediate of an issue to sweat about,” Bridges said. “If the system they use is open, apparently, like it is, and there’s not that much difference in the viscosity, then it’s probably something that addressing is important, to make certain. But they don’t seem to be too worried about it.”

Bridges received pricing for new trucks and graders from two of the three manufacturers contacted, and will present those to the commissioners when he receives the third.

Bridges also asked the commissioners to consider adding additional part-time positions, to attempt to retain several of the grader operators who are ready to retire, for training and emergencies. “There’s probably 160 years of experience between four people that (are) close,” Bridges said. “Maybe we can get some of that experience to stay on as a hobby for them, if nothing else, if it benefits us. But I think whoever fills this chair ought to be able to do what needs to be done, because how are we going to recover from that if we don’t start planning for it now?”

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Osage County Health Department Administrator Kim Sallin asked commissioners for permission to implement a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) policy for her employees. Sallin explained that her staff members already sign a HIPAA form when they begin employment, but that several grants require a more detailed policy. Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin told her to proceed.

Sallin also mentioned that commissioners may want to implement a HIPAA policy for some other county employees, such as the Public Administrator and County Clerk’s office. Western District Commissioner Dale Logan asked her to email him a copy of her policy, and said that he would forward that to other departments, if necessary.

“The only other thing is, we are doing our Bingo Night on March 18, and Carved In Stone donated two stone cutting boards,” Sallin said, noting there will be a prize in each session.”

Sallin plans to try to pull some healthy meal options from local restaurants to advertise more heart-healthy options, then hopefully offer a small gift certificate as a prize for future events.

Logan asked if she had considered partnering with other existing bingo nights, such as Pizza Haus in Westphalia, and Sallin said she would love to do that but would have to check regulations to make sure there were no issues with them participating where money is being taken. Logan said he would reach out to Pizza Haus to see if they would be interested in having the Health Department check blood pressures during their bingo night.

911/Emergency Management

Osage County 911/EMA Director Ron Hoffman said he’s waiting for Missouri 811 to conduct utility locates in Bonnots Mill and is looking for below-grade infrastructure at Rich Fountain before installing the new emergency sirens.

“Our county, local emergency operations plans are done now,” Hoffman continued. “We’re just waiting for FEMA to approve it. The reason FEMA is involved is because of the portion regarding nuclear power plant.”

Hoffman also discussed several upcoming emergency operations exercises, and explained to the new commissioners what those are for and what they entail.

FINANCIAL

• Commissioners approved bills totaling $250,006.21, with the following totals by department: 911/EMA ($6,712.64),  Assessor ($8,274.87), Building & Grounds ($2,526.93), Circuit Clerk ($584), Commission ($99.82), County Clerk ($634.28), Election ($9,972.36), Health Department ($665.75), Misc. ($81,350.92), Prosecuting Attorney ($394.05), Road & Bridge ($70,808.62), Sheriff-Jail ($67,912.49).

• Year-to-date expenditures through February were presented as follows by department: 911 ($181,393.02/20.01%), Assessment ($52,826.20/16.54%), Emergency Management ($38,769.48/70.69%), Building & Grounds ($13,283.77/15.02%), Circuit Clerk ($2,616.40/15.17%), Collector ($23,143.07/16.47%), Coroner ($4,755.19/18.25%), County Clerk ($22,933.00/18.01%), County Commission ($20,794.48/17.26%), Elections ($3,465.60/19.31%), Employee Fringe Benefits ($61,569.13/24.13%), Jail ($79,480.09/19.97%), Juvenile Officer ($6,148.64/13.29%), Other County Government ($56,036.00/89.09%), Professional Organization Fees ($6,863.57/11.48%), Prosecuting Attorney ($27,442.92/16.39%), Public Administrator ($8,677.04/14.06%), Recorder of Deeds ($9,491.48/18.03%), Sheriff ($283,821.64/27.07%), Surveyor ($0.00/0.00%), Treasurer ($10,055.85/19.53%), Transfers Out ($0.00/0.00%), Emergency Fund ($0.00/0.00%), Health Department ($74,705.54/13.15%), and Road & Bridge ($397,201.00/13.37%).

• The County Clerk’s February income report showed revenues of $139, including Notary ($30), Plat Books ($105), and Misc/CC ($4).

• The end-of-month bank balances for February showed a total of $12,900,397.40, including ARPA Funds ($126,913.14, all of which has been allocated), AS23 - Assessment ($339,592.10), AX08 - Annex Building ($347,526.27), BG89 - Building & Grounds ($193,418.24), CC55 - Conceal Carry ($5,015.76), CI88 - Capitol Infrastructure ($1,310,616.18), DS61 - DSSSF Fund ($140.00), ES48 - Election Service ($15,850.33), FC46 - Family Court ($31,815.73), GR01 - General Revenue ($1,495,049.50), HD23 - Health Department ($191,357.34), IS63 - Inmate Security Fund ($23,832.81), JR60 - Jail Renovation ($2,177,198.59), LACTF - Local Assistance ($110,549.88), LE25 - Law Enforcement ($1,465.47), LERF - Law Enforcement Restitution ($7,412), LF38 - Civil Fees Fund ($8,132.24), JR60 - Jail Renovation ($2,177,198.59), LACTF - Local Assistance ($110,549.88), LE25 - Law Enforcement ($1,465.47), LERF - Law Enforcement Restitution ($7,412), LF38 - Civil Fees Fund ($8,132.24), OE22 - Emergency Management ($74,211.64), OPIO - Opioid Settlement ($83,105.81), PA18 - Bad Check ($13,852.91), PA26 Prosecutor Training ($5,254.03), PB21 - Pentecostal Bridge ($1,539,892.57), RB02 - Road & Bridge ($829,352.69), RF36 - Retirement ($92.98), RF42 - Recorder’s Fund ($38,555.79), RR30 - Rollback Reserve ($654,786.79), SE19 - Special Elections - ($5), SF49 Law Enforcement-911 ($510,558.87), UT33 - Use Tax ($2,752,301.72), VD24 - Domestic Violence ($791.02), and HA56 - HAVA Elections ($11,750). Not all of these funds are controlled by the county commissioners; some are controlled by elected officials or committees.

The county also has $579,904.06 in CDs, including Road & Bridge ($111,145.86), Rollback Reserve ($442,323.68), and Law Enforcement-911 ($26,434.52).

• Checks were submitted for signatures.