County Commission News, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2019

HB Dodds
Posted 3/4/20

TUESDAY, FEB. 25, 2020

Osage County Road and Bridge Foreman

Ron Kempker informed commissioners

his crew is mainly working in the shop

until the rain clears out. They're trying to

catch …

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County Commission News, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2019

Posted

TUESDAY, FEB. 25, 2020

Osage County Road and Bridge Foreman

Ron Kempker informed commissioners

his crew is mainly working in the shop

until the rain clears out. They're trying to

catch up on equipment maintenance. Plus,

"I hate to get dump trucks out on the road

now and tear the road up worse than what

we're doing," he said.

Osage County First District Commissioner

John Glavin raised concern about a

hill on CR 317, a box culvert on CR 423,

and general maintenance on CRs 736, 312,

and 313. About CR 313, Kempker said, "I

have that one down on my desk.”

Osage County Second District Commissioner

Larry Kliethermes asked about

CR 621. "Yes, we addressed it," said

Kempker. "We put two-inch base in it."

Kliethermes then mentioned a low

water crossing on CR 508. "I was down

there Monday," said Kliethermes, "but the

rain washed it out."

Kliethermes also mentioned CRs 501,

608, and 609. "There's so many spots in

there, the road looks like a muffin pan,"

said Kliethermes. Kempker assured him it

wouldn't be much more than a day before

the crews were there.

Osage County Presiding Commissioner

Darryl Griffin has heard there is a lot of

gravel available in Sugar Creek near Meta.

It takes a permit to get it, but Kempker

knows the process. Glavin mentioned a

similar situation near CR 315; and the

landowner only wants the gravel used locally.

Kliethermes mentioned a lot of gravel

has washed into ditches in his district. It

wouldn't be hard to salvage and reuse.

* Rock has been hauled on CRs 251,

275, 435, 503, 512, 621, 711, 713, 736, and

740; service has been done on Grader #06,

and Trucks #31, and #35; a culvert was

repaired on CR 512; and grader operators

have been active on CRs 251, 275, 435,

503, 512, 621, 711, 713, 736, 740, 252,

312, 314, 316, 514, 602, 639, and 754.

Osage County Building and Grounds

Janitorial and Maintenance Worker John

Kennedy announced the Administration

Building generator has been repaired.

Heritage Tractor of Jefferson City performed

the installation of a new engine

control module (ECM) Friday, Feb. 21.

The technician offered some diagnosis of

what caused the problem in the first place.

"The problem is where they mount

them," said Kennedy, passing on what

he heard.

The unit catches more engine vibration

than it should. There are now no codes

showing and the machine is fully operational.

The Osage County Courthouse elevator

phone is now hooked up. It's now possible

to place an emergency call, but now it

won't hang up at the elevator end of the

line. Towner Communications, LLC, of

Mission, Kan., will need to install one

more switch to complete the job.

* Osage County University of Missouri

Extension Program Director John

Gulick dispensed a handbill advertising

the "Stories of Chamois," a free event 7

p.m. Saturday, March 14 at the Chamois

Lions Community Center. Local historian

Susan Sundermeyer will share some of her

research about the town.

* Osage County Chief Deputy Clerk

Valerie Prater introduced new clerk's office

employee Heather Gyorkos, whose first

on-the-job training will be to take minutes

of the commission meetings.

* Osage County Health Department

employees did not receive scheduled raises

in February's first paycheck. Glavin said

he would work on the problem.

* Commissioners approved county

employee time sheets.

THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2020

Kempker presented a total of $9,246.45

cost to repair the Pentecostal Bridge on CR

611 across the Maries River. Kliethermes

intends to present it to Missouri Department

of Transportation (MoDOT) Central

District Local Public Agency (LPA) contact

Kimberly Tipton, who can apply it as "soft

match" funding for future Bridge Rural

Offset (BRO) projects in the county.

He also presented price lists from Barrett

Materials, Inc.; Capital Quarries Company;

Boone Quarries (ConAgg); Higgins

Quarry, LLC; Stieferman Construction

Services, LLC; and Tavern Creek Quarry,

LLC. The Road and Bridge Department

purchases from each provider, depending

on proximity to the roads being maintained.

* Kempker said he's getting emails

from the public, and he likes that. "We've

addressed a few of them," he said, adding

they're all on his list.

* Work on CRs 608 and 609 has been

completed using County Aid Road Trust

(CART) funding from the Missouri Department

of Conservation (MDC). "Almost 20

loads went up there," said Kempker.

* Work on CRs 315, 316, and 319 was

scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 27.

* All trucks are running with the weather

drying up. "We're moving as much rock

as possible," said Kempker. "We'll be

hauling all next week and the graders will

be operating. Dry weather will go a long

way." One load of gravel covers 150 feet.

The difficult weather patterns can set the

department back quite a bit.

Glavin advocated contracting independent

dump truck drivers to haul creek

gravel.

Kliethermes said, "If you start that, you

have to offer it [in public], but it might be

something to look at."

* Some bids have been received for the

tuck-pointing work on the Administration

Building, but none have yet to come in for

the basement sealing project.

* Griffin mentioned the meeting Tuesday,

Feb. 25, with the Osage Ambulance

District (OAD) Board, the commission, and

officers from the Osage County Emergency

Operations Center (EOC). It was closed

to the public by recommendation of legal

counsel to both parties due to ongoing

litigation.

Griffin was not free to offer any details

discussed. "All I can say about it right

now is it was a very positive meeting," he

said. "Everybody thought it was a positive

meeting."

He believes details will begin to emerge

after the Osage County 911 Advisory Board

meets on March 4.

Everyone at the meeting was supportive

of the 911 Continuation Sales Tax issue on

the April 7 Municipal General Election

ballot. They pledged to work for its passage.

* There is approval of the progress on

installation of the Priority Dispatch ProQA

911 call center program.

* Commissioners discussed funds to

repair or replace the damaged bridge on

CR 608 across the Maries River.

Osage County 911/EMA Director

Andrea Rice brought grant contracts for

$7,500 in funding to the EOC ID card

provider.

She also invited the commissioners to

view the new consoles installed.

"All we need is carpet," she said,

commenting on what it takes to finish

some scheduled remodeling of the EOC.

"Eventually we'll do some paint touch up,"

she added.

That will wait until the basement leaks

are stopped.

Commissioners signed outgoing liability

checks.

* Tuesday, March 10, is the Presidential

Preference Primary Election. There will

be no regularly scheduled Osage County

Commission meeting.

* The West Central Commissioner

Quarterly meeting is scheduled at Wilmore

Lodge in Lake Ozark March 19. It is to be

hosted by Miller County.

* The "Stories of Chamois" is scheduled

for 7 p.m. Saturday, March 14 at the

Chamois Lions Community Center.

* Tuesday, March 31, is the last day

for candidate filing for the Aug. 4 Primary

Election.