TUESDAY,  JAN. 28, 2020

Road & Bridge Foreman Ron Kempker announced the Maries River bridge on CR 611 has passed inspection. A little more minor maintenance, mainly to potholes on the bridge deck, was on tap before opening the span. "I was hoping for this week," he said, "but we need a warm day."

* Another snow event was on the way, and the crew was loading and preparing the trucks. Grader #01 was in the shop for service, but was expected back on the road in time for the snow.

* First District Commissioner John Glavin gave Kempker a phone number to call and talk about work on CR 315. "Lots of roads out there need gravel pretty bad," said Glavin.

"I'm getting calls about the same thing,"

Second District Commissioner Larry Kliethermes added.

Kempker was sympathetic, explaining, "It's tough right now. We'll get them addressed as soon as we can."

* Kliethermes has been in touch with Outreach Specialist Kenneth Wade of the Army Corps of Engineers. He is researching damage to a road by a levee near Osage City. He wants to address a commission meeting after he checks some more. The commissioners will give him time of his choice from the three Tuesdays in February. "He won't be here a long time," said Kliethermes.

* Rock has been hauled on CRs 309A and 542; a culvert has been replaced on CR 309A; and grader operators have been active fixing washouts on multiple roads.

Sheriff Mike Bonham delivered the annual bill from Integrity Steel Works of Tyler, Texas, which specializes in high security doors. They have inspected and serviced electronic doors at the Osage County Jail and Sheriff's Office. The total was $2,824.85, and the commission approved it.

”I don't think those people should be out walking around," said Glavin of inmates.

* A lawsuit which went to court during a previous administration is nearing settlement. Bonham asked to move possible costs from the sheriff's budget to the insurance budget.

Glavin initially resisted, saying, "You do inherit what happened before you."

Bonham disagreed. "It should be insurance," he said, offering the damage done by a lightning strike for an example. He doesn't want his office to absorb costs related to something they did not do.

* Junior Deputy graduation for students from Westphalia has been rescheduled to 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13. The young people will get a tour of the courthouse before the ceremony, starting at 6 p.m.

"You're invited to that as well," Bonham told the commissioners. "Hopefully we'll get a break in the weather."

* Junior Deputy graduation for students from Linn R-2 and St. George is scheduled for March 4.

Building and Grounds Janitorial and Maintenance Worker John Kennedy announced the new cable for the Administration Building water heater has been installed by Schaefer Electric. John Wegman should have installed the unit before the end of the week.

* Korsmeyer Fire Protection of Jefferson City inspected fire extinguishers Wednesday, Jan. 29, in the Courthouse and the Administration Building. Five needed recharging.

* The Missouri Division of Fire Safety, Office of the State Fire Marshal, inspected the elevators in the Osage County Courthouse and the Osage County Administration Building. Everything's fine, except the phone in the Courthouse elevator is dead.

"Sometime from last year to this year, that line got disrupted," said Kennedy. "We haven't tracked it down yet."

It may have been overlooked after last year's lightning strike. "So the hunt's on," said Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin.

* No bid has arrived yet for the repair of the Administration Building generator. It can still be used in case of emergency by clearing trouble codes and restarting.

* New floor mats for both buildings are on order from Smith Paper and Janitor Supply in Eldon. "Whenever they get a shipping date, they're supposed to let me know," said Kennedy.

Deputy Clerk Amber Hamilton announced Ronnie Staggs, Agent/Broker at MSMA Insurance Agency, Inc., of Jefferson City, will be in Osage County from 1-4 p.m. Feb. 10-11 to assist employees with life, dental, and vision insurance enrollment. Staggs will go to the Road and Bridge shed at 3 p.m. Feb. 10.

* There were errors in the first publication of county employee W-2 forms. The Osage County Clerk's Office was working to correct them quickly; and an email has been sent to all employees informing them of the glitch.

THURSDAY,  JAN. 30, 2020

Bonham introduced José Villegas, Sr., a chaplain on loan to the Sheriff's Office from Santa Fe, NM.

"Chaplain José," a retired Marine and corrections officer, offered a blessing on the commission and Osage County.

Osage County Health Department Administrator Susan Long updated the commission on the corona virus. "There's still a lot they don't know about this virus because it's so new," she said. At the time, there were few cases outside of China. Five were in the United States, all victims who had traveled to Wuhan Province in China. There was one person under observation in Missouri.

It's all at arm's length from county health departments, because only the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is authorized to test specimens for the disease. Long advocates travelers be questioned as in previous Ebola and measles outbreaks.

"This needs to be standard protocol," she asserted. "It can happen here."

Long has forwarded all information she has to local medical providers' offices.

* She handed over to commissioners her office's business management assessment. She's in favor of them making sure all issues are addressed.

* Long considered the Foot Clinic on Jan. 23 to be successful. She believes it will work well if held monthly in the future.

Kennedy presented an estimate from John Deere for a possible engine control module (ECM) programing and replacement on the Administration Building's generator. Heritage Tractor of Jefferson City is the dealership through which the service would be performed. Heritage informed Kennedy there's a possibility the problem could be a faulty sensor. That would make the correction much less expensive. The commissioners approved the service to be done. "I'll give him a call right now," said Kennedy.

* New door mats should arrive early in February. Kennedy asked for, and obtained, permission to throw the old mats away when the new ones arrive. "I won't put them on the floor because they take the wax away," he concluded.

* Towner Communications estimated a cost of $1,000 to troubleshoot and repair the phone in the Courthouse elevator. They would have been available by Friday, Jan.31, but Kliethermes urged Kennedy to check with AT&T before committing to that expense. Fellow commissioners agreed.

* John Wegman was to hook up the new Administration water heater last Thursday. Schaefer Electric was to come in and wire it when the installation occurred. Kennedy warned of a temporary interruption of hot water in the building.

* Wegman has removed the stainless steel panels from the jail cell shower he is repairing. Kennedy wanted clarification from the commission about disposing of them or storing them. Kempker was willing to have them stored at the Road and Bridge shed; but Kennedy wanted to keep one of them for installation behind the Administration Building vending machine. It's been rocked on occasion to loosen hanging merchandise; and Kennedy said, "I think that will keep people from rattling the machine through the sheet rock."

* Kempker has heard from contractor Jeff Strickland about plans to work on the bridge on CR 638. "They'll try to get it knocked out as quick as they can," said Kempker, eying a stretch of mild weather forecast in the next few days.

* The county road crew is putting finishing touches on the Pentecostal Bridge across the Maries River on CR 611. They are smoothing potholes and doing asphalt patch on the bridge deck; and also repairing the road bed on the hill north of the bridge. He asked for permission to open it Friday, Jan. 31, and the commission approved.

* The weather is hard on CR 507. "It won't stay fixed," said Kliethermes. Nearby, a low water crossing on CR 508 won't let recent repairs hold on it either. New material is being delivered for a similar project on CR 542; and Kempker may be willing to go after that slab again. "We'll see how much material we get," he said.

* Wet and snowy weather is causing many county roads to deteriorate. When crews are clearing snow and treating for ice, they can't be maintaining the gravel road beds. Some of them are bad enough, loaded gravel trucks can't travel on them when they're saturated with rain.

"As soon is it dries up, those trucks will be running constantly," said Kempker.

* Glavin has received multiple complaints about CRs 800A and 800B. He added, "Don't forget about CR 315." There are newer homes and development in both locations.

* There was more discussion about a landowner who wants to install a culvert on his property off CR 401. Kliethermes reiterated that the citizen is unhappy about following county codes. Kempker, for the county's part, won't dig a ditch to it until it's already installed. "He's got the information and the ball's in his court," said Kempker.

Griffin instructed him to remind the citizen, "It's not your rule; it's the county's rule. If anybody wants to know about all that, they can call the county."

* Commissioners approved membership dues of $2,450 to the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC).

* The commission signed and sent a letter to Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Local Public Agency (LPA) contact Kim Tipton for reimbursement from the Bridge Rural Offset (BRO) fund for the CR 274A bridge.

* Commissioners postponed voting on revisions to the Osage County Employee Manual until next week.

* The Assessor's Office has provided the commissioners with what they consider to be absolute documentation of easement responsibility on CR 511 within the Westphalia City limits. They have provided it to Westphalia City Attorney David Bandre. Bandre's draft proposal still contains a clause about "difference of opinion" on the subject.

"I don't know what's so complicated with that," said Kliethermes, who is still concerned about precedent implications from conceding the point.

Glavin flatly remains against a service-for-fee contract. He would support traded labor where the county maintains gravel inside Westphalia, if the city would maintain a stretch of asphalt running out of the city limits. He suggested CR 612 as an example.

Kliethermes is still insistent the "difference of opinion" clause be removed; although he favors providing the service for the price framework in general agreement.

Kempker favors a fee-for-service arrangement because county equipment is often there anyway. "CR 612 would open a big can of worms," he said. "We have big road grader equipment and they have small town maintenance equipment."

Commissioners again deferred action, pending further communication with Bandre.

Griffin had received communication about United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants. Recently, an application for a project in Loose Creek failed. He asked if the commissioners wanted to try for something else. "Can we get a grant for [Rt.] CC and [Hwy.] 50?" asked Glavin.

Griffin recounted conversations he's had with the R-2 school district and State Technical College. Linn R-2 believes traffic problems will be helped by next year's four-day week; and the college has plans in the works to reroute its main entrance.

"That's what everybody is waiting for out there," he said.

Glavin, though, insisted, "There's economic grants out there. It's not just the schools out there." He provided a couple of numbers, and Griffin said, "I'll call and report back."

* Kliethermes and Glavin both mentioned bridges which would benefit agricultural interests.

* There is more water damage in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) housed in the Administration Building basement. Griffin has been in contact with Verslues Construction, which recommends a comprehensive tuck-pointing job on the building's stone veneer.

Tuck-pointing would be less expensive than digging through the front sidewalk, which is where the water seems to be entering. There is no mold yet, and the EOC is taking steps to make all electrical wiring stay off the floor. Also, the leaking seems to be wind related as there is none except when the wind is from a certain direction.

Glavin, though, is convinced the dig will be necessary, as well as the tuck-pointing. "I think you're going to have to tear up the sidewalk anyway," he said.

Kennedy thinks both will be necessary, but "I'd say the foundation first,” he added. All agreed to seek bids on both jobs, but separately.

"We'll get an ad in the paper and go from here," said Griffin.

* Bills from Jan. 18 through Jan. 29 were approved as follows by department: 911/EMA ($6,370.73), Road & Bridge ($5,035.45), Building & Grounds ($50), Circuit Clerk ($384.21), Collector ($2,253.92), Sheriff-Jail ($5,194.87), Prosecuting Attorney ($300), Health Department ($123.49), and Miscellaneous ($1,021.37) for a grand total of $20,734.04.

* Commissioners signed liability and Deputy Sheriff Salary Supplementation Fund (DSSSF) checks.

* Wednesday, Feb. 12, is, by statute, the last day to register for the Presidential Preference Primary election March 10. Since that's Lincoln's Birthday, Feb. 11 is the last day voter registration will be possible.