Gasconade County Commission Minutes

Posted 7/1/21

July 1, 2021

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Gasconade County Commission Minutes

Posted

July 1, 2021

The Gasconade County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel at the Owensville City Hall beginning with Pledge of Allegiance. Attendance: Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, Present; Commissioner Jim Holland, Present; Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, Present.

PRIOR MINUTES

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to approve prior commission minutes dated June 17, 2021. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:
Jerry Lairmore (Yes),
Jim Holland (Yes),
Larry Miskel (Yes).

WARRANTS FOR PAYMENT

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to approve the following items: warrants for payment 117254 through 117274. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:
Jerry Lairmore (Yes),
Jim Holland (Yes),
Larry Miskel (Yes).

ROAD CONCERNS AND COMPLAINTS

Commissionesr Miskel and Lairmore had met at Drake with the road department this morning before coming to Owensville and reported the following discussion to Clerk Lesa Lietzow for the official minutes: road department is busy taking care of all the problems that stem from having several inches of rain since last Friday; Lairmore reported creek crossings blocked due to trees down and Commissioner Jim Holland said the same thing, plus washout places due to heavy rains. There was further discussion about still being short one employee in the brush cutter position plus knowing there will be three or four more employees that will be leaving due to retirement next year and another one leaving early following year.

Upon convening at Owensville City Hall, Commission followed up with Lietzow regarding advertising for the brush cutter position; they asked her to try again, only changing the ad to say full-time or part-time and not putting a deadline for applying. Also, they want it added to the county website where the Commission agenda and minutes are and on the Linn State Tech College career center placement, which is where one of our employees came from. Lietzow will ask Rhonda Stoker at the road department to handle that ad placement; they have also talked about getting the cellphone service and telephones switched through AT&T. Debbie Thomas was able to call into the road department accounts since she was a registered user to let them know she was keeping her telephone and number, but there would need to be a new account sent up for Stoker when she gets her telephone; AT&T wasn't authorized to talk with Thomas about the additional names to be added to the account, so Lietzow will try to at least find out how to start that process.

Commission also mentioned that the new road grader is in at Erb Equipment Co. being prepared for delivery; the road department is also getting the grader ready that is being returned to them as part of the buyback program.

Lairmore did not have any new information from the engineer working on the trading of BRO funds for soft match credit.

Commission only received one bid for finishing the chip and seal jobs started on both Holzschuh and Frene Creek roads, and it was from Bink's Trucking and Exc. for $70,789.00 to finish Frene Creek and would be done second week of August; for Holzschuh the amount to finish was $87,560.00 and would be done third week of July. Copies will be made of the bids and given to the road department for their review and recommendation for acceptance at next week's session. It was noted the budget will have to be looked at to see if there is enough to finish both projects this year.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

First item Commission wanted to address today was deciding whether to accept the ARPA Technical Assistance Contract prepared by MRPC; with no flat fee being charged this time, the charges will be based on the hourly rate of the staff working on the project. All three Commissioners, Treasurer Mike Feagan and Lietzow were in agreement that it would be very beneficial to the county for MRPC to handle the administration of this project since they did a tremendous job with the CARES Act funds.

MOTION/VOTE ACCEPT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CONTRACT FROM MRPC FOR ADMINISTERING ARPA FUNDS

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to accept technical assistance contract from MRPC for administering ARPA funds. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:
Jerry Lairmore (Yes),
Jim Holland (Yes),
Larry Miskel (Yes).

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Feagan needed to mention for the record, that the final action taken at last week's Commission meeting regarding distribution of the remaining CARES Act funds did not work out exactly as planned; according to MRPC, the Morrison Volunteer Fire Department had already received their distribution as part of a larger claim submitted earlier, so it was his suggestion that the additional $5,204 be added to the payment made by the county to the general contractor who will oversee the repair of the front porch flooring at the Courthouse and Commission agreed. The final balance to be spent by the county was $9,553.32 with no refund to the state of Missouri.
Commission was notified that the MAC Executive Board has appointed Bev Cunningham to serve as interim executive director until a successor is found; she has been serving as deputy director.
There were some agenda items added by Lietzow for Commission information; E-911 Board meeting will be July 15, where they will decide the amount of their contribution to the Aug. 3 election cost so the Commission will then know the amount remaining to be paid. Lairmore will contact E-911 Director Lisa Schlottach and ask if she has any informational flyers prepared for distribution, and if not, then who can he contact at Missouri Department of Revenue. TREMCO representatives were at the Courthouse Tuesday to look in the attic for a couple leaky ceiling issues discovered with all the recent rains; necessary repairs will be made and Commission wants the attic fans reprogrammed to run for longer periods of time due to all the moisture. The boiler inspector from Traveler's Insurance was at the Courthouse for their bi-annual service and discovered a valve that needed replacing; custodian called the installer who will have the part ordered and installed within the 30-day requirement. Lastly, the recently declared Juneteenth federal holiday was observed by the state offices within the Courthouse on Friday, June 18, with the question asked about whether county employees will be observing; this year, due to the last minute declaration, county employees worked. Commission each offered their opinions with Miskel agreeing since it is a federal holiday and Governor Mike Parson declared it a state holiday, the county should follow suit as is usually the case regarding other matters; while Holland didn't necessarily disagree, Lairmore would not agree at this time. It was decided to address the issue in January at budget time when benefits are usually discussed.
Lietzow asked Commission if they would like to have a meeting with elected officials now that we have reached the halfway point of the budget year and they all agreed it has been awhile and would be a good idea and agreed to July 15. One of the items for discussion that day will be regarding a proposal just received from Callabyte for new telephone service at the Courthouse; this offer was prompted when Sheriff Scott Eiler inquired about expanding the internet service to include his office which is currently with CenturyLink.
Representing Brown Shanty property owners, Debbie Cusumano had ask to schedule an appointment with Commission to make them aware of some issues residents are experiencing within their organization; two other members were also present and offered comments and showed pictures to Commission. There is a property owner who has a pit bull dog that he has trained to be aggressive and it has attacked other dogs; Commission, along with Eiler, agree with no leash law in the county, that unfortunately there isn't anything they can do. Eiler made it very clear the law allows residents to protect against harm to persons, property or livestock, but that does not include pets. They also shared pictures and have witnessed this property owner burning items that have toxic fumes and Commission definitely recommended that documentation go directly to MoDNR because that is against the law; additionally, those fire remnants are being pushed into a ditch that drains into the lake water system for residents and Commission again encouraged reporting to DNR. There have also been violations of their bylaws regarding sewerage and Commission directed those complaints to the County Health Department who will investigate; when this property owner's water had been shut off for violations, he destroyed the work done by the association to repair it and Sheriff told them to keep the receipts for the expense to repair again. Lairmore said this is one of those times where certain phases of the planning and zoning would not be a bad idea to have in place, but along with it comes restrictions that many do not consider to be beneficial.
Last issue Commission needed to act on today was adoption of the budget amendment as it relates to the two new funds established; Gasconade County Cemetery fund in the amount of $10,000 and the ARPA fund in the amount of $1,428,234. With no dissent offered, Commission agreed to adopt.

MOTION/VOTE ADOPT 2021 BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR CEMETERY FUND AND ARPA FUND

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to adopt 2021 budget amendment for Cemetery Fund and ARPA Fund. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:
Jerry Lairmore (Yes),
Jim Holland (Yes),
Larry Miskel (Yes).

REPORT OF FEES

Commission reviewed monthly reports of fees collected by Lesa Lietzow, County Clerk for the month of June 2021 in the amount of $24,647.00; and from Scott Eiler, Sheriff for the same month in the amount of $1,021.80 for civil fee fund and $230.00 DSSSF.

ADJOURN

Commissioner Jim Holland made a motion to adjourn commission until July 8, 2021. Commissioner
Jerry Lairmore seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.