VIENNA — Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman shared informational materials published by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) during the April 25 Maries County Commission meeting. He picked up the booklet during State Rep. Bennie Cook’s Maries County Day at the Capitol on April 23 (see related story).

The 2023-24 “Fast Facts” pamphlet published by MoDOT includes a variety of statistics relevant to travel in the state. Licensed drivers total 4.3 million compared to the estimated 6.2 million living in Missouri. Registered vehicles total more than 6.6 million, which gives the state an average of more than one vehicle per person.

The pamphlet also includes information about federal and state fuel taxes as of July 2023. The federal rate is 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel. Missouri’s fuel tax is 24.5 cents on both gasoline and diesel. Of that 24.5 cents, 3.13 cents goes to counties, 3.68 cents goes to cities and 17.69 cents goes to MoDOT. Each cent of additional fuel tax brings about $27.8 million in revenue to MoDOT and $11.8 million to cities and counties. Nationally, Missouri ranks 48th in revenue per mile and fourth in lowest administrative cost per mile.

Missouri has 33,808 miles of state highways, which ranks seventh nationally. Its 1,385 miles of interstate highways ranks fifth nationally. U.S. routes total 3,412 miles, state routes total 8,262 miles, lettered routes total 18,999 miles and other routes total 1,750 miles.

Major routes in Missouri carry approximately 77 percent of traffic and encompass 5,553 miles. Minor routes carry about 22 percent of traffic and include 17,538 miles. Low-volume routes carry about 1 percent of traffic and total 10,717 miles.

MoDOT reported its recent costs for various road and bridge projects. Resurfacing one lane of a major highway costs $249,000 per mile. Resurfacing one lane of a minor highway costs $41,000 per mile. Resurfacing one lane of interstate highway costs $283,000 per mile.

The annual cost of snow removal is $52 million. MoDOT uses about 138,000 tons of salt each winter. The average cost to pick up litter over five years is $6.4 million. The average cost for mowing over five years is $23 million.

MoDOT maintains 10,424 bridges and culverts throughout the state. Of those bridges, 211 are 1,000 feet or longer. The cost of a major river bridge ranges between $25 million and $275 million. The average cost of other bridges is about $1.2 million.

Seatbelt use in Missouri is about 88.9 percent, which trails the 91.6 percent national average. In commercial motor vehicles, the state average drops to 87.7 percent. The state average for teens is 71.8 percent.

From 2019 to 2021, 3,060 people died in motor vehicle crashes in Missouri. Another 15,100 serious injuries occurred. Crash reports indicate about 64 percent of motor vehicle deaths occurred when the deceased was not wearing a seatbelt.

Other facts detailed some of Missouri’s other forms of transportation. The state has 119 public-use airports, including 36 capable of hosting business. Kansas City and St. Louis are the second and sixth-largest freight rail hubs in the country. Missouri has four Amtrak routes with 13 station stops. The state’s 1,050 miles of navigable rivers ranks 10th nationally. The state is home to 17 river ports, including St. Louis, which is the third-largest in the nation. Missouri roadways also feature more than 600 miles of shared-use paths for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The pamphlet also includes background information about MoDOT. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, consisting of six commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, oversees MoDOT. The agency operates seven district offices and one central office. It employs about 4,400 salaried positions. The most recent MoDOT budget was $3.5 billion. The agency’s customer satisfaction rating is 77 percent. It completes 5.9 percent of projects under budget. The completion is on schedule 93 percent of the time.

ESInet Grant

Stratman said he had received confirmation that the four-county group that assembled to apply for a grant to join the Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) had received a $840,000 grant.

Last fall, Stacey Smith, communications chief of the dispatch center in Rolla, proposed the idea to the Maries County Commission. The commission agreed to join Crawford, Phelps and Pulaski counties in the application process.

ESInet provides a reliable network to support and transport 911 calls to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) in the area. Establishing the local network will increase redundancy and allow for reliable backups if communications fail at one of the individual counties’ dispatch centers. The process will remove old copper trunk lines that centers use to receive calls and move to a digital system. The new network will also help dispatch centers locate the geographic source of calls.

Vacation Time

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said during the April 22 meeting that another county official had asked her to ask the commission about reviewing the county’s employee vacation policy. The current policy annually gives employees one week of vacation if they have worked for the county for one to five years, two weeks of vacation if they have worked for the county for six to 10 years and three weeks of vacation if they have worked for the county for more than 10 years.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said he would like to know what other counties do for their policies. Rodgers asked a group of other county clerks what their counties offer employees for vacation time.

At the April 25 meeting, Rodgers and the commissioners discussed the vacation policies of 13 other counties. Two of the counties gave employees one vacation day each month. Two of the counties gave employees two weeks of vacation after one year of employment. Eight of the counties gave employees two weeks of vacation after two years. One county gave employees two weeks of vacation after three years.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel asked how the pay of those counties compares to Maries County, which has given employees pay raises the last two years. Stratman said that the last time he had asked one of the counties had been more than two years ago, and Maries County paid more even before the raises of the last couple of years.

The commission agreed to leave the vacation time policy unchanged.

Supplemental Insurance

The commission agreed to switch supplemental insurance agencies from Colonial to Mutual of Omaha. The change will bring supplemental offerings under one agency and save money on rates for several types of policies.

Worker’s Compensation

The annual cost of worker’s compensation insurance to the county increased from $36,681 for 2022 to $38,415 for 2023. The county’s payroll last year was $1,824,049.

Jail Infestation

The county paid $2,845 to Steve’s Pest Control to treat a bed bug outbreak in the jail. The areas treated for the infestation included men’s bunks in the jail, the men’s common area, the booking room, the interview room, the dispatch room and the first two rows of seating in the courtroom. The payment includes three weekly follow-up appointments.