VIENNA — On Feb. 20, the Maries County Commission reconvened after its usual morning meeting at the courthouse.

In the afternoon, Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratmann and Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel, along with Road Two employee Justin Georgevitch, met with T.C. James of Show-Me Land Surveying at the end of Maries Road 306 to discuss a court-ordered survey of the road.

The road ends at the Gasconade River at the Fish Hollow Access. Last fall, the Maries County courthouse hosted a bench trial in which the owners of the property surrounding the road argued to have it closed. In January, Judge John Beger filed his order in the case, which declared the road, hammerhead turnaround and gravel boat ramp as public land and the parking lot area at the access as private land.

The order is not final until the county pays for a survey and submits it to the court within 100 days. James said once he completed the survey he would send it to the prosecuting attorney’s office.

Sales Tax Revenue

Treasurer Angie Stricklan reported the county’s sales tax figures for February.

The first sales tax fund brought $34,425.15 to General Revenue in February, which was an increase of about 29 percent from last February.

The second sales tax brought the county $34,264.38 to split into thirds between General Revenue, Citizen Safety and the two road funds. The figure is an increase of about 29 percent from last February.

The third sales tax brought the county $34,264.39 in February, which is also an increase of about 29 percent from last February. Citizen Safety receives two-thirds of the revenue. General Revenue and the road funds split the other one-third.

The law enforcement sales tax brought the county $11,375.60 in February, which is another increase of about 29 percent from the previous February.

For the second month in a row, the use tax saw smaller returns than in 2023. The county collected $41,450.59 in revenue from the use tax in February, which was a decrease of about 35 percent from the previous year when February was the use tax’s highest month for revenue.

Police Report

During the morning meeting on Feb. 20, the commission talked on the phone with James Spudich of St. Louis after he had called to check on the status of a police report.

Spudich said he had been waiting for four months for a police report from the sheriff’s office. The report investigates a quitclaim deed for property in St. James. Spudich alleged that the deed was fraudulent and should not have been recorded in the recorder’s office. He said legal proceedings cannot continue until the report is completed.

The commissioners asked Chief Deputy Scott John for an update on the report. He told them that the investigation is still ongoing. The commission shared that update with Spudich.

Also during the meeting, the commissioners also talked to Buschmann about the deed. He told them that though the deed did not look professional, it had all the elements required for recording in his office.

“If it has everything I need on it, I have to record it,” Buschmann said.

Online Records

While talking with the commissioners, Buschmann reminded them about the online features available through the recorder’s office. The subscription-based iCounty service offers both electronic recording (at icounty.com) and online records searches (at mariesmo.icounty.com). Another service (at deedwatch.com) allows users to sign up for email notifications whenever something is registered in the recorder’s office that meets predefined criteria, such as including their name. The service only sends notifications for documents registered after someone signs up for alerts.

Flood Maps

Stratman wanted to remind residents that they should check flood maps before building anything.

“You’ll be surprised where that floodplain is in a lot of places,” Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said.

“The Gasconade is a beautiful stream,” Stratman said. “Everybody would like to have a house right there on the bank, but man, it’s not a good idea.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has information about flood maps available on its website at fema.gov/flood-maps.

Painting

Don Vandegriffe donated a painting of the Vichy Masonic Lodge by Paula Fannon-Meyer for display at the courthouse.

“We want to thank him for the lovely picture,” Stratman said.