OSAGE COUNTY — Commissioners voted to approve the county’s updated employee handbook during Tuesday’s meeting.

On Thursday, Osage County Collector Denise Nolte addressed commissioners to express concern over the portion of the handbook where the they offered the option of a payment plan for county taxes.

Per the handbook, the county will check at least once per year to ensure all county employees have paid their county taxes. “The employee shall be notified if the tax rolls show any County taxes that are owed under the employee’s name or taxpayer number,” the handbook reads. “Upon notification, the employee will have forty-five (45) days to satisfy the liability or provide the County Commission with a payment plan which has been approved by the County Commission. Failure to satisfy the liability or provide a copy of the payment plan within the forty-five (45) days will result in immediate dismissal of the employee from employment by the County.”

“Who’s collecting that money?” Nolte asked, regarding the payment plan. “Who’s gonna hold on to those payments? I don’t accept partial payments. If a taxpayer comes in and they’re delinquent and they say, and I’ve had them do this lots of times, ‘Can I give you half now on this paycheck, and can I do the other half next paycheck?’ I tell them to stick in savings.”

“Is there a reason why we can’t do that?” Western District Commissioner Dale Logan asked.

“State statute says that we need to be regulating and watching that, and I can’t regulate partial payments,” Nolte said. “Where am I going to hold that?”

Nolte also said the interest accrued by holding money would present a problem, and additional issues would arise if the taxpayer did not pay the balance owed.

“So you said there’s a state statute that says you can’t take a partial payment?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, the auditors do not like us taking partial payments,” Nolte said.

She went on to explain that her office has a program that allows partial property tax payments in advance, but the program allows the taxpayer to be caught up before they can enroll.

Logan said he felt like the legislature and state tax commission should consider updating those statutes, given the financial difficulties so many people face.

“Is there a way, Denise, for us as a county, legally, to help people out that are in that situation?” Logan asked. “You’re the boss here. What do we do to help our people?”

“I would advise taxpayers, if you’re in a bind and you’ve not paid your taxes, that you really need to make sure you’re paying on the correct vehicles for one. And number two, start a savings account for your taxes,” she said.

Commissioners voted to remove references to payment plans from that portion of the handbook.

• Logan said a citizen approached him with a concern about dirt from the construction at State Tech running into the creek.

Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Peters offered to go look at the creek and address it if necessary.

“(If) you drive down there on Twin Ridge, look down at that creek, and them rocks is all covered with dirt,” said Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin. “There’s no water there right now, but the guy said, ‘You know, people used to be able to swim in that, but it’s just mud now.’”

Peters returned Thursday with a report. “They do not have a silt fence built up out there anywhere, but they do have shot rock berms built to catch and let the water sift through,” he said. “I spoke with the head of construction this morning, and they haven’t checked them out lately to see if they might be full. If they are full, they’re going to clean them today and get that addressed. So, we shouldn’t have any more mud in the creek.”

ROAD & BRIDGE

Osage County Assistant Road & Bridge Foreman Brad Sneller told the commissioners his crews did a lot of asphalt work on CR 512 around Westphalia, which Logan complimented.

Griffin asked how much it would cost for the county to purchase a plate compactor similar to the one borrowed from Osage County Road & Bridge Foreman Justin Bridges, which the department was using for the asphalt work on CR 512. Sneller said he thought it was around $700.

“It works real good,” Sneller said. “The only problem we’re having now is, it’s so heavy that you got to take more equipment with you than what you really need. So, I was thinking about getting one of those truck bed cranes and putting it in one of those trucks. That way you only have to have one truck to do this patching stuff.

“You know, when we patched up there on 611, we had a truck with asphalt in it, and then the other truck with the mini excavator in there, just to pick that stinking thing up out of the truck bed and set it on the ground so he could vibrate that stuff in,” Sneller continued. “It’s a couple hundred pounds, I think. But I was thinking, get one of those truck bed cranes, and then they can just pick that up and put it in the in the bed, and two guys could do (the) little holes like that, or whatever. You don’t have to have so much equipment out there.”

Commissioners asked Sneller to price both the plate compactor and a truck-bed crane.

• Logan also asked Sneller to make sure crews looked at gravel washing out on CR 615, and to check to that the culvert wasn’t plugged.

He also asked that the whipper operator make sure to clear the brush all the way to the end of the county road leading to the Bruns Access Conservation Area, as a citizen was having trouble getting equipment to their property due to overgrowth. Logan asked that the whipper finish knocking down the brush on CR 512 as well.

• Griffin asked if crews have had a chance to address CR 602 yet. Sneller said they had not.

• Sneller said slab repair had also begin on CR 202.

• Griffin also said he’d received a concern about CR 309.

“There were holes that were in the box culvert, on top and down, and they expect that it was caving in,” Griffin said. “And we thought it (might) be a groundhog doing it. Anyway, Bradley went out there and looked underneath. Underneath was okay. (He) got that little excavator out there and scraped it. That’s what it was - a groundhog. So, that was taken care of.”

• Peters said the new bridge on CR 625 was scheduled to be complete on June 27 if it didn’t rain that day; otherwise, it would be completed on June 30, the deadline for completion.

• Creek rock was hauled on CRs 300 (80 tons) and 625 (141.23 tons); quarry rock on CRs 211 (88.2 tons), 623 (156.01 tons), 713 (147.87 tons), 714 (225.77 tons), and 821 (59.69 tons); road work was done on CRs 211, 300, 623, 713, 714, and 821; asphalt work was done on CRs 508, 512, and 615; a culvert has been replaced on CR 503; two trees were removed on CR 715 and one on CR 412; slab repair was done on CR 521 (Sestak); brush mowers worked on CR 516; and grader operators have been active as follows: G01 (CRs 503, 506, 507, 508, 516, 541, and 543), G02 (CRs 706, 712, 713, 714, 716, 717, 718, and 738), G03 (CRs 206, 207, 211, 302, 304, 306, 309, 309A, 821, and 822), G04 (CRs 506, 507, 508, 516, 541, 623, and 625), G05 (CRs 401, 415, 421, 423, and 424), and G06 (CRs 303, 311, 313, 317, and 319).

• G01 (2012 140M2 CAT), DT31 (white 2004 Peterbilt), DT32 (blue 2004 Peterbilt), and the lowboy were serviced.

• Contact received from citizens regarding private culvert installations on CRs 505, 702, and 810, and road conditions on CR 415.

• Compliments were received about the grading job done on CR 423.

911/Emergency Management

Osage County 911/EMA Director Ron Hoffman reported that the new emergency siren in Bonnots Mill has been installed and tested.

“I talked to the new emergency management directors yesterday and told them that they ought to kick in their money, since the sound crosses the river and helps them out in Osage City,” Hoffman joked.

• Hoffman said he is still waiting for utility locates before they can install the new siren in Rich Fountain,

FINANCIAL

• Bills totaling $94,423.84 were approved by commissioners, with the following totals by department: 911/EMA ($3,920.73), Commission ($220.60), County Clerk ($156.66), Health Department ($2,905.22), Misc. ($40,328.61), Prosecuting Attorney ($12.70), Road & Bridge ($34,132.81), Sheriff-Jail ($9,943.14), and Road and Bridge Misc ($2,803.37).

• County Aid Road Trust (CART) distribution received from the state of Missouri for the month of June was $88,682.11, including Motor Fuel Tax ($65,074.63), Motor Vehicle Sales Tax ($16,665.20), and Motor Vehicle Fee Increases ($6,942.28).     • Checks were submitted for signatures.