VIENNA — The Maries County Commission at its Nov. 27 meeting signed a letter supporting Vienna Main Street’s application for a downtown lighting grant.

Vienna Main Street President Carrie Kleffner joined the meeting to request the commission’s endorsement of the project, which would line the courthouse with streetlights. She said she learned about grant opportunities at a Missouri Main Street workshop.

AARP offers grants of up to $10,000 to encourage people ages 50 and older to get out into communities and enjoy public spaces. Vienna Main Street plans to apply for the grant and complete the project at no cost to the city or county. It just needed permission from the municipalities before submitting the application.

“One of our main concerns with our downtown is that it is extremely dark,” Kleffner said. “Even for the safety of people just walking at night, getting into their cars. They can’t see where the sidewalks are or the curbs. Every time we have something downtown, that is usually our largest complaint.”

“We’ve said that numerous times leaving here at night,” County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said.

Kleffner provided a project proposal outlining the organization’s plans if it received the grant. It describes the project as “an initiative designed to improve public safety, support local business growth and enhance the aesthetic appeal of the town’s central gathering place.” The project would achieve the goal by installing 12 energy-efficient solar street lights around the courthouse square.

The proposal also included a nine-month timeline broken into four stages. Planning and design would encompass about three months and involve identifying optimal placements and obtaining necessary permits. The organization plans to work closely with the city and county to ensure the project meets local needs and preferences.

Phase two would be the procuring of the new lighting systems, which would take a couple of months. Installation would take a few more months as Vienna Main Street worked with local contractors to station the lights with minimal disruption to businesses and residents. The final stage would be testing and launching the lights to ensure functionality and safety.

Each side of the courthouse would have four light poles. Although the lights will use solar power, Kleffner said the plan is to include wiring boxes so the organization has the option to hardwire the lights in the future. Another facet of the proposal is a bench to provide seating near the courthouse.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel asked how the existing utility poles would work into the plan.

Kleffner said Vienna Main Street’s project would not replace the utility poles. The aesthetic benefits of the new light poles are secondary to the safety improvements. If the city wanted to move the utility lines underground during future sidewalk renovations, it would be up to the city government to make those decisions.

Drewel asked about any plans to clean up trash or junk in the alleys around downtown.

Kleffner said those things are among Vienna Main Street’s considerations, and the organization and city are working together on steps to improve those issues.

“We’re just trying to do little steps at a time,” she said.

The commissioners agreed to support the project. Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre recommended that Vienna Main Street contact the companies using the utility poles to find out any specifications for putting up nearby poles. Vienna Mayor Tim Schell had already provided a letter on the city’s behalf. The organization plans to include both entities in the planning process.

Kleffner mentioned another ongoing Vienna Main Street project: the banners featuring eagles and the city logo that will go on downtown utility poles. She shared mockups and a map of where the banners will go. The organization completed fundraising for the banners and has ordered them. The plan is to hang the banners in the early spring so winter weather does not immediately affect them.

The banners will run from Highway 63 to Main Street along Third Street and from Highway 63 to the Maries R-1 campus along Fourth Street. They will also run from Third Street to Highway 42 along Coffey Street and Main Street.

Kleffner encouraged the commissioners to contact Vienna Main Street if they knew of any grant opportunities or downtown needs. Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman said if the organization knew of any needs, he could find out about opportunities through the Meramec Regional Planning Commission.

Courthouse elevator

Stratman said Fort Knox Alarm & Security, the company that installed the courthouse security system earlier this year, had agreed to move the security equipment out of the elevator room sometime this week. The work will cost about $2,000.

The equipment must be relocated because of elevator upgrades the commissioners approved. Century Elevator is completing the upgrades to the elevator’s pump, opener, oil and electronic components for $116,400.

Stratman said Century Elevator wanted to meet at the courthouse with the commission and an electrician to discuss the project. He planned to invite Circuit Clerk Mark Buschmann to consider how court scheduling may affect the project.

Jail Repairs

The commission accepted a $2,500 add-on to Squires Specialty Fabrication’s bid for jail repairs. During the previous week’s meeting, the commission had accepted the company’s $3,000 welding bid but opted to wait for the additional painting job.

After discussing inmate housing bills to Osage County and Phelps County that exceeded $12,000 combined, the commission and Sheriff-elect Mark Morgan agreed that they would prefer the Maries County Jail to reopen sooner rather than later, which prompted the decision to paint. Stratman asked Morgan what color he wanted to paint the jail; Morgan said he was thinking dark gray.

Stratman said he had recently been to a County Commissioners Association of Missouri conference where he met a vendor who sold equipment to draw moisture from concrete. The jail has issues with moisture, so the vendor planned to attend a future commission meeting to discuss the product.

Tech issues

Drewel asked Morgan how the sheriff’s office transition had been going. Morgan said he had been trying to work out some technology issues, which brought wider problems to the commission’s attention. The commission called AQM Information Technology, the county’s contracted IT service, to inquire about service concerns including issues with Office 365, transferring phone calls, unusable equipment and server connections.

The AQM employee with whom the commission spoke noted that some of the IT projects take time, but he appreciated that the county called him to alert him to some of the problems affecting day-to-day operations. He said he would let the company’s ownership know about the county’s concerns.

Insurance

Rodgers updated the commission about insurance rate increases for the upcoming year. Workers compensation increased from $33,825 to $35,544. She said the county had several claims throughout the year.

The renewal for liability and property insurance also increased to $184,113. Liability insurance increased by an average of 10.7 percent. The base rate for property coverage increased by 10 percent, and the increase also included a 4.5 percent mandatory inflation adjustment.

Flood meeting

The commission received a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to confirm that the agency will hold a meeting with the state emergency management agency on Dec. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the commission room to discuss recent revisions to the county’s Flood Insurance Study and preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The revised preliminary flood hazard data is available online at fema.gov/preliminaryfloodhazarddata.