HERMANN – Remember those new doors ordered in 2021 for the Gasconade County courthouse, the ones equipped with an automatic opening device aimed at preventing the spread of COVID? Well, the delivery seems to be a, well, a definite maybe.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow Thursday morning told the County Commission that those $40,000 doors for the south-side main entrance and north-side employee entrance could be delivered sometime this month. The doors are being paid for out of the county’s CARES Act money, the initial federal government appropriation to local governments aimed at offsetting the cost of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The doors were part of county government’s efforts to stop the spread of the virus in the courthouse, an effort that also included installing new hands-free water fountains on both floors of the building.

But unlike the water fountains, which were installed in fairly short order, delivery of the new doors has been hampered by one delay after another. The new wooden doors have been manufactured, officials said, but a major delay occurred when the glass needed for the doors became unavailable.

Mike LeRoy, the contractor who produced the doors, had a plan to get around the glass-availability problem by obtaining the panes from a Franklin County company. But, as Lietzow explained to the Commission recently, that didn’t work out. Which meant LeRoy had to scramble to find another glass provider. “He didn’t go the route he told me in November,” the county clerk said. November is a key time because that’s the latest date the Commission was given for delivery. That is, until now.

Lietzow said the project was sidelined yet again most recently when LeRoy himself was sidelined by COVID. “He’s been dealing with long-term effects of COVID,” she said.

But, she said, there seems to be a light at end of this tunnel. “It’s been two years delay (in obtaining the glass) and it’s now available,” she said.

“I asked him for a firm date and I got a month,” she said. “We’ll see how this goes — March,” Lietzow said.

Meanwhile, the proposal to include Hermann in the effort to create a port authority to help spur development along the Interstate 70 corridor in Montgomery and Warren counties is raising the eyebrow of at least one member of the County Commission. The port authority effort does not extend beyond the city limits of Hermann.

Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, and Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, attended a recent special session of the Hermann Board of Aldermen during which the port authority project was outlined. Economic Development consultant Steve Etcher, working with the Montgomery County Economic Development Commission, was the featured speaker at the special session, explaining that Hermann is an attractive potential partner in the port authority effort primarily because inclusion in a port authority district would make available the south side of the Missouri River and the Union-Pacific railroad line that could carry product from a “megasite” in the I-70 corridor and Amtrak passengers associated with the developments within the port authority district.

“At this time, he doesn’t want Gasconade County involved . . . and that’s fine,” Schulte said, referring to Etcher and the port authority project.

But Lairmore takes a broader view. “If it affects Hermann, it affects Gasconade County,” he said.

“I agree with you, Jerry. Stay tuned,” said Schulte.

Also during Thursday’s session, the Commission heard what the cost to county taxpayers will be to conduct the April 4 General Municipal Elections. Lietzow, the county’s chief elections officer, said the county share of the cost of the elections will be $13,399. The only county issue on the ballot will be a proposal for a 3-percent sales tax on marijuana. All other entities on the ballot — such as school districts, municipalities and fire protection districts — each will pay a share of the total cost of conducting the elections. All six municipalities in the county will have candidates or issues on the April ballot and seven of the eight school districts that include at least a portion of Gasconade County also will be on the ballot, an unusual development. “We haven’t had seven schools out of eight (on the same ballot) in years,” the county clerk said.

Circuit Clerk & Recorder of Deeds Jennifer Schneider suggested the County Commission consider taking advantage of recent state legislation authorizing two new case-filing fees aimed at generating funds for domestic violence shelters. The state law allows an extra $2 fee to be placed on the filing of civil cases and a $4 fee to be assessed when a criminal case is filed.

There is an existing fee that for years has been applied when cases are filed. That fee raises about $500 a year for victims of domestic violence. That money is equally divided between two agencies serving domestic violence victims, one in Warren County and one in Cole County.

The Commission instructed the County Clerk’s Office to draft an order that, if adopted, would add these fees to the cost of filing cases with the Circuit Clerk’s Office.

Because the commissioners are in Jefferson City this week for training, there will not be a session Thursday in the Owensville City Hall. The next session will be Thursday, March 9, in the courthouse.