HERMANN — Thirteen requests for a share of Gasconade County’s remaining CARES Act funding were granted last Wednesday by the County Commission, acting on the final day allowed to either use the money or send it back to the federal government.

Because of the Dec. 30 deadline set by the federal government, and with more than a dozen applications still on the desk at the Meramec Regional Planning Commission, county administrators met a day earlier than usual to wrap up the dispersal of the county’s $1.725-million portion of the $2.2-trillion federal CARES Act legislation adopted in March.

While the commissioners were pleased to spread the money as widely as they did among local public agencies, small businesses and non-profit organizations, they remained divided on approving one of the requests. On a 2-1 vote, the panel approved $13,377 requested by the city of Owensville for new speed-detecting radar guns for the Police Department. Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, voted against approving the request.

“Personally, I think that’s a stretch,” Holland said, referring to the use of anti-coronavirus funds for radar guns. “I’m 100-percent behind police officers, but…,” Holland said, adding: “To me, it’s a little too far.”

Holland also had concerns about using CARES Act money for a new vehicle — and outfitting that vehicle — for new County Coroner Jeff Arnold. In requesting the funding for the vehicle, Arnold argued that it could be used to transport the body of someone who died because of the virus. Holland voted against those allocations, also.

But Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, compared the purchase of radar guns by Owensville in the same light he did the purchase of new radios and laptop computers for all the patrol cars by the Gasconade County Sheriff's Department. “I don’t see a difference between that (radar guns) and new computers,” Lairmore said.

When the Commission began considering the final round of applications, it had nearly a dozen in front of it with a favorable recommendation from the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), the agency that administered the CARES Act  money. After receiving an application, MRPC staff investigated the legitimacy of the request and then made a recommendation to the County Commission for final action.

But commissioners quickly became aware that 14 additional applications were on the desk at MRPC, not processed because the planning agency’s ledger showed Gasconade County’s CARES Act fund to be depleted. That bothered Lairmore, who said he told MRPC — as did other county officials — that Gasconade County indeed had money available going into the final weeks of the program. That’s because subsequent applications submitted by Missouri Thistle of Owensville and Hermann Hills Vineyard — equaling $200,000 — were sidelined by the Commission when they were received.

The two companies earlier had been approved for an initial allocation of $50,000 each and county administrators put a hold on their subsequent requests in an effort to disperse the funding to as many businesses as possible. MRPC apparently did not consider that money to be available for dispersal to other applicants.

Of the 14 requests that had not been processed by MRPC, the County Commission decided on a 2-1 vote to fund four — all contingent on the requests receiving a favorable recommendation by the regional planning agency. Holland said he could not vote in favor simply because the Commission had not seen the applicants’ paperwork outlining the use of the money.

By the end of the session, county officials had used all but about $30,000 of the $1.725 million. “I think we did a good job of spreading the wealth,” said Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann.

Here are the final batch of applications approved by the County Commission at last week’s session:

• Warden Publishing Company, Owensville, $30,000 for the loss of revenue; 

• University of Missouri Extension Center, Owensville, $537;

• St. Paul United Church of Christ, Hermann, $148;

• City of Owensville, $13,377, radar guns for Police Department;

• Owensville Chamber of Commerce, $8,000 for the loss of revenue;

• Owensville Lions Club, $389 for direct expenses to combat the coronavirus and $10,914 for the loss of revenue from canceled events;

• Gasconade County R-2 School District, $35,139 for a so-called Smart Bus outfitted to provide Wi-Fi to students using laptop computers;

• City of Hermann, $17,154 to cover salaries paid to employees who were off from work because of the virus;

• Peerless Industries Incorporated of Hermann, $10,000 for the loss of revenue;

• Gasconade County Historical Society, $37,392 to cover costs that include a new microfilm reader;

• Rosebud Community Parks, $34,416;

• Gasconade County Fair Association, $25,000 for loss of revenue; and,

• Hermann Chamber of Commerce, $36,888.

(Editor’s note: According to Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow, on the afternoon following the Dec. 30 meeting, the final four awards — all to non-profit organizations — were reduced to $25,000 due to  previously established limits set by the Gasconade County Commission).