Early test for new county road agency chiefs as winter storm cripples Mid-Missouri

Commission begins budget work during special session this morning

By Buck Collier, Special Correspondent
Posted 1/8/25

It didn’t take long for the new management team of the Gasconade County Road Department to be put to the test as Gasconade countians were forced off the roads by the powerful fast-moving …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Early test for new county road agency chiefs as winter storm cripples Mid-Missouri

Commission begins budget work during special session this morning

Posted

It didn’t take long for the new management team of the Gasconade County Road Department to be put to the test as Gasconade countians were forced off the roads by the powerful fast-moving ice-and-snow storm that crippled much of the nation during last weekend.

Some areas of the Mid-Missouri region — which received from a few inches to a foot of snow and a substantial amount of freezing rain and sleet — continue to dig out in the midst of brutally cold temperatures left in the wake of the storm. Bone-chilling cold was expected to remain in place at least until Saturday or Sunday, according to several different weather forecasts.

A reading of minus-4 was predicted for overnight Tuesday into today.

The storm began on Saturday, two days after Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, announced the reorganization of the Road Department — going from a single departmental supervisor to a joint oversight system with two supervisors, one for the county’s Northern District and the other for the Southern District. Todd Troyer is the Northern District supervisor; Dennis Godey will be responsible for the Southern District. The change was announced at last week’s County Commission session held in Owensville City Hall.

Incumbent Supervisor Roger Dahl is scheduled to retire later this month, but, as noted by county administrators, will be using accumulated time off until then, which means Troyer and Godey in effect now are overseeing maintenance of county roads and bridges.

Meanwhile, the County Commission this morning was scheduled to start considering departmental budget requests in a special session in the courthouse. County officials will be crafting a 2025 spending plan for county government services in the coming weeks with final approval of a new budget by the end of the month.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow, the county’s chief budget officer, advised the three commissioners to not make plans for the afternoon.

“We’ve got things to do on Wednesday, so plan on the day,” she said.

At last week’s Commission session, Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, noted that the administrators took up the Road Department budget at the road agency office in Drake prior to convening the weekly session. While no specifics readily were available, he added that some trimming was done to the agency’s expenses.

“We did cut some places where we knew we could cut,” Holland said.

New Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, who in the past has been critical of some spending by county government, received his first up-close look at the dollars involved in providing just one area of services to county residents.

“A lot of things need to be done (in maintaining the roads) and it adds up to a lot of money,” Hardecke said.

The Commission this morning also might take up the bids received for information technology (IT) management services for county government. Lietzow noted that three bids have been received in response to her office’s recent issuance of a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) for a single IT manager for the various county government offices. Expressing an interest in providing the service are companies from Jefferson City, Springfield and Washington. The Washington firm is AQM, who now serves as the county’s IT consultant.

Lietzow said the county finally received notice of action on its application for a Community Development Bloc Grant (CDBG) for road upgrades from the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The grant is in the amount of $529,210 and will be used to fund upgrades to Tappemeyer Road, Old Highway 19 and City Cemetery Road, all in the Owensville area. Former Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, was the primary driver behind the effort to apply for the grant. His work to obtain the funding was recognized by Holland.

“Kudos to Jerry for getting that,” he said.