March 26, 2020

The Gasconade County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel and Northern District Commissioner Jim Holland at the Courthouse beginning with Pledge of Allegiance. Southern District Commissioner Jerry Lairmore was not in attendance.

PRIOR MINUTES

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel made a motion to approve prior commission minutes dated March 19, 2020. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Absent),

Jim Holland (Yes),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

WARRANTS FOR PAYMENT

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel made a motion to approve the following items: warrants for payment 115280 through 115296. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Absent),

Jim Holland (Yes),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

ROAD CONCERNS AND COMPLAINTS

Commissioner Holland said road department has been taking care of any issues he has reported and are busy with ongoing road maintenance. He also announced that the deadline has been extended for the MoDNR program that offers funds to transition three county dump trucks’ emissions systems.

Commission opened three bids received for concrete, three bids received for rebar and two bids received for herbicide spray; they will be copied for road department to review and make recommendation for acceptance.

These two bids were opened last week for a used one‑ton bucket truck and road department’s recommendation was to select Tommy Schneider and Commission agreed:

BID DETAIL
Used One-Ton Bucket Truck

Hick’s Auto Sales ‑ $13,900

Tommy Schneider ‑ $26,000

MOTION/VOTE

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel made a motion to select bid from Tommy Schneider for one-ton used bucket truck. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Absent),

Jim Holland (Yes),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Presiding Commissioner Miskel started by congratulating Mark Williams on being sworn in Tuesday morning as Interim Sheriff of Gasconade County and thanking him for stepping up to the position; the brief ceremony conducted by Associate Circuit Judge Ada Brehe‑Krueger took place in the large second floor courtroom and was attended by some of the department staff and Clerk Lietzow and Treasurer Feagan. It turned out to be the last official act in that courtroom before the remodeling work started that afternoon.

Presiding Commissioner Miskel wanted to provide updated information regarding the coronavirus as it pertains on a county level; he has been in contact regularly with EMD Dan Dyer who is working to broadcast contact information for the Small Business Administration who is the authority for employers’ needing to complete an Economic Injury Worksheet allowing them access to low interest disaster loans to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. Another point of contact providing a wealth of helpful information is MRPC; he also mentioned that the U.S. Senate passed the CARES Act, also known as the stimulus package, last night with a unanimous vote and it was passed on to the U.S. House of Representatives for hopeful passage today as President Donald Trump indicated he would sign it this weekend.

Commissioner Holland wanted to thank Presiding Commissioner Miskel for all he has done staying on top of this issue as it pertains to Gasconade County; he has kept the Associate Commissioners’ informed daily, if needed. Clerk Lietzow concurred that he was doing the same with her office. She also thanked him for granting the week‑long furlough for county employees’ after Judge Ike Lamke had insisted that the state employees’ in the building start that routine. Presiding Commissioner Miskel actually had a prepared statement that he wanted read into the record that explains the avenue Gasconade County has taken in dealing with the coronavirus:

Gasconade County isn’t on Facebook and doesn’t plan to be. The County does have a website and are not using it to share information about the coronavirus. Why? The situation is always changing and with all the constant updates on television, our newspapers, especially the electronic versions, and social media, in my opinion the county doesn’t have the ability to participate in the continuing changing information flow. Locally there are several people on social media that have taken it upon themselves to share new articles and updates on the virus. All I ask is to make sure the information is accurate and leave opinions to the experts. We are in constant contact with the Gasconade County Health Department and the county Emergency Management Director Dan Dyer and are always sharing information. The commission is in support of the current recommendation published by the county health department. We are adhering to the guidelines that are set by the state of Missouri, and one thing I feel I need to stress, there has been some talk about shuttering in place like some of our large cities have mandated, currently I will not support the action unless mandated by the state of Missouri. No. 1: Stay home whenever possible. No. 2: Try to keep a six foot separation between each other. No. 3: Wash your hands. No. 4: Clean surfaces frequently.

Commissioner Holland concurs with his comments and both have agreed to abide by the Governor’s decisions.

Before adjourning, Clerk Lietzow updated Commission on spur of the moment meeting held by the Health Care Team; there was an urgency due to the fact that if the county was going to leave Midwest Public Risk, it had to be decided by April 1. Since broker JWTerrill had received the county’s census information and shopped it around to various insurance companies and had information to share it was decided to meet. Then about the same time, MPR announced the rate increases received by the county were four percent for HSA plans and five percent for PPO plans. The team ask JWTerrill to get more information on various plans within MPR and bring them to the next meeting which will likely be in early April.

ADJOURN

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel made a motion to adjourn commission until April 2, 2020. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.