April 23, 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 April 16, 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 115375 through 115391.

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 didn’t have anything new to report for the minutes; the issues he had told the road department about have already been taken care of. He added that they do a great job of staying on top of ongoing maintenance.

Commission opened two bids received for p‑gravel, six bids received for white rock and one bid for road grader; as always they will be copied for the road department to review and make recommendation for acceptance.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Presiding Commissioner Miskel was part of a teleconference with Univ. Extension Council and received the unfortunate news that extension will receive a 12 percent cut in their budget; he is going to pursue more information regarding this to find out if this is across the board with extension or if it was calculated on a county by county basis. He also mentioned having the weekly conference call with the County Health Department this afternoon and was happy to announce the two COVID‑19 cases in Gasconade County are now recovered.

Commission discussed pending legislative action in the Missouri House and Senate, in particular regard to the e‑Commerce use tax and whether it will pass session this year; currently Missouri and Florida are the only two states that still rely on the older physical presence standard when determining collection of use tax. As other Commissioners’ have said, if the legislature does not pass this, there is the potential to bankrupt local governments due to the massive online shopping that is occurring during this COVID‑19 shutdown. Presiding Commissioner Miskel received a phone call from US Senator Roy Blunt’s office this week, asking how things were going in the county; another relief package is being worked on and it is of utmost importance to Senator Blunt that county government’s are not overlooked in this process. Clerk Lietzow said Missouri State Treasurer’s office called this week to say they would be mailing an application for county completion requesting these funds and that Presiding Commissioner Miskel should receive it by Tuesday and it must be turned around quickly by Friday. While the funding for small businesses didn’t reach true small businesses, it is being redrafted to do so; Commission will be watching the results of neighboring Franklin county opening up starting tomorrow and the impact it has along with awaiting Governor Mike Parson announcement regarding opening up portions of the state.

Presiding Commissioner Miskel received a brief questionnaire from Missouri Auditor’s Office regarding the amount of budget shortfall the county is experiencing due to the loss of prisoner reimbursement from Missouri Department of Corrections; he forwarded it to Interim Sheriff Mark Williams and Clerk Lietzow.

ADJOURN

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel made a motion to adjourn commission until April 30, 2020. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.