Gasconade County Commission Minutes

Posted 10/15/20

Oct. 15, 2020

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Gasconade County Commission Minutes

Posted

Oct. 15, 2020

The Gasconade County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel at the Courthouse beginning with Pledge of Allegiance.

PRIOR MINUTES

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to approve prior commission minutes dated Oct. 8, 2020. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Yes),

Jim Holland (Yes),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

WARRANTS FOR PAYMENT

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to approve the following items: warrants for payment 116183 through 116205. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Yes),

Jim Holland (Yes),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

ROAD CONCERNS AND COMPLAINTS

Commissioner Lairmore spent some time this week marking some trees along county roads that are leaning over the road that will need to be cut down during the winter months when road department has time to do so; Commissioner Holland said he has done the same thing. The only other request he had this week was for a sign to be put up on Epple road indicating winery location because traffic is being routed through that road; Commissioner Lairmore did offer caution about starting that because it could lead to more such requests elsewhere.

Commission announced that the road supervisor has contracted COVID‑19 and is in quarantine; employees of the road dept. will all be notified of the contagion dates, but he had not been to the shed at Drake once exposed.

Presiding Commissioner Miskel mentioned receiving a complaint from Richard Schaefer of Hermann regarding one of the road dept. employees operating a county road grader at a high rate of speed on Stone Hill Highway on Oct. 8 while traveling from one county road to another; the supervisor has been notified and the grader operator has been talked to about it.

Clerk Lietzow announced that MRPC and MoDOT will hold the annual transportation needs meeting with Commission at their session next Thursday at 10 a.m.; both cities of Hermann and Owensville officials’ will be invited to attend.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Presiding Commissioner Miskel said that since the County Commissioners’ annual conference in February has been cancelled, they were each notified that it will be held virtually and each will be required to attend for 20 hours training certificate. He also mentioned when attending MRPC meeting last week, he brought back some numbers reflecting what the census response rate has been by the counties in the region; Gasconade County is at 56.9 percent which is second highest of the eight counties. He did clarify that this was only the online participation numbers, not the door‑to‑door and mail‑in numbers included; further, Missouri participation is at 65.7 percent and the U.S. is at 66.7 percent. Lastly, records reflect that the county Hazard Mitigation plan initially approved in 2017 is due for revision by Sept. 30, 2021 with an expiration date of Jan. 30, 2022.

Commission was notified of a new lawsuit brought involving the county; it will be passed on to county’s insurance carrier for representation.

Interim Sheriff Scott Eiler brought Chief Deputy Roger Armstrong into Commission meeting mainly for introductions; they mentioned that after Commission had raised a question a few weeks ago about an invoice from Wireless USA for some service work the dept. had done, they did some further research and found another source for such work. A&W Communications is the source used for purchasing these communication items, but they can also handle installs at a considerably lower hourly rate for service so that is who the department will start using. Sheriff Eiler announced that the department no longer has cellphones for each officer, in an effort to eliminate personal use; he has purchased hotspots for each to use in their vehicles. Presiding Commissioner Miskel said when he was at MRPC last week, he submitted the proposal their department had for the antimicrobial laptops for use in their vehicles and is awaiting response as to whether it is a qualifying expense. When ask how things were going in the department, Sheriff Eiler said he guessed okay and that they have been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing; before he left the meeting, Commission said they would need to schedule a meeting with him fairly soon at the Swiss Satellite location, to include Coroner‑elect Jeff Arnold, to get his office location finalized and more importantly, the location of the cooling facility he will need for storage. Sheriff Eiler agreed anytime, and Commission is still uncertain as to whether it should, or will, be located inside the building or outside on the property; Commission also needs road supervisor to be there, as he will be handling whatever construction needs they have.

Presiding Commissioner Miskel told Clerk Lietzow and Treasurer Mike Feagan that he also talked to Bonnie Prigge at MRPC about the county needing a single audit done for the federal funds expended; she will be sending a template we can use for requesting qualifications from firms. In regard to MRPC being audited, Mrs. Prigge clarified that they are not subject to the single audit rule, but are audited yearly; in addition, they hired the firm BKD to serve as their consulting firm during the handling of the counties CARES money, not as auditing firm.

Commission then moved onto CARES Act applications approved by MRPC; they tabled a request from Elder Care of Mid MO for $50,000 until they have more information. They did approve a request from Gasconade County R1 school in the amount of $67,605.49 and did have further discussion about the fact that schools do have other resources from the State of Missouri to request funds and want to be sure that the county funds are available for all other entities and businesses who have no other source. There were questions from both reporters present from Gasconade County Republican and Hermann AC about whether businesses can apply more than once, which they can, but there was a misunderstanding about the cap put in place by the Commission of $50,000 and whether that was the grand total per business or each time they applied. Presiding Commissioner Miskel explained it is $50,000 for each request, with Commission making the decision to approve more requests and if any application is rejected by the Commission a business can reapply.

MOTION/VOTE

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to approve application for CARES Act funds from Gasconade County R1 School. Commissioner Jim Holland seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Yes),

Jim Holland (Yes),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

GENERAL DISCUSSION

There was also an application approved by MRPC, but requesting preapproval from Commission, for Coroner‑elect Jeff Arnold purchase of a new pickup truck with camper shell on state bid; his job obviously requires the ability to haul the deceased to a secure facility. While the Commission had discussion about this last week, and were of the opinion that they would prefer buying a used Chevrolet Suburban from Coroner Ben Grosse, for the simple reason of being more able to afford that, they did agree that if the CARES funds can be used to buy this new truck they would be willing to agree to that. Commissioner Holland, who is not a supporter of purchasing vehicles for elected officials to drive, adamantly insisted that it be for county use only, meaning it is to stay parked at a secure location, yet to be determined, at all times until needed for it’s intended purpose, which was agreed by all Commissioners’.

MOTION/VOTE

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to preapproval given to CARES Act application from Coroner‑elect Jeff Arnold for new truck with camper shell. Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote:

Jerry Lairmore (Yes),

Jim Holland (Abstain),

Larry Miskel (Yes).

DELINQUENCY IN PAYMENT OF LOCAL SALES TAX

Commission was notified by Missouri Department of Revenue of a revocation of sales tax license due to delinquency in payment of sales tax for SGII Inc., Hermann Area.

ADJOURN

Commissioner Jim Holland made a motion to adjourn commission until Oct. 22, 2020. Commissioner Jerry Lairmore seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.