August 5, 2021

The Gasconade County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel at the Owensville City Hall beginning with Pledge of Allegiance. Attendance: Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, Present; Commissioner Jim Holland, Present; Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, Present.

PRIOR MINUTES

Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made a motion to approve prior commission minutes dated July 22, 2021, 8:30 a.m. 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 117370 through 117390. 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 said when they arrived at Drake this morning for session with road dept. before coming to Owensville City Hall, all employees were there to talk to Commission. They voiced their concerns about the future, stating the fact that there is still one vacancy unfilled for brush cutter and with the upcoming retirements of two or three more employees’, what was the Commissions’ plans for filling the positions. Commissioners’ assured them they were constantly looking for applicants to fill the existing vacancy and they know when the others’ retire, it could be difficult filling those positions also. While everyone is in agreement that there are not a lot of people looking for work right now, there is also the issue of pay within the dept.; hiring someone to operate a $27,0000 road grader being paid $12.00 per hour is no longer going to work and Commission needs to look at restructuring the salaries of not only new hires, but those of existing employees based on job duties and years of service.

When convening at Owensville City Hall, Commission shared the discussion at Drake with Clerk Lietzow for the official minutes. Commissioner Lairmore went on to say he had been fielding complaint calls about windrows left on the county roads; he explained that while the roads are dry, ditches are cleaned out and the material is brought up on the road, until it rains and it goes back down in the ditches. That is why he is such an advocate of having enough right‑of‑way on county roads because then it doesn’t matter how long the windrow is there and he encourages residents to consider that. Further, there is an issue on Danz road where the property owners’ fence is so close to the road, 15’ from the center of the road, but has been there a very long time; he and the dept. are going to meet with the owner to look at it because just trimming the trees is no longer working. Commission was notified by River Cement Company that they applied to MoDNR for expansion of their permit to mine fireclay in Sections 10 and 15, Township 43N, Range 6W.

Commissioner Holland has heard the same concerns about windrows; he mentioned that the VW replacement program grant is available to counties again so he will help the road dept. with the application process which hopefully will lead to another new dump truck purchased, partially paid for with these grant funds.

Commission received the 2022 CART agreement from MO Dept. of Conservation to be signed and returned; once fully executed, the rock can be placed on those roads leading to dept. owned properties. They also received notice from River Cement Co. that they have applied for a site expansion to their existing permit from MoDNR to reclaim the land where clay was mined on five acres located in Sec. 5, Twp. 40N, R4W.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Commission announced they were pleased with the special election results this week where the local usetax question was on the ballot with 379 votes yes and 364 votes no, unofficially; they were as equally disappointed in the low voter turnout of 7% just as they were after the April election, when all precincts voting were open, the turnout was 10%. Commission wanted to thank both Hermann and Owensville Chambers of Commerce for their verbal support along with their financial support in the form of ads in the local newspapers; also thanked equally for their support was the E‑911 board for their efforts reaching out to voters by providing factual information in a well‑prepared flyer. Also thanked were the voters who support their local businesses by approving this usetax to help level the playing field. Clerk Lietzow said she now has to look at what steps are next as far as preparing official documents to send to the Dept. of Revenue to initiate the collection, after the election results are officially verified tomorrow afternoon.

Presiding Commissioner Miskel announced the Census Bureau will be hosting an informational webinar today at 1 p.m. ahead of the release of the 2020 census redistricting data; also, he passed along to the City of Owensville officials who were present for the meeting, information from MRPC on a free tree program, something the county is not interested it. Also, Kelly Sink prepared a packet of information as it relates to the ARPA funds and how the county can utilize a formula detailed in the packet, that shows how to recoup lost revenue. He went on to report on the ZOOM meeting he attended with MRPC regarding a plan for broadband in Gasconade county; speaking at the meeting was the CEO of Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, who explained it simply has to do with the amount of money it would take to implement; he indicated it will likely take some federal and/or state money to help implement, which he knows is being discussed on both levels. Owensville City Administrator Randy Blaske also attended via telephone, and agreed that was his take on the process, that it just needs money; rural electric cooperatives reach households in all parts of the state, but that doesn’t mean the infrastructure is there for the broadband.

EMD Clyde Zelch passed along a memo to Commissioners’ reminding them again of the dress rehearsal drill with the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday, August 19 in the EOC; participants are encouraged to offer their support for Director Zelch in his first drill and lend him all the support he needs.

Commissioner Lairmore reported the new water fountains are in at Maciejewski’s and they will be calling Clerk Lietzow soon to schedule the install; she said when Grannemann’s were at the Courthouse this week to replace the gauge on the boiler that did not pass inspection, they heard an air conditioner unit compressor making a lot of noise and investigated to determine it was the 14 year old unit that serves the Assessor, Prosecutor and Sheriff’s offices on the second floor. While Clerk Lietzow had budgeted to replace a unit this year, it wasn’t expected to be that one; Commission suggested getting a price on buying the compressor only, but also price a new unit.

Treasurer Mike Feagan presented his monthly account balances to the Commission and reviewed for them; General Revenue continues to show a significantly better balance than one year ago, but the monthly sales tax numbers are not yet available.

Commission ask officials from the City of Owensville what was knew, and they agreed with what many have said that the county fair last week was a success; they added that they are still finalizing the details at the new police station.

REPORT OF FEES

Commission received for file the monthly reports of fees collected by Scott Eiler, Sheriff for the month of July in the amount of $1,204.35 civil fee fund and $230.00 DSSSF; also from the same month from Lesa Lietzow, County Clerk in the amount of $4,737.00.

ADJOURN

Commissioner Jim Holland made a motion to adjourn commission until Aug. 12, 2021. Commissioner Jerry Lairmore seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.