The main entrance to the Gasconade County courthouse is open again with workers finishing exterior renovation efforts for the time being.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow advised the County Commission Thursday morning that the south-side entrance has been cleared of the caution tape that in recent weeks sent courthouse visitors and employees to the north-side door. The Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department will be moving its metal detector back to its initial place at the main entrance after scanning visitors recently using the north-side door. The single north-side door, which has a computerized entry lock, will return to an employee-only entrance.

The Commission met in regular session last week in Owensville City Hall.

Meanwhile, the east-side door remains closed until workers perform renovation work on the steps and porch on that side of the courthouse. That door has been closed for several months as part of the overall renovation of the exterior of the courthouse.

In other matters, county Emergency Management Director Clyde Zelch advised the Commission that his department is scheduled to conduct a routine emergency response plan drill Tuesday, Feb. 13. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC), located in the courthouse basement, has been significantly disrupted by construction of the pit that will house equipment for the elevator being installed in the courthouse. The construction project figures to make for a crowded gathering place for the drill, which includes representatives of various public service agencies.

“We’ll have no problem doing the drill, but we might have a problem fitting everybody in there,” Zelch told the Commission, which suggested that some of the participants might need to stationed in the hallway outside the EOC.

Zelch said he was confident he could work around the construction in preparing for the mandatory drill.

“As long as I’ve got a handful of days to clean it up, I can make it work,” he said.

In other matters, Lietzow said financial projections would be ready for the Commission when it gathered Monday morning to begin hammering out an operating budget for this year. Noon Friday was the deadline for the various county government departments to submit their budget requests to the County Clerk’s Office. Lietzow, the county’s chief budget officer, and her staff, will take those departmental requests and match against projected revenue during the coming year in crafting a proposal spending plan for the three county administrators to consider.

The Commission is scheduled to spend time this week on refining the funding plan. A final version of a proposed budget will be presented to the public in the coming weeks with final action by the Commission to take place by the end of the month.

County Treasurer Mike Feagan Thursday morning presented the Commission with his office’s final set of financial figures. His final figures show Gasconade County at an unprecedented starting point in its budget process. The county’s year-end balance stands at $1,858,523, compared to last year’s balance of $736,368.

County officials attributed such a strong balance primarily to two sources: A healthy General Fund Sales Tax, which capitalized on longstanding inflation during the past year; and, the surprising amount of revenue generated by the county’s Use Tax, the sales tax applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors, essentially purchases made online. That tax produced more than $500,000.