HERMANN – A few weeks ago it was county road signs and STOP signs being taken from throughout the county. Last week it was used tires being dumped along county roads.

“Did you know we’re in the used-tire business?” quipped Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, at last week’s County Commission session, referring to the tires that were dumped along at least a couple county roads — apparently under cover of darkness in less-populated parts of the county.

Like the county road signs and STOP signs that go missing only to be found — sometimes, that is — miles away from their intended locations, the appearance of piles of used tires has joined the arrival of robins and the blooming of daffodils as harbingers of spring. Unfortunately, the replacement of signs and the cleanup of tire dumps can be costly for Gasconade County taxpayers.

Meanwhile, the county’s portion of the Rock Island Trail likely won’t open officially until the end of May, which is later than initially planned. County Clerk Lesa Lietzow noted that there are some outstanding bills remaining from the work that was done by the contractor to get the county’s portion ready for opening. The clerk said the county will have to wait until additional funds are dispersed to the county by the state before those remaining bills can be paid.

Road Department Co-Supervisors Dennis Godi and Todd Troyer are asking the Commission to urge the county’s dispatching service to provide their agency with more-detailed information regarding trees and limbs down on county roads. Godi noted on recent incident in which the department was notified late Friday night about a tree down only to discover there was no tree blocking the driving lanes. The agency officials said they would like to have a photo, if possible, accompany the notice from the dispatching service.

On another front, a new courthouse custodian will be on duty Monday morning. With previous custodians taking positions within departments of county government, keeping the courthouse cleaned up has become a muti-person task with several courthouse staffers involved while the search has been conduced for a full-time custodian. That work was recognized by Presiding Commissioner Tim Schmidt, R-Hermann. “Thank you, everybody, for pitching in,” he said.

Work might soon get started on the remodeling of office space to accommodate the new Recorder of Deeds Office. The office was created last summer when the Commission ordered the separation of the Circuit Clerk and Recorder of Deeds Office into separate departments. In November, Gasconade County voters will elect the first recorder of deeds.

Bids for cutting in a new doorway for the office are scheduled to be opened May 14. The Recorder of Deeds Office will be on the first floor of the courthouse across the hall from the County Treasurer’s Office. The new officeholder begins a four-year term Jan. 1, 2027.

County Treasurer Mike Feagan told the Commission that the April check for the county’s share of the state’s Motor Fuel Tax has pushed the year-to-date total to more than $309,000. The April check from the Missouri Department of Revenue was for $73,541. That’s down slightly from the $75,834 received in March. However, it’s up substantially from the $66,981 received in April of last year.

For the first four months, the Motor Fuel Tax has produced $309,749 — $24,184 ahead of the four-month total of a year ago. Last year, the Motor Fuel Tax — all of which is dedicated to he county’s Road Department — generated $937,801.