Bloomfield, Missouri - The Stoddard County Commission voted on Monday, January 4, 2016 to continue with Missouri Rural Services (MRS) for 2016. The insurance is provided through County Wide Insurance Agency and is for their property and liability insurance at a cost of $139,721.
County Wide Insurance had presented them with two bids back in November of 2015. The first provider was Trident Insurance with a cost of $133,827.90 and the second provider was Missouri Rural Services. Trident would have a higher deductible and there were some differences in the coverage.
Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis asked Carol Jarrell and Danny Talkington if they wanted to look further into the two policies or take action on the proposals. County Wide Insurance was the only company to provide a bid.
Talkington made the motion to accept the bid with Missouri Rural Services as it was better coverage. Carol Jarrell seconded. It passed with a 3-0 vote.
The next item on the agenda about a newspaper article on transportation from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. It was about a bill filed in the Missouri State Legislature that would increase the fuel tax in the state by 1.5 cents per gallon. The bill was filed by State Senator Rob Schaaf. It would also turn all state roads that are marked by letters over to the counties for maintenance. In Stoddard County that would be turning the maintenance of all lettered roads over to the townships.
Mathis said that more transportation funding is needed however a 1.5 cent increase in fuel tax would not be enough. An increase should be more in line with 5 cents per gallon to address all the needs of the roads and bridges in the state. He also went on to say that a fuel tax could be passed with a "sliding scale" so that it could be rolled back if fuel prices were to increase again.
"Legislation is spending a whole lot of time on right-to-work legislation to improve economic development, but that wouldn't help without adequate transportation funding," stated Mathis. "If they can't get their product from point A to point B, there will be no economic growth."
Mathis also stated that expecting townships to maintain "lettered" highways in the county was absolutely ridiculous. "I think we should send a letter to State Rep. Tila Hubrecht. and Senator Doug Libla asking them to oppose the bill by Schaaf."
"I am in agreement," Jarrell stated. "I think we also need to talk with Richardson as well." Jarrell then made a motion to send letters to all local legislators to oppose the bill by Schaaf. Seconded by Talkington. It passed by a 3-0 vote.
No other matters were brought forth during the meeting. The next scheduled meeting is Monday, January 11, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. in Bloomfield.
Photo credit to Dee Loflin, ShowMe Times Manager/Editor. Shown in the photo are County Commissioners Greg Mathis, Carol Jarrell, and Danny Talkington.
