Bloomfield, MO - The Stoddard County Commissioners met in a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, September 12, 2022.
Commissioner Steve Jordan made a motion to appoint Austin Williams and Daniel Fitts to the Water District #5 Board of Directors. Their board recently all resigned. Commissioner Carol Jarrell seconded the motion. The motion was passed 3-0. Jordan stated that he would be try to find other people to serve on the Board.
Alan Hedrick representing County Wide Insurance/Levitt Group to discuss application process to get information on the county employees to get a fair bid to the Commissioners.
"I prefer to have someone here and funnel each employee to a person here in the building," stated Talkington. "I am ok with doing that."
Hedrick suggested that 9 - noon both Tuesday and Wednesday. The Commissioners will get with the elected officials and make sure that is ok with them as well.
Alisha Trammell, Dexter Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, briefed the Commissioners on the ARPA funds and grants for the Economic Development.
The Dexter Chamber and Three Rivers College are applying for a Workforce Training grant through the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Three Rivers is currently housed in the Chamber building. TRC has a lease currently and will purchase the building in January of 2025. The Chamber will remain in its current location.
Currently, the Chamber, has about 11,000 square feet unfinished and unoccupied area.
"Three rivers College and the Dexter Chamber of Commerce have combined to bring a new technical center to Dexter to house programs in construction, advanced manufacturing, welding, and lineman," commented Alisha Trammell, Dexter Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.
The Bootheel Technical Training Center, as it will be named, will be the only location for these programs and will be a one to two year program. The first year will be the basics and the second year will be more business oriented.
Trammell is asking for a letter of support from the three County Commissioners. The grant is due in October and should hear something in January and are prepared to open by Fall of 2023.
"Thank you for doing this and taking an interest in our community." commented Commissioner Carol Jarrell.
Commissioner Carol Jarrell made a motion that the Commissioners give a letter of recommendation/support for the Dexter Chamber and TRC Missouri Department of Economic Development grant. Commissioner Steve Jordan seconded. All were in favor of the motion.
Paula Yancey, Circuit Court Clerk, spoke to the Commissioners on behalf of both Judge Brad Jarrell and Judge Rob Mayer. There are areas of the Justice Center that are not covered by security cameras. Those areas were not included in the original security system. KT Powers gave an estimate for the televisions, adding cameras, and wiring. Judge Jarrell and Judge Mayer would like the Commissioners to consider purchasing these additional cameras.
Talkington has asked Yancey to get a more up-to-date quote from KT Powers. The current quote is almost 9 months old. The Commissioners will decide at that time.
Dave Whitaker, Deputy Emergency Management Director, will be the main point of contact until someone is hired for the new Emergency Management Director. Andrew Bohnert has resigned his position effective Friday, September 16, 2022. A notice for hire has been placed in the newspaper. Whitaker has been doing this type of work since 1978.
Bohnert has requested ARPA funding from the Commissioners for upgrading Sirens/Speakers and received this quote on September 12, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. He would like to have upgrades to the six sirens that the County is responsible for maintaining. He would like to have 10 extra speaker drivers to have on hand at Battles Communications if one were to go out. Each siren has anywhere from 5 to 7 speakers per pole. Bernie's siren is outdated and about 20 years old. Cost would be about $7,000 to change that one out. The entire project would cost about $67,000 which includes labor, shipping, and replacement of batteries, amplifiers, computer and voice control modules. No decision was made today.
Bohnert had a second ARPA request to benefit seven (7) fire departments across Stoddard County. The request was received on September 12, 2022 at 11:25 a.m. The MOSWIN Radio System would allow every essential crew personnel to have a hand-held radio to communicate with all emergency responders. He applied for an AFG grant for about $920,000 with a 9.6% match to each fire department; however he has not heard back from that grant. To finish off the purchase another $360,000 would be requested in ARPA funds from the County for all the needed radios. Total cost would be around 1.92 million dollars for the MOSWIN Radio System. No decision was made today.
Commissioner Jordan made a motion to accept the meeting minutes from Thursday, September 8, 2022. Commissioner Jarrell seconded the motion. All three voted to approve the minutes.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 12:11 p.m. Commissioner Jordan seconded the motion. All voted yes to adjourn.
