The Stoddard County Commission met on Monday, September 26, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. 

In the their first business of the day, Commissioner Carol Jarrell made the motion to vote on the agreement for electronic payroll payments between the County of Stoddard and Bank of Advance.  Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington seconded the motion.  Both voted yes to the agreement.

Creative Data Systems will be here Thursday and Friday in the government building to put in the cameras that were ordered.  They will also put in new wiring as well.

Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to postpone the vote on the Engineering Firm on the Broadband project until Monday, October 3, 2022 in order to check references.  Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion.  Both voted yes.

The vote on the County Investment Policy will also be postponed until Monday, October 3, 2022.  Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to postpone the vote until County Collector Josh Speakman is available if there are any questions.  He is out of town at a conference.  Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes.

Greg Mathis attended the meeting and asked permission to review the minutes and other documents to get himself acclimated back into the commission business.  He was voted in as the new Presiding Commissioner in the August 2022 primary and will run opposed in the November election.

David Cooper, citizen of Water District #5, asked the Commissioners what was going on with the #5 Board of Directors.  He had several questions as to who could appoint, how many were on the board, who was collecting bills, paying bills etc.

Commissioner Talkington stated that there was an ongoing investigation/lawsuit and he could not comment on anything with regards to Steve Jordan.  Once he speaks to Circuit Court Judge Rob Mayer with regards to who appoints the board members etc he did not have an answer.  They currently need 4 or 5 members to serve that live within the water district.

"Is this normal when a situation like this happens," commented Cooper.  "Do you all take full control of the board and write the checks?"  Talkington explained he did not have an answer until he spoke to Judge Mayer.

"What is our action plan," stated Cooper.  Talkington said he would have a better answer for him once he talked to Judge Mayer.

Brandi Ross is the only board member left and she is trying her best to work with the Commissioners and Justin Bell, city of Bloomfield, to keep the water flowing and getting a board in place.  Bell is very familiar with the software that is being used to receive payments and set up new water accounts.

Water District #5 is currently receiving water from the city of Bloomfield.  The City is helping take care of mechanical issues as well.

Ross is able to accept money for payment, make deposits and pay bills.  A Water District requires two signatures on the check in order to pay the bills.  Jordan had volunteered to be on the checking account since the water district was in the northern part of the county in his district.  The Commissioners approved that in a prior meeting.

Three people have been appointed to the Water District Board by the Commissioners.  All three were voted on during a regularly scheduled commission meeting.  Since that time two of the three have told Commissioner Talkington they do not wish to served.  McKenzie Farmer and Austin Williams have decided to not serve.  At publication date they have not heard from the third person, Daniel Fitts.

Cotner Electric is supposed to get a proposal together on the new generator for the sheriff's department as they need a larger more powerful one.  The sheriff's old generator will then be moved to the Justice Center as theirs is about to be mechanically broken.

Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the minutes Monday, September 19, 2022.  Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes.

Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to include Asa Asphalt as the company chosen to do the asphalt work around the jail.  That motion was voted on at the September 19, 2022.  No need to amend the minutes, just adding the name of the company that was left off originally.  Seconded by Danny Talkington.  Both voted yes.

Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 11:59 a.m.  Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion.  Both voted yes.

Stoddard County Commissioners met in a regular meeting on Monday, September 19, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.

Duck Creek Township representatives Matt Taylor and Doug Lowery were on the Agenda for 9:15 a.m.

Duck Creek Township would like to apply for a grant to resurface County Road 250 also known as Brown Church Road.  The road is approximately one and 3/4 mile long.  It has been patched and layed over several times.  They would like to apply for this grant through the Stoddard County Commission for $500,000.  Duck Creek Township is doing an in-kind contribution to replace five culverts and shoulder groundwork along the road.

Presiding Danny Talkington said they will publish it in the Dexter Statesman to get a bid to help with the grant application.  Deadline will be October 10, 2022.  The actual grant application deadline is December 19, 2022.

Motion to obtain administrative services quote via a bid process to help Duck Creek Township apply for $500,000 Community Development Block Grant.  Commissioner Steve Jordan made the motion, Commissioner Carol Jarrell seconded the motion.  All three voted yes.

Representatives from Bootheel Regional Planning Commission attended the meeting.  Katelyn Lambert, Asst. Executive Director to BRPC had scoring sheets from five engineering designers that were received by the Puxico Board of Alderman.  City of Puxico chose Conexon out of Kansas City, Missouri.    She kept them in order of submission and all submitted requests for the broadband designs were in prior to the deadline.  This information was to decide on an engineers for the design of the project.  Wayne County still needs to submit their engineering information at this time. 

Motion made to table the decision on the broadband engineering/designing quote until the Commission has a chance to have a work session to discuss.  Motion made by Commissioner Steve Jordan, Commissioner Jarrell seconded.  All voted yes.

Motion made by Commissioner Jarrell to approve expenditure to Asa Asphalt of Cape Girardeau, MO of $26,970.17 to resurface Court Street from Prairie Street to Viola Street, then resurface Prairie Street from Viola Street to Seneca Street, and resurface Viola Street from Seneca Street to Court Street that surrounds the new county jail.  This will cover areas other than what Brown Construction is doing per their contract and the city will do the parking spaces.  Seconded by Commissioner Jordan.  All voted yes.

Commissioner Jordan made a motion to accept the minutes from the September 12th meeting.  Commissioner Jarrell seconded.  All three voted yes.

Motion made by Commissioner Jordan to put MacKenzie Farmer on the board for Water District #5.  Commissioner Jarrell seconded.  All three voted yes.

Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 12:23 p.m.  Commissioner Jorden seconded the motion.  All three voted yes.

On Friday, September 16, 2022 SFC Charles Long, US Army, Retired, honored those that went missing or were prisoners of war at the Stars & Stripes Museum in Bloomfield, Missouri. 

In observance of POW/MIA Recognition Day, the POW/MIA Table was set up at the museum to honor those POW/MIA servicemen and women.  It is observed annually in the United States on the third Friday in September.

Long was on hand to talk about the significance of the table. The table honors the service men and women in the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army,U.S. Navy,U.S. Air force and U.S. Coast Guard that listed as POW or MIA.

The Stars & Stripes Museum is open to the public and there is no admission fee.

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.

Bloomfield, MO - The Stoddard County Commissioners met in a regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, September 8, 2022.

Water District #5 - The Commissioners will need to appoint a new board to serve a specific term.  Once that is done Missouri Rural Water can come in and train the board and the clerk on procedures to maintain the Water District #5.  There are approximately 270 meters in the district.

Motion was made by Commissioner Carol Jarrell to appoint Commissioner Steve Jordan to the banking account at Southern Bank along with Brandy Ross from Water District #5 until a Board can be appointed.  Seconded by Danny Talkington.  Jordan abstained since he was being appointed.  Commissioners Jarrell and Talkington voted yes to the motion.

Commissioner Jordan will contact a few people and ask to serve on the Board of Directors for Water District #5.

Andrew Bohnert, Stoddard County Emergency Management Director, presented a draft job description for his job.  The Commissioners will review and get back to Bohnert on any recommendations or changes to the job description.  If you are interested in applying you can send your resume to the Stoddard County Clerk's office.

Tornado sirens - Battles was able to do maintenance and repair.  City of Advance needs a control panel.  Cost will be $210 to purchase and install.  Dudley siren is at 80% capacity.  It will need to be addressed in the near future.  Batteries are three years old in all of the sirens.  They will need to be replaced over the next two years.  A plan to do 1/3 each year as a long term plan.  Each battery is $200 each and it takes 4 to run the sirens.  August of 2018 was the last time they were replaced.  Six speakers that we maintain and operate and getting 3 new ones.  two speakers and two amps,  supply chain issues  Cost $3,170.00 for two complete sets.  An extra solar charger on hand as well.   Bohnert will get quotes by September 18, 2022 and present to the Commissioners.

Meeting adjourned at noon on Thursday.