The Stoddard County Commissioners will not meet on Monday, January 16th due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday. They will be meeting on Tuesday, January 17th at 9:00 a.m. at the Stoddard County Government building in the Commission Chambers next to the Clerk's Office.
Agenda reads:
1. Approve previous minutes from January 9, 2023 and the (Special Session Meeting on Thursday, January 12, 2023).
2. Approve December Adds/Abates from Josh Speakman, County Collector's Office
3. Vote on the Marijuana Tax Appearing on the Tuesday, April 4, 2023 ballot
4. Doug Lower, Duck Creek Township - ARPA Funding Request
5. Appoint Transportation Advisory Committee
6. Old Business
7. New Business
The Stoddard County Commissioners met on Monday, January 10, 2023. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer by Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis. Twenty-three people were on hand to start the morning.
District #2 Commissioner Carol Jarrell made a motion to accept the Regular Meeting Agenda as well as the Closed Session Agenda for today. Mathis seconded. Both voted yes and passed without prejudice.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to accept the Meeting Minutes from Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Mathis seconded. Both voted yes and passed without prejudice.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to accept the Meeting Minutes from Wednesday, January 4, 2023 as written. Seconded by Mathis. Both voted yes and passed without prejudice.
Stoddard County Clerk Cecil Weeks swore in Mr. Greg Lintz, District #1 County Commissioner. He was congratulated and took his seat. He replaces Commissioner Steve Jordan, northern district commissioner.
Stoddard County Jail Generator
On August 29, 2022 there was a discussion about the generator after a Commission meeting. There are no are minutes of the conversation. It was a verbal agreement that the old generator for the old jail would be moved to the Justice Center and a new generator be purchased for the new Jail Expansion with a committed pay of $100,000 from the County. The total project would be around $380,000.
"Somewhere along the way the agreement got unraveled."
Mr. Shawn Harding, Senior Associate with HMN Architectural Firm, said he had not received a change order for the generator; however Steve Brown with Brown Construction said he emailed the Change Order to him. Brown will go back and find the Order and send to both Harding and Mathis.
Apparently there was a storm that rolled through causing a power outage at the Stoddard County Jail. This is when they discovered the problems that the old generator could not handle the power of the new jail.
Andy Holden stated, "No heat no ac, water control system for the inmates is electric as well. When the power went out a freezer also went out. Back-up lights for 90 minutes only unless on a generator. Elevator also can not work with out a new generator. There are other minor issues, but these are the big things."
Ross & Baruzzini an engineering firm that did the electrical specs for the new Stoddard County Jail has been informed. Mr. Harding will contact them as soon as possible to take care of the difference between the $380,000 and the $100,000 committed by the County. They should have known what it was going to take electrically to keep the jail going in case of a power outage.
Cotner Electric is the sub-contractor who did the actual electrical work for the Stoddard County Jail. They could do the electrical work; however it is not currently wired, just sitting there. A temporary generator will have to be put in place, redo conduit for two or three days and then two or more days to wire, so about a week overall.
"I'm putting you on notice. (speaking to Sean Harding with HMN Architectural Firm) I don't want to get into a $380,000 game of chicken. I'm not blinking," Mathis stated. (Mathis later said he doesn't speak for Jarrell or Lintz)
There were some other issues regarding flooring and cameras. Holden and Sheriff Carl Hefner will go over those items with Mr. Harding today.
Ben Godwin, Director of the Stoddard County Public Health Center and Jeff Riddle, Health Department Board Member
The Health Dept is currently doing all the advertising for board positions for the April election, library board, etc and typically in other counties the County Clerk takes care of all that. There are also 3 board positions up for re-election for the Health Dept. We need to get with someone to transition the advertising of these positions to the County Clerk's office.
Statement from Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis in reference to former Commissioner Steve Jordan: "Steve Jordan contacted me at home last Tuesday. He has requested back-pay, insurance, attorney fees, and unemployment benefits. I told him I have no idea if he entitled to all that. Have your attorney send a letter to the Commissioner and any MO State Statutes that may apply. That's all that is being said about that at this time."
Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission
She distributed a spreadsheet on ARPA Funding. It shows the amounts requested and those that have received funding.
Russ Oliver, Attorney at Law
Stated he is assisting the city of Advance on funding as he owns a grant writing company in Dexter. They requested $674,000 in June 2021. Mathis state they are on the list and he will dive into ARPA Funds after the budget is set. That's a major priority.
Stoddard County MU Extension Office turned in their budget requests.
Alisha Trammell, Dexter Chamber of Commerce ask that the fund for the city of Dexter be moved to another project similar to the one they had requested in June of 2021. She could not go into any details at this time, but it was for water and sewer.
"I have reached out to Travis Eliot, county attorney, to see if the monies designated to the previous project can be moved to the new project since it is still involving water and sewer projects." stated Lambert.
City of Bernie has requested via email for ARPA funds for a water project on Friday, January 6, 2023 at 4:12 p.m. by Mr. John Chittenden, Waters Engineering on behalf of Mayor James Tillman.
Bootheel Regional Planning and Duck Creek Township
Duck Creek Township, a proposal, street grant, CDGB, Bootheel Regional could not get that grant as it never went passed the process with the previous commissioners. They did not sign by deadline. Bootheel Regional is looking for other options. When CDGB announces their competitive cycle before they can announce for this year's monies. Duck Creek Township will have to applying again.
County Road 784 Bridge
Bridges are graded differently now and it is a long process; however the bridge on County Road 784 has been approved by the MoDOT Board.
Motion from Stoddard County Commission to allow Mrs. Jarrell to sign the Notice to Proceed to repair County Road Bridge 784. Motion by Commissioner Lintz, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All were in favor and passed without prejudice.
Cecil Weeks, Stoddard County Clerk
"Since the legalization of Marijuana, it is legal for the County to impose a 3-cent sales tax on recreational Marijuana only, not medicinal. In order to pass this it has to on the April ballot it has to be approved by January 24, 2023," commented Weeks.
Mathis asked where does the tax monies land and Weeks stated General Revenue. Then the County can decide how to allocate the funds in the budget. It would be at the end of the year before you would see any benefit.
Motion to put on the Tuesday, January 17, 2023 Agenda to vote on the proposed County Sales Tax on marijuana made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Lintz. All three commissioners voted yes and passed without prejudice.
Budget Information
The County must allow a Public Notice to be in the Dexter Statesman for at least 10 days prior to the vote of the budget and at Notice of at least 5 working/business days to let the public know when that meeting will take place. The Commissioners will need to get the county budget done by January 13th and submit a Public Notice to the Dexter Statesman for the January 18th paper. Then they can have a Public Hearing on the Budget on January 25th at 9 a.m. prior to voting in the new budget.
Motion made by Jarrell to go into Closed Session pursuant to RSMo: Section: 610.021 (13) - Personnel at 11:30 a.m. Seconded by Lintz. All three voted yes and passed without prejudice.
The Commissioners came back into Open Session at 1:01 p.m. approximately 1.5 hours later.
General statement from the closed session by Presiding Commissioner Mathis. He stated that they are requesting more information with regards to the employee in question. No motions or votes were taken during the closed session.
Employees Health Insurance
Mr. McCarty from Arch Insurance for the employee/elected officials health insurance for 2023 had available what has currently been proposed. He stated that the Summary of Benefits were not clear when he received that information; however he was to provide steerage towards SoutheastHEALTH. He referred to page 6 showing the upped $1,500 for in-network and the $3,000 for out-of-network.
"Does not provide any steerage to the local hospital to protect that hospital. We did go back and get discount approvals. "they" came back with a possible 2 Tier network which can also include a in-network and out-net-work. Southeast is substantially less than St. Francis. We do have the option at no additional cost $500, $2,000 and $4,000."
"Southeast would be a Tier 1 at a $500 deductible and St. Francis would be Tier 2 at $2,000 deductible and out-of-network at $4,000 deductible."
"The County has a credit with Symetra and we will no longer have our stop-loss with them. BRM Specialty is the stop-laws provider now going forward."
Mathis made it clear that he is on the board of SoutheastHEALTH of Stoddard County.
"Based on discounts from SoutheastHEALTH for the county are deeper than with St. Francis."
Motion to give Mr. McCarty from Arch Brokerage Inc. to move forward to establishing Stoddard County Health Insurance for employees and elected officials to a Tier-3 Policy. Motion made by Lintz, seconded by Jarrell. All in favor and motion passed without prejudice.
Motion to adjourn by Commissioner Jarrell. Seconded by Linzt. All voted yes to adjourn at 1:28 p.m.
2022 Stoddard County Coroner's report.
"While not a requirement for the office, I plan to continue releasing this report annually to keep the public informed and provide transparency."
"I would like to say thank you to our Stoddard County Funeral homes, Mathis Funeral Home, Watkins Funeral Home, and Morgan Funeral Home for their assistance and professionalism. I would also like to thank all of our county first responders for their assistance."
While there are never any positives in a report like this, it is encouraging that our county did not have a homicide in 2022. It is also important to note that suicides were down nearly 75% from 2021. I will continue to encourage mental health and suicide awareness in hopes that number will someday be 0.
The Coroner's office is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Have a safe and blessed 2023
Sincerely,
Brent Stidham, Stoddard County Coroner
2022 budget information Total budgeted: $73,022.85
Total actual: $61,792.00
2022 case information
The following information is in regards to Coroner’s Office cases only and does not include deaths occurring under the care of a physician such as hospice.
Total cases investigated and certified by the Coroner’s office: 105 Scene responses: 78
Natural Causes: 86
COVID-19: 2
Homicide: 0
Suicide: 3
Motor vehicle accident: 4 Overdose: 4
Accident (drowning): 1 Accident (other): 2 Cases pending: 3
Age groups
0-18: 3
19-45: 9
46-70: 49
70 and over: 44
Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis opened the Special Session Meeting on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.
At the meeting Mr. Mathis and Commissioner Carol Jarrell are slated to interview seven candidates. Each candidate will have an opportunity to speak for 15 minutes.
After the appointment by The Commission, the Governor will then have 60 days to finalize the appointment or choose a Commissioner on his own.
Below is the Missouri State Statute on how to fill vacancies for Commissioners.
"105.030. Vacancies, how filled. — Whenever any vacancy, caused in any manner or by any means whatsoever, occurs or exists in any state or county office originally filled by election of the people, other than in the offices of lieutenant governor, state senator or representative, sheriff, or recorder of deeds in the city of St. Louis, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the governor except that when a vacancy occurs in the office of county assessor after a general election at which a person other than the incumbent has been elected, the person so elected shall be appointed to fill the remainder of the unexpired term; and the person appointed after duly qualifying and entering upon the discharge of his duties under the appointment shall continue in office until the first Monday in January next following the first ensuing general election, at which general election a person shall be elected to fill the unexpired portion of the term, or for the ensuing regular term, as the case may be, and the person so elected shall enter upon the discharge of the duties of the office the first Monday in January next following his election, except that when the term to be filled begins on any day other than the first Monday in January, the appointee of the governor shall be entitled to hold the office until such other date. This section shall not apply to vacancies in county offices in any county which has adopted a charter for its own government under Section 18, Article VI of the Constitution. Any vacancy in the office of recorder of deeds in the city of St. Louis shall be filled by appointment by the mayor of that city."
Mr. Mathis handed out a letter from Kyle Aubuchon stating how the county office vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Mr. Aubuchon is aware that the Commission is fielding questions from citizens who are interested in applying for the office. An online application must also be filled out as well. Both the Central Committees may also recommend candidates as well.
Candidates are CD Stewart, Lori Thrower, David Cooper, Greg Lintz, Chad Payne, Logan Lowery, Shannon Sisson, and Steve Hunott
"One candidate stated that there has been a decline in the representation of how the Commissioners worked together. Lots of problems over the past couple of years. I just had a lot of concerns and comments from courthouse staff and they just need good leadership."
Mr. Mathis and Mrs. Carroll will announce their decision today and then a swearing in ceremony will be held on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 9 a.m. The ShowMe Times will be notified today by phone from Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis. The announcement will be posted on Facebook.
Update: at 3:00 p.m. today.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to appoint Greg Lintz as District 1 Commissioner. Mathis seconded the motion. Both voted yes.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 12:51 p.m. Mathis seconded the motion. Both voted yes.
The Commissioners met on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. in the government building located in Bloomfield, MO. Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis was sworn in by Judge Satterfield on December 31, 2022. He submitted the documentation to Pam Wheeler Chief Deputy Clerk.
"I thank those who were elected as they were soon in on Friday morning." commented Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis. "My family takes a vacation after Christmas to allow our employees to be with their families. I was unable to attend the swearing in so I had Judge Satterfield meet me at my office and he swore me in on December 31, 2022."
"Over the past four years the operations with the county governments have changed tremendously from when I was in office," stated Mathis. " There are office holders who I hadn't worked with in the past are going to have to get used to me because I won't govern the same styles as Danny Talkington.
"And I got to get used to the style of the office holders that I will have to work with as well," continued Mathis. "It is my belief that the business of our county governments and businesses in an open public dialogue, the media should have access to whatever information they need in order to write the story which will effectively inform our county citizens as to what's happening with our tax dollars in Stoddard County. That being the case, Miss Loflin, you are the queen of Sunshine Law requests. That being said, I hear about it, so the information comes up and you need help getting something you call me and we will go from there."
"I believe in transparency is the foundation for effective government. That's going to be our motto as we go forward," Mathis said. "I certainly hope that anyone, citizens or office holders, that have any questions that may come to me with a direct question, likewise, I will do the same. We will again, try to keep an open dialogue for everyone."
"General revenue is at an all time high. Stoddard County is in a very good place financially. A lot of good fortune from that general revenue has come on the backs of taxpayers who are paying sales tax on goods and services that have gone up some 20 to 25% due to inflation," stated Mathis. "I don't believe that the increase in sales tax revenue that funds county government has based on consumer confidence through our economy being better off than it was years ago through the purchase of stock markets."
"I want to make sure our infrastructure is in place, whether it be rural bridges, internet, making sure our children still have an opportunity to go to school in a safe environment. We are going to take care of our buildings and grounds. As far as the budget, we will be responsible and monies will be spent in a manner that citizens are Stoddard County deserve."
"If there are no questions, moving on." Commissioner Steve Jordan has been removed from office from a judgement by the honorable Joshua Underwood.
Commissioner Carol Jarrell made a motion to have a Special Session Meeting on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. to interview and appoint a Commissioner to replace Jordan. Seconded by Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis. Both voted yes and it passed.
Mathis asked if Cecil Weeks would notify the Governor of their intentions and per State Statute 105.030 Vacancies, how filled - "The County Commission of all nonstarter counties shall, no later than fourteen (14) days after the occurrence of the vacancy, fill the vacancy by appointment, and the person so appointed by the county commission, after full qualifying and entering upon the discharge of hie or her duties under Thea appointment, shall continue in office until the Governor fills the vacancy by appointment under subsection 1 of the section or until the vacancy is filled by operation of another provision of law."
The Commission has at least seven individuals that are interested in getting the appointment.
Cecil Weeks, County Clerk, also told the Commissioners that they could appoint an Associate Commissioner for the 14 days. Weeks also said that the "job" will be posted today to the Governor's Website. They will take applications online for the position. It may take until mid-February for the Governor to appoint someone. The Governor's office will also send an email to Weeks office to clarify all the requirements for the Associate Commissioner position.
Update on the Employee Health Insurance
Commissioner Jarrell updated with regards to the Health Insurance. She stated the in-network and out-of-network deductibles, the maximum out-of-pocket expenses, and the total cost of the premium per person to the County at $776.21. She spoke to Mr. McCarty on Friday and he said that we basically have the same insurance as last year with Mr. Billington. "So I am still unclear about everything he doesn't give direct answers from the questions I ask. There were retirement questions and COBRA questions."
Mr. McCarty said the employees would receive an email with their temporary insurance card; however the email was sent to Pam Wheeler who printed them out and gave to the departments. Mrs. Wheeler stated that several were wrong and that they were coming in to let her know.
Mathis asked who we had the County's property and vehicle insurance with locally. Weeks stated County Wide Insurance was the broker and Traveler's Insurance was who they had it with and that there were some claims out there, but that would be a private matter between Weeks and Mathis and not for open Commission meeting.
Commissioner asked if the County had a salary structure for beginning employees. It was stated that the amount was $16.05; however there was nothing ever voted on in a Commissioner meeting nor in any previous minutes.
Devin Miller from the Shelter Workshop was in attendance and gave an update. "We are making extensive renovations at the Workshop and upgrading the warehouse. This has not impacted the operation out there, just the construction has been delayed due to rain and snow issues," commented Miller.
Ms. Loflin, ShowMe Times, asked if the Commissioners would look into Duck Creek Township and their paving project grant. Talkington was supposed to sign off on the grant; however according to Doug Lowery at a previous meeting this had not happened yet and they lost their grant because of a missed deadline. Mathis will get with Katelyn Lambert at Bootheel Regional Planning Commission and dive into the matter.
Mr. Mathis discussed a citizen's personal property tax delinquent information with Mr. Josh Spearman, County Collector. No names were mentioned, but neither have the statutory authority to relieve the debt or the additional fines unless there was an error or omission. It is set by the state of Missouri.
Commissioner Conference for March 1st, 2nd and 3rd at Osage Beach, Missouri. Commissioners are required to attend or lose $1,000 of their pay.
ARPA Fund Updates
Presiding Commissioner Mathis stated he will get with Katylyn Lambert at the. BRPC and see what monies have been promised, allocated, and distributed.
William Dowdy, County maintenance, stated that they have been working on a generator project for some time now. He had asked the old generator be moved from the Sheriff's dept over here and then purchase one for the Sheriff's dept. The plan was not to purchase two generators, but to move one and purchase one. "There was some monies coming back to the County to purchase this new generator, but we are in standby mode in delivery and not sure of a timeline," stated Dowdy.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the minutes from December 27, 2022. Mathis seconded the motion. Both voted yes and passed without prejudice.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the minutes from December 30, 2022. Mathis seconded the motion. Both voted yes and passed without prejudice.
Sawyer Smith, Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney and Justin Allen, Stoddard County Investigator, both stepped in for a few moment to attend the meeting and wanted to say hello to the Commission. Smith had to be in court in Stoddard and Butler counties today, but wanted to wish everyone a happy new year.
Mathis asked about the new locks being changed over the holiday weekend and not done during the week.. Smith stated it was a dire emergency to change the locks out since he took over at 12:01 a.m. January 1st. "Not all the keys were transitioned to us over the weekend so I had to change the locks." He didn't want anyone to have access to their computers and files. Smith stated that the office was left an absolute wreck and there was some damage to the walks so it needed a fresh coat of paint. Also one vehicle that the previous PA used had a flat tire and is currently not functional.
Mathis reminded Smith that the County Commissioners were in charge of building and grounds. Any painting, moving of furniture out, and changing locks must be approved by The Commission and there are protocols in place to remove furniture from inventory, or adding to inventory and others who will need a master key such as maintenance. Mathis also said we need to use our local locksmith and not one outside of the county, so in the future go through the County Commissioners.
City of Bernie water was briefly discussed as there have been many complaints on Facebook and to various people. Commissioner Jarrell reached out to Mayor Tillman. He stated that they were waiting on a USDA Grant. Jarrell offered him information on a CDBG Grant thru the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission in the amount of $750,000 as well as ARPA Funds that were still available. According to Justin Allen, the city did get a Bond passed about two years ago for water projects. Currently some of the city residents are experienced "brown" water.
There will be a city council meeting on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 12:03 p.m. Mathis seconded the motion. Both voted yes and passed without prejudice.
