The Stoddard County Commission meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer over the county. All three commissioners were in attendance.
Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission
Water District #6 - All documentation is done for the water tank improvements for Water District #6. They are requesting $136,050.00 and it was approved by the previous commission. The previous commissioners had agreed in an earlier meeting not to pay for the logo/graphic on the water towner.
Motion to release $136,050.00 to Water District #6 for the water tank improvements made by Commissioner Carol Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner C.D. Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Lambert said she is still waiting to hear from the legal team who is reviewing the pending agreement between the county and GoSEMO Fiber for the Puxico Broadband Project. Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis asked Lambert to let him know when she heard from the legal team. At that time the appropriate item will be placed on the commission meeting agenda to move the agreement forward.
Mold Update at the Justice Center
Commissioner Mathis stated that they had a meeting with Jeffry Faust, with Environmental Consultants, LLC, office holders and the employees of the Justice Center. We are looking at possibly adding units for air filtration.
They cleaned the back unit on the east side of the building on Friday. They have started cleaning the air conditioner units on Saturday and then the front lobby over the weekend. There was air quality testing on the inside and the outside to compare. The duct cleaning has started also over the weekend. They had all the vents hooked up to the air hose to clean. This should be about a three week process to clean everything. Eagle Systems is the company cleaning the duct work in the Justice Center. They start mobilizing around 4:00 p.m. each day and work during the evening. Dehumidifiers have been added to each office in the Justice Center as well.
One of the things that Mr. Faust emphasized was that they caught it very early, much earlier than what happened in 2011 when they had a tremendous amount of mold. They also want to figure out what the root cause is and how to rectify that with possibly buying other types of units to cool the Justice Center.
Water District #4
Randy Long, board member with Water District #4 resigned his position on the board effective immediately. He resigned due to the fact his daughter is a paid employees of the water district and there is a state statute on nepotism.
Assessed Evaluation of Stoddard County by County Clerk Cecil Weeks
Stoddard County Clerk Cecil Weeks said the assessed valuation of the county was $487 million in 2020, $521 million in 2021, $579 million in 2022, and $608 million in 2023.
"This speaks well of the county showing continued growth in our county," commented Weeks. "New homes and construction of commercial property have increased our assessed value."
Commissioner Mathis asked at what level does the county go from a Class 3 to a Class 2. Weeks responded that we would have to have an assessed value of $774 million and maintain that for five years before that would happen.
Joe Pulliam with Pulliam Surveying Company
He is going to survey the area that the Stars & Stripes Museum has asked for from the county. The county donated the barn that sits on the property to the Stars & Stripes Museum with the stipulation that the barn never be torn down or moved off the property. The museum has been renovated. The Stars & Stripes Museum has asked for 7 acres to expand and build another building.
The Bloomfield Assistance League a Non-Profit Foundation recently attended the Commissioner meeting and had also requested land for the Missouri Veterans Cemetery. Pulliam will survey that ground as well near the Poor Farm.
Other Business:
Motion to appoint Dan Seger to the 911 Board made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to approve the regular meeting minutes for July 24, 2023 made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Closed Session minutes were not available to approve. Commissioner Mathis made them available this morning to be typed up and approved next Monday.
Motion to enter into closed session at 10:58 a.m. made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All voted yes and the motion passed.
