Route Z in Stoddard County Reduced for Pavement Repairs
Route Z in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs.
This section of roadway is located from Route W to County Road 789 near LaValle, Missouri.
Weather permitting, work will take place Monday, Aug. 28 through Thursday, Sept. 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.
For additional information, contact MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODO
You never realize how much stuff is accumulated over the year, but this is an estate sale you don't want to miss out on Friday and Saturday in Bloomfield!
Located 700 Cate Drive, Bloomfield. Off J Highway just past the Bloomfield Schools, Reed Street
Hours 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Items for sale - Lots of tools, collectables, (glassware, pictures, milk glass, crystal, lamps) some furniture (day bed, chest of drawers, rocking chair, coffee table, end table)
Don't miss your chance on these wonderful treasures!!
The weekly Commission meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer for county officials and employees.
Dave Wyman, City of Dexter Administrator
He announced that he is aware of the Tyson plant closing in Dexter. There will be not only a loss of 683 jobs, but loss to poultry farmers as well. Wyman also stated that it will impact the community as well as people spending money and they will now have to find other jobs. A press release was also given to the media and has been posted on the ShowMe Times.
An estimate of $280,000 of personal property taxes that could be a loss to the county according to Josh Speakman, Stoddard County Collector/Treasurer. Bloomfield Schools and Dexter Schools are going to have an impact of roughly $85,000 total, more for Dexter than Bloomfield. The ambulance district might lose around $40,000. These numbers are only estimates at this time. This mostly due to the number of chicken houses in the area as well as Tyson closing. Trucking and even rice farms will be impacted to some degree due to shipping and rice hulls being used for chicken bedding.
Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission is out sick today and will not be able to update the county on ARPA Funds.
Loyd Rice, GoSEMO Fiber presented a final draft for the Commissioners to sign regarding the APRA grant monies for the broadband. Still no approval on getting broadband passed for rural Puxico, but the Commission is getting close to signing.
Motion to approve $59, 557.15 to Duck Creek Township for ARPA funds made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed. This was for replacement of culverts as part of the structural expense from 2022-2023 as well as rock needed for rip rap and repairs to roads, employee labor, rental equipment expense and truck hauling expenses. Lambert had submitted all the necessary paperwork and the project was considered a good project to be reimbursed as they had requested earlier in the year.
Alan DeJournett from Pike Township dropped in to visit with the Commissioners. "We have a road west of Advance and we are wanting to get it re-blacked topped." He had a quote from one company. (All ARPA funds distribution requires a bid process). Mathis said he would give the request to Mrs. Lambert to get his name in the pot; however the funds are just about exhausted. Lambert will then get with him as to what the next steps are to continue the ARPA process.
Josh Speakman, County Collector/Treasurer
The tax season is quickly approaching. Would like to put in front of the building "30 minute" parking signs in November and December. The commission said he is ok to do that.
Air Quality Issue at the Justice Center Update
Mathis talked with the project manager of the crew who is cleaning and they should be done cleaning by this weekend. They are working nightly and no issues with the employees in regards to how the cleaning has been done thus far. No complaints from Stoddard County employees or office holders.
Water issue at the Wildflower Boutique (building is owned by the County and being rented out to a business owner) last week. Plumbers did come in and take care of that. They had to bust up concrete and repair the pipes. Both the new boutique and coffee shop are on the same water meter. They will need to be separated in the near future before the coffee shop opens up in downtown Bloomfield.
Peter Coutavas - Industrial Development Authority of Stoddard County Update
Due to a resignation of a board member, Mr. Coutavas has asked the Commission to approve Alisha Trammell (Director of Dexter Chamber of Commerce) as secretary/treasure to replace Janet Coleman on both the IDASC and the Stoddard County Foundation Board.
Motion accept the resignation of Janet Coleman, secretary/treasurer of the IDASC and the SCF and appoint Alisha Trammell made by Commissioner Jarrell and seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and passed.
Other Business
Motion to close the 2023 Board of Appeals made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted and motion passed.
Motion to approve the July 2023 Adds/Abates from Josh Speakman, Collector/Treasure made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to amend the July 31st Open Session Minutes that Gary Kitchen was resigning and it was actually Donna Deardorff that was resigning. The term ending is December 31, 2023. Motion to make the correction made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to approve July 31st Open Session Minutes made by Commission Stewart, Seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to approve July 31st Closed Session Minutes made by Commission Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to approve the July 24th Closed Session Minutes made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to accept the surveying invoice in the amount of $1,850.00 from Pullium Surveying for the county property that is being donated to the Stars and Stripes and the MO Veterans Cemetery made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to allow Mandy Clary, housekeeping, to get a Dollar General card and a Wal-Mart card to obtain cleaning supplies for the cleaning of the government buildings made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Roof top cooling unit control board has gone out according to Mr. William Dowdy, maintenance manager for the County buildings. He has a call into the company to look at it. This is over the Justice Center.
Motion to enter into Closed Session pursuant to RSMo: Section: 610.021 (13) Personnel and RSMo: Section: 610:021 (01) Legal at 11:02 a.m.made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Today, Tyson Foods, announced the imminent closure of several food production plants across the Midwest, including the poultry production plants in Dexter.
According to Tyson res-tentative Jeff Wood, these closures are the result of several quarters of a struggling industry. This has forced the Tyson corporation to re-evaluate the asset utilization of its production plants. From a corporate standpoint, it makes sense to downsize the older plants and keep the bigger, newer plants.
The Dexter community has been home to an active poultry production industry since the 1890's and the current plant location has been active since the Swift Poultry Company opened in the 1930's. This loss will negatively affect the city's workforce, economy and the Dexter community as a whole. The closure is expected to impact 683 Tyson employees, as well as a vast network of chicken growers, farmers, truckers and more.
This plant closure comes from the corporate level, and local administration had no control over the decision. "We ned to remain positive about our local Tyson Management and local Tyson employees. They had zero input on the decision and we have enjoyed a tremendous relationship with them for years," Dave Wyman, City Administrator explains.
Recognizing that the Tyson facility is a significant part of the local economy, the city administration of Dexter will be focusing on how to encourage economic development following the shut-down. "We need to worry about the families here in town, and we need to be extremely smart about our expenses," said Wyman.
Tyson's current plan - which is subject to change - is to continue the current hatch and processing cycle, then clean everything and shut the plants down. They expect to lock the factory doors by October 13, 2023.
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.
