The Stoddard County Commission meeting opened with Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis praising the media for their efforts including Dee Loflin, ShowMe Times and Josh Ayers, Dexter Statesman along with city of Dexter administrator, Dave Wyman during prayer. He also praised the efforts of Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission and welcomed her back. He also thanked Mr. Dave Cooper and his efforts with Water District #5. Those in attendance stood for the Pledge of Allegiance as well.
Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission
According to Mrs. Lambert, $74,158.00 should be dispensed to Consolidated Pipe and Supply Co. on behalf of Water District #5 for Project #2 for meter replacement and water valve replacement. A check in the amount of $7,439.59 should also be dispensed to Water District 5 Project directory for reimbursement plant/tower maintenance and for Project #1 for supplies and excavating for the district. All documents have been submitted and are in order so the only thing needed is a vote from the Commission and two checks written.
Motion made to authorize payment from the ARPA funds in the amount of $74,158.00 to Consolidated Pipe and Supply Co. on behalf of Water District #5 made by Commissioner Carol Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner C.D. Stewart. All three voted yes and the motion was passed.
Motion to authorize payment of $7,439.59 from the ARPA funds directly to Water District #5 for reimbursement of plant/tower maintenance and supplies and excavating was made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and the motion passed.
"We have made great progress in fixing leaks and getting our meters replaced," stated Dave Cooper, President of the Water District Board #5. "We are making great strides and have had rate studies done by Missouri Rural. We also have a budget now."
Dave Wyman, City of Dexter Administrator, Update on Hotel Development
"We have spent about $401,000 and are now asking for reimbursement for $400,000," commented Wyman. "The previous Commissioners allocated $800,000 out of the ARPA funds for the hotel development."
Mathis stated that we need copies of invoices and then we can make a motion and make a payment to the city of Dexter. Wyman will get those to Mrs. Lambert at BRPC as soon as possible.
Terry Bates, New Lisbon Township
New Lisbon Township had requested ARPA monies for bridge work on County Road 271.
Payne Contracting LLC is owed $58,000 for its work on the project and another $1,459.60 is owed to New Lisbon.
Mrs. Lambert stated that all paperwork was in order.
Motion to pay Payne Contracting, LLC for $58,000 for bridge work on County Road #271 in New Lisbon Township from the ARPA funds made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to pay New Lisbon Township a total of $1,459.60 out of the ARPA funds for the bridge project made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Duck Creek Township Update
Doug Lowery has turned in several invoices to BRCP and Mrs. Lambert is working with him to get additional invoices and documentation to get Duck Creek Township paid out of the ARPA funds.
City of Essex sent a letter to the Commission
City of Essex has an applied for a CDBG with Bootheel Regional Planning Commission for street repair and was turned down during the last cycle. The city of Essex has asked to be on the agenda for next week to request ARPA funds. Though currently all ARPA funds have been allocated, Mathis will have them come in and request monies. He will call the city of Essex and has placed them on the agenda for next week. The city of Essex can re-apply for CDBG grant in the fall of 2023 as well.
Castor Township Update
Castor Township put out for bid and only received one bid according to Commissioner Mathis. 'I have asked Dale Moreland to bring in the bid amount to get reimbursement,"
Commission and Broadband
There was much discussion on the broadband, mostly bringing Mrs. Lambert up to speed on what the Commission is doing. "I'm still not ready to make that decision yet, but it needs to be done soon," stated Mathis. "We have asked a lot of questions over the past few weeks and it seems like things change weekly."
"Basically Loyd Rice, GoSEMO Fiber asked for ARPA funds in the amount of $1 million dollars to install broadband in the rural Puxico School District in 2021 when the ARPA Funds were made available. Commissioners Talkington, Jarrell and Jordan agreed to this in a vote. Bootheel Regional Planning Commission suggested at that time for the Commission to apply for a CDB Grant to the tune of about a million dollars. Finally two years later, the grant has been approved, but there are some stipulations that the current Commissioners were not aware of and that was prevailing wages and ownership of the broadband for five years. Prevailing wages are more than twice what regular wages are due to federal funding and ownership would be by the Stoddard County Commission. The Commission would have to do a lease/purchase agreement to internet service provider for five years then sell it at the end of the five year mark. The previous Commission accepted a bid for an engineering firm, Conexon, to oversee the project if they accepted the grant. Then the current Commission including Mathis, Jarrell, and Stewart put out for bid to actually install the fiber optic broadband and received only one bid by Ozark Medical Company of which was over $900,000 more than what the grant plus the ARPA funds together was available to pay for the project. They would not install, but sub contract to someone that would install the fiber. The Commission would be responsible for any repair/maintenance, unless they leased it to an internet service provider during the five years. The bid was not accepted by the Commission because there is simply not enough money available. Now the option is to rebid and scale the project back from 73+ miles to less than half or de-obligate from the grant and just use the 1 million in ARPA funds for broadband without any grant attached and complete at least 40 miles in the rural Puxico School District. Those 40 miles would serve about 500 homes potentially. Now the other grant that is in the works is called a BEAD Grant which at time of publication, the rules are not set and an internet service provider like GoSEMO Fiber can not even apply yet. It too will have prevailing wages attached in the language of the grant. This grant may not be even available until 2025. They are still developing the rules for the application."
That's it in a nutshell per this reporter who has attended all but three Commission meetings in the last two years.
William Dowdy, Stoddard County Maintenance
Mr. Dowdy has received a couple emails on the Republic Services trash contract. One stated that the contract changed last year and the second email said everything was ok. He wasn't sure if something changed or not.
According to previous minutes the following occurred in 2022. Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to accept the Republic Services Trash quote for the Sheriff's Department for 2023 in the amount of $315.00 with a fuel recovery fee $31.50 for a total estimated amount of $346.50 per month. Seconded by Commissioner Talkington. Both voted yes and passed.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to accept the Republic Services Trash quote for the Juvenile Justice Center for 2023 in the amount of $243.00 with a fuel recovery fee of $24.30 for a total estimated amount of $267.30 per month. Seconded by Commissioner Talkington. Both voted yes and passed.
Clock Update:
Dowdy received a text from S&N Clock said they are still working on the courthouse clock. The gears on the dials may blocked up so he needs to figure out how to repair them. This project that was supposed to be done in about 6 months has taken over two years to complete.
Motion to accept the we sign the Memorandum of Agreement between the Prosecuting Attorney, Sawyer Smith, utilizing the Stoddard County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund (LERF) and Rance Butler, attorney at law made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to accept the Ads and Abates from Collector/Treasurer Josh Speakman for June 2023 made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to accept the Minutes from the regular meeting from the July 3, 2023 made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Minutes from the Closed Session of the July 3, 2023 were not available to approve today.
Motion to adjourn into Closed Session made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart at 11:05 a.m.
The Stoddard County Commission began their weekly meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer over the county employees and law enforcement.
New Assessor Sworn in to Office
Jacob Clary, was sworn in as the new Assessor, prior to the start of the Stoddard County Commission meeting.
Closing of County Offices
Judge Rob Mayor sent a text to Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis on Friday that he was closing the Judicial building today, Monday, July 3rd at noon. "The question is do you want to close at noon or stay open until regular closing time," asking Commissioners Carol Jarrell and C.D. Stewart.
Motion to close the Government Building and County offices at noon made by Commissioner Carol Jarrell and seconded by C.D. Stewart. All three voted yes and the motion passed.
"The employees will be paid for the 4 hours while the offices are closed," stated Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis.
Loyd Rice, GoSEMO Fiber attended along with Donnie Brown, Intern with an update on the Broadband/Internet
Rice distributed a paper update along with some changes from the original proposal submitted last month. Each month there is an update on the grants so it is an ongoing process.
"The BEAD Grant is yet to have all the rules published," stated Rice.
Davis-Bacon Program has stipulations of prevailing wages and affirmative action along with some Human Resources layers that GoSEMO is not set-up to handle at this time.
A question from Mathis was what are the number of households in that 40 miles of broadband outside the city limits of Puxico and how many in the last 33 miles that will be delayed somewhat due to grant application on the BEAD Grant. Rice said he would get that information to the Commissioners.
In a letter to the Commissioners, "GoSEMO Fiber would like to continue to offer to build 40 miles of fiber broadband infrastructure in the northwest Stoddard County as outlined to be the Puxico rural area in the failed CDBG application. Pending final details and a signed memorandum of understanding should the Commission decide to honor the former Commissioner's decision to allocate 1 million in ARPA funds to broadband. The project timeline is anticipated to last 12 months, once the project is started. It is the intent of GoSEMO Fiber t complete the remaining unserved portions of the county when an appropriate funding opportunity is made available, including the 33 miles that remain in this immediate area of the filed CDBG."
"GoSEMO is currently working on (3) MO Broadband Grant applications territories, awarded funding of $17 million this past December 2022. Two of these projects are in Stoddard County, with approximately 22 miles of infrastructure being built to serve approximately 701 of the county's unserved citizens. This same MO Broadband Office will also run th next anticipated round of broadband funding which will come through the NTIA, known as the BEAD program."
Josh Speakman, Stoddard County Collector/Treasurer
Speakman announced the Land Sale on the 4th Monday of August. He will have a press release available to the newspapers explaining the process. It will be held in person at the courthouse on August 22, 2023.
Carl Hefner, Stoddard County Sheriff
Hefner wanted to know how his employees were going to be compensated for the four hours that the County offices are closed due to the holiday. Sheriff's department are considered essential personnel and they just can't close the sheriff's department.
"They knew that when they went to work at the sheriff's department and the knew they would work when other county employees are off," stated Commission Jarrell. "There job is to keep the county safe at ALL times."
"We are a different beast," stated Hefner. "We get the same raises as everyone else gets so we are the same beast in that scenario, but not when it comes to getting paid time off."
"I think they should get the 4 hours of straight time, not overtime, but they are a different animal and should be compensated for these hours." stated Commissioner Stewart.
"During the snow days back in the winter, the sheriff's department worked and others could not come to work and the offices were closed. They were not compensated additional monies," commented Commissioner Mathis.
Mathis asked Hefner if he would get a list together of all employees that had to work during the hours of the County offices being closed and present that on Monday. This included any employee that worked between noon and 4:30 p.m.
Sawyer Smith, Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney
Sawyer Smith presented a Memorandum of Agreement utilizing the Stoddard County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund (LERF) monies which will be used to pay Lance Butler, attorney at law, to serve in the Prosecuting Attorney's office on a part-time basis. He will be paid $6,000 per month for the next six months for the services as a self-employed person and not as a direct employee.
Other Business
There was no update on the ARPA funds this week. The Commission is waiting on an updated spreadsheet of the requests. Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission, returned from her Leave of Absence today and will hopefully get a spreadsheet and all the updates next week.
Board of Equalization will be held on Wednesday, July 5th at 10 a.m.
Motion to accept the regular meeting minutes from June 27, 2023 made by Commissioner Jarrell, seconded by Commissioner Stewart. Mathis abstained due to absence that particular day. Motion passed with two votes by Jarrell and Stewart.
Minutes for the closed meeting from June 27, 2023 were not available.
Motion to enter in Closed Session made by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Jarrell at 11:05 a.m. All three voted yes and passed.
The Stoddard County Commission opened with the Pledge of Alliegence and a prayer by Commissioner C.D. Stewart. Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis was not in attendance for today's meeting.
Dave Wyman, City Administrator for Dexter - Update on Hotel Project
The Stoddard County Commission agreed to fund the city of Dexter with $800,000 in ARPA funds to help facilitate a new hotel. The Hampton Hotel is coming to Dexter. Funding for the project has been established with $300,000 from the city of Dexter and the Industrial Development Association is funding $750,000 from tipping fees.
Mr. Dave Wyman, City Administrator at Dexter brought in design drawings of the new hotel and discussed the cost of the Arvin Road Water/Sewer Hotel Project with the Commission. He said the total contractor cost is $410,950. The city paid $105,217.25 on April 13, 2023. The city will make another payment of $272,854.25 on July 3rd.
Jim Grebing, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission Director - ARPA Update
Mr. Grebing still did not have an updated ARPA spreadsheet as requested at previous meetings by Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis. "We will have an updated spreadsheet possibly next week," stated Grebing. He said they will get that up-to-date once Katelyn Lambert returns to work on July 3, 2023. She has been on leave of absence.
"We have received some bills from water districts and will get those finalized," commented Greging. Some water districts and townships have been waiting more than 3-5 weeks for their reimbursements.
"I am waiting on the Commission's decision as to re-bid the broadband project and possibly scope it back to include LMI and I have done some research on that," continued Grebing. "We are on stand by until you (the Commission) made that decision."
"I can draft an agreement where it would be fairly seamless for the five years of ownership by the county," continued Grebing.
Dee Loflin, ShowMe Times, asked had he not heard that the Commission voted not to accept the bid and would not entertain being owners of a broadband network for five years. She also asked about the enormous bill of more than $100,000 the city of Puxico received for not accepting the CDGB Grant. She also asked if the County would receive a bill for engineering fees on the broadband project from Conexon LLC.
Commissioner Stewart asked if the County had a contract with the engineer. Grebing said he did not know if a contract was done. it was determined later in the meeting that there is no contract and that Bootheel Regional Planning Commission had not received a bill yet from Conexon for either the County or the city of Puxico.
Commissioner Jarrell said she was not aware of any type of agreement that would make the County liable for the fees should the project be rejected.
Furthermore the question is why is Bootheel Regional Planning Commission sending a bill for engineering fees when they have not received an invoice of any kind from Conexon? And how does BRPC calculate administration fees on a grant project for a city that is a member that did not have a bidder at all in the case of the city of Puxico? Lots of questions still looming without definative answers.
In terms of engineering costs Conexon and not just done a PER they have done work on bid documents, incurred some costs and construction documents. If the grant is viable the total engineering is $357,000; however since the bid was rejected BRPC is unsure if they will receive a bill or not for the County or the city of Puxico.
Loyd Rice, GoSEMO Fiber and Broadband Update
Rice had a conference call about the BEAD Grant on Thursday and it now looks as if they too will have prevailing wages attached to the grant making the project more than double in cost. The bidder would also have to do a 25% match. If the Commission commits the $1 million in ARPA funds previously allocated by the previous Commission in 2021 GoSEMO Fiber could build 40 miles of broadband in the rural Puxico area. They are already (without any grant money) putting in fiber in the city limits of Puxico. Rice said if this $1 million was committed then the GoSEMO board would see this as legitimate "skin" in the game. He thought the board would approve the build of the additional 33 miles of rural Puxico. The Commission asked for this agreement in writing and Rice said this could be done.
Dave Cooper - Water District #5 and ARPA Funds
Cooper stated that the Commission approved ARPA funds for Water District #5 to purchase a new vehicle. The company in St. Louis they want to purchase from is needing a check or the vehicle will be sent somewhere else. Cooper said the proper paperwork has been submitted and has been waiting a few weeks. Commissioner Stewart said that Grebing, BRPC Director, was just here, but left the meeting and that is who he needed to contact to speed the process up. It should not take this long!
Blair Moran, President of the Bloomfield Assistance League along with Jerry Buttry, Gary Deardorft, Ed Gargas, and Mike Conway, board members for the Bloomfield Assistance League.
Moran said that they would like the Commission to donate 40 acres of ground to the north of the Missouri Veterans Cemetery for a period of five years and then the Bloomfield Assistance League will donate it to the Cemetery. The cemetery will need more space by then and this will negate a lot of red tape by giving the land to them instead of directory from the County to the Cemetery which can't honestly be done because a state cannot receive a donation from a county. The Assistance League raises funds to help maintain the cemetery is a non-profit organization.
The Commission thanked them for their continued work at the cemetery and honoring area veterans. "I appreciate who you all do to honor the veterans," commented Commissioner Jarrell. "The cemetery is well maintained and a beautiful burial place for our veterans."
The Commission is on board with this but wanted to wait for Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis for a final vote from all three members. The Assistance League said this was good and thanked the Commission.
Other Business:
Motion to accept the minutes for June 20, 2023 meeting made by Commissioner Stewart. Seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. Both voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to accept the closed session minutes for June 20, 20923 made by Commissioner Jarrell. Seconded by Stewart. Both voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to go into closed session made by Commissioner Stewart at 10:57 a.m. Seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. Both voted yes and motion passed.
The Stoddard County Commission opened the meeting with The Pledge and a prayer.
Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis stated that no one from Bootheel Regional Planning Commission would be here today to update us on the ARPA funds. He did drop off the documents left by Terry Bates, New Lisbon Township. Someone would take a look at them this week. Bates had requested ARPA Funds to repair bridges he discussed at a previous meeting.
Puxico Broadband - Chad Payne with the Puxico School District
He was present representing the Puxico School Board. He felt the million dollars could be better spent on other projects than giving to GoSEMO Fiber for the rural broadband. The Commissioners are considering overturning the previous commissioners vote to give GoSEMO Fiber 1 million dollars for broadband expansion in the rural areas of Puxico School District.
One project the Puxico School is looking at is on the south end of the parking lot as they are seeking monies to put in a crosswalk. They could use ARPA monies to complete that project. About 10 - 12 students cross Highway 51 twice a day. They have contacted MoDOT about getting a crosswalk; but the school needs to connect to sidewalks on either side and then connect to the school district before MoDOT will complete the crosswalk.
SB40 Board Update
Motion to appoint Don Abner from Bell City to the SB40 Board made by Commissioner C.D.Stewart. Seconded by Commissioner Carol Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Josh Spearman, Stoddard County Collector
Stronghold Data would be available to do cyber security training on Monday, June 26, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. Any office holder can attend the training.
County Health Insurance Issue Update
An employee turned in a bill for lab work last week. Mr. Mathis received a call from John McCarty during the Commissioners Meeting. The bill will be resent via email and Mr. McCarty will take a look at it Depending on what type of lab work the employee received and how it was coded will determine how much of the cost is covered.
It was also mentioned that the Commissioners signed a one-year contract for health insurance and it was time to start looking at 2024 health insurance as it takes a few months to get a contract together.
Closure of County Road 527A Update
Donnie Foster is wanting to put a gate on the east side of the bridge and close the road. Castor Township was going to perform some addition work to the bridge. Mr. Huel Benton is also a property owner in the area and submitted a letter to the Commission that he has no objection to the Stoddard County Commission closing a portion of that road that intersects with property owned by Donnie Foster. He understands that he has no obligation for maintenance of any type on the county road including gravel, ditching, or bridges that are on said road.
Motion to close a portion of County Road 527A east of the bridge that goes into the property owned by Donnie Foster made by Commissioner Stewart. Seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and the motion passed.
Other Business
Mathis will not be here on Monday, July 26, 2023 for the Stoddard County Commission meeting.
Motion to accept the regular meeting minutes from June 12, 2023 made by Commissioner Jarrell. Seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to accept the closed meeting minutes from June 12, 2023 made by Commissioner Stewart. Seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to go into closed session at 11:11 a.m. made by Commissioner Jarrell. Seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
The Stoddard County Commissioners began their meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis saying a prayer. The Commissioners' meeting is open to the public and anyone can join them and listen or even speak their concerns.
Senate Board 40 Appointment
Two board members are up for reappointment as board members. They are Wayne Jean and Dale Holman.
Motion to re-appoint Wayne Jean and Dale Holman to the SB40 Board made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart. Seconded by Commissioner Carol Jarrol. All three voted yes and the motion passed.
Water District #5 Update
"We began last week on the valve projects and meters have been ordered and are in. We will need to get the computer and software to read those meters," stated Dave Cooper, president of the board for Water District #5.
He also had bills that were pre-approved by the Commissioners to be paid out of the ARPA funds. Those bills will have to be approved through Bootheel Regional Planning Commission before a check can be issued. He also gave a summary of their work thus far and a list of the expenses incurred for reimbursement.
"We are very gracious as to what you have done for us for the water district," continued Cooper. "The board did vote to raise the rates. I believe it is $24.50 for the first 1,000 gallons and then $7 for each 1,000 gallons after that." That was required to maintain future expenses.
Jim Grebing, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission - Update on ARPA Funding
"I will have a revised sheet later this morning on the updates for the ARPA Funding. We will get all this processed tomorrow and give you an update. The only change was the city of Advance," stated Grebing.
"We need a copy of the bid for New Lisbon and the advertisement for the bid in the newspaper is also needed. This in regards to two bridges that need to be repaired," continued Grebing.
There was much discussion on the Broadband project for the Puxico Rural/Stoddard County - Economic Development may have some funds available, but not a total amount of the overage of $900,000 bid. They can reduce the scope of the project, but the tricky part is you have to fall within a low income area to meet the CDGB grant. So the Commissioners are going to gather more information as to what to do with the broadband as Puxico and Wappapello rural areas are in great need of internet. It's taking way too long to decide on when this project will get off the ground. There are lot of layers to this onion of the grants awarded/available.
Josh Speakman, County Collector
Spearman recently attended the Cyber Security meeting in Cape Girardeau. He wanted to know if a company could come in and do some training with elected officials. "They can point us in the right direction on what to do for Cyber Security," stated Spearman. "Would that be something you (the Commissioners) would entertain as it would take about 2 hours. I could reach out to the person and have all the office holders come in and do the training."
Mathis stated he had no problem doing it and the other two commissioners were in agreement. They will proceed with this training.
Homestead Tax - Missouri homestead law allows for a $15,000 exemption, which is applicable to "a dwelling house and appurtenances, and the land used in connection therewith." In other words, the state's homestead law is limited to homes, corresponding buildings, and the land on which they stand.
Senate Bill 190 was discussed in detail. It is on Governor Parson's desk to be signed into law. This act modifies provisions relating to the taxation of seniors.
Courthouse Clock Update
Rain was pouring in on the workers who were updating the clock on the old courthouse.
William Dowdy, maintenance for Stoddard County, got a bid from R.L. Person Construction to repair the roof. The Steeple Repair on the Cupola of the old courthouse came in at $120,998.00. With this large of an amount it would need to be bid out.
R.L. Persons Construction was the only one who bid last time on the repairs of the courthouse roof. No motion made, but the Commissioners should bid this out before proceeding.
Loyd Rice with GoSEMO Fiber Update
City of Puxico did not get any bids for the CDGB grant so GoSEMO Fiber decided to go ahead and put fiber within Puxico city limits without obtaining this CDGB Grant per Mr. Rice.
The Commission is looking for additional information before they decide on what to do with the rural CDGB broadband grant that has been approved; however due to prevailing wages the bid came in over $900,000.
There are three options on the table for the Commissioners to choose from and they will discuss together and decide at a later date. They want what is in the best interest of those people who need internet and the County.
Motion to approve the minutes from Tuesday, May 30, 2023 made by C.D. Stewart. Seconded by Commissioner Jarrell. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to approve the closed session minutes from Tuesday, May 30, 2023 made by Carol Jarrell. Seconded by Commissioner Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
Motion to go into Closed Session at 11:45 a.m. made by Commissioner Jarrell. Seconded by Stewart. All three voted yes and motion passed.
