The Stoddard County Commissioners held a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, December 19, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. at the Government Building.
Doug Lowery attended the meeting on behalf of the Duck Creek Township on the grant funding with Bootheel Regional Planning Commission. Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington will get with Katelyn Lambert, BRPC, to see if there are any updates.
Colter Gabler, Smith & Company Engineering had a change order for a culvert on County Road 760 as it needs to be replaced. Both Commissioners signed the order.
Russ Oliver, Prosecuting Attorney for Stoddard County, dropped off a request to purchase a table, some storage items, and his computer.
"There will be two additional meetings following Christmas before the end of the year," commented Talkington. One regular meeting on Tuesday, December 27th at 9:00 a.m. the other meeting will be a meeting on Friday for any additional budget changes, time will be announced later.
Commissioner Carol Jarrell made a motion to take the interest income on the ARPA funds to be added to the ARPA funds as a line item from the General Revenue. Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes.
Greg Mathis, new Presiding Commissioner, dropped in. He had been to see Cecil Weeks, County Clerk, and asked if he could use one of his employees to take the minutes for the Commissioners in 2023. He said that Weeks would provide someone. He also invited him to attend meetings, it is up to Weeks as to whether he attends or not.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the minutes from the December 12, 2022. Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes.
Here are the minutes from that meeting:
Visitors: Kay Asbell - Recorder, Dee Loflin - ShowMe Times, Josh Ayers - Dexter Statesman, Josh Speakman - Collector, Matthew Dowdy - Citizen, Katelyn Lambert - BRPC, and Tiffany Belcher - BRPC.
Associate Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to award the 2022 single audit to Devereux & Company CPAs & Business Advisors for $17,500. Passed
Associate Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the revised minutes for November 21, 2022 to state the audit bids to be submitted by Friday 12/9/22 at 4:00 p.m. Passed
Associate Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the minutes for December 5, 2022. Passed
Associate Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn. Passed
Gary Snider, citizen, entered the meeting to discuss his concerns about the clean-out of Ditch #14. He says if we get heavy rain it floods the area. Commissioner Talkington gave him a list of board members to contact.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 11:37 a.m. Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes.
The Stoddard County Commissioners met on Monday, December 12, 2022 at the government building in Bloomfield.
Katelyn Lambert, Asst Executive Director, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission updated the Commissioners on the ARPA Funds. She presented them with a spreadsheet.
Total amount of ARPA Funds available to the County is $5,637.766.00 Funds requested are $4,338,255.96. Funds actually paid to date $591,848.23. Funds must be paid out by December 31, 2023.
Matthew Dowdy, Concerned Citizen
He had a letter dated November 22, 2022 from Liberty Mutual Insurance (County uses for their bonding insurance), stating "that under the fidelity insurance policy, only the insured, Stoddard County can be indemnified against covered losses allegedly caused by a dishonest or fraudulent set committed by one of their employees. Only Stoddard County may submit a claim. A review of your correspondence indicates that you are not a proper claimant under the terms of the policy. As such, the Surety must deny this claim in its entirety."
The letter goes on to read, "We have contacted Stoddard County to advise it of the above information so that they may decide how to proceed. Nothing in this letter is to be construed as a waiver of any of the rights or defenses available to The Ohio Casualty Group or Stoddard County."
Talkington said he would have to hire an attorney and file a suit against the Prosecuting Attorney.
"I'd like to thank the commissioners for their time today," stated Dowdy.
Kay Asbell, Stoddard County Recorder, attended the meeting.
Kay Asbell asked the commissioners if retires were included in the new insurance plan because her staff had a Zoom meeting last week and it was not in the slides. Commissioner Talkington said yes the retires were on the plan if they had been employees of the County for at least 20 years.
2022 Single Audit Bid Opening at 10:12 a.m.
Bid #1 Daniel Jones and Associates CPA for $25,000, received on November 8th
Bid #2 Devereux and Companies CPA for $17,500, received on November 10th
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to accept the bid from Devereux and Companies CPA for $17,500. Presiding Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both said yes and passed.
Josh Speakman, Stoddard County Collector attend the meeting.
" A couple of programming errors was found in our tax system during the audit this summer and the voucher I was questioned on by the commission corrected one of them. The financial correction that occurred from the programming error was made this Nov since the amount of revenue that gets distributed to all the various political subdivisions during November and December is increased. It was corrections from years 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021."
In last week's meeting Speakman discussed a bank card to be used by elected officials.
"I have requested the County Commission look into utilizing Central Bank who has a department that specializes in Municipal and County Government credit cards. This will keep county business, such as postage, hotel stays at statutorily required association trainings etc. from being applied to personal debit cards and then reimbursed to the individual. I feel as if it’s a more transparent and simpler approach. The cards come with the county logo and the tax exempt number on them, and would follow the same bill pay approval process as all other county bills."
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the revised minutes from November 21, 2022 to state the audit bids must be turned in by December 9th at 4 p.m. Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes and passed.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to approve the minutes from the December 5th meeting. Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both said yes and passed. A copy of the minutes will not be available until next week's meeting.
Commissioner Jarrell asked Talkington if he had heard from Mr. McCarty at Arch Brokerage about the exclusion of St. Francis or making the deductible higher or co-pays higher. St. Francis is in-network for HealthLink Insurance; however has been excluded in the County's health insurance plan. This is from a discussion in last week's meeting with Josh Speakman, County Collector. Talkington state he had not heard from Mr. McCarty as to the changes in the insurance plan. He will contact him this week.
Commissioner Jarrell made a motion to adjourn at 11:57 a.m. Commissioner Talkington seconded the motion. Both voted yes and passed.
The Dexter Board of Aldermen have unanimously selected David Wyman as their new City Administrator.
Wyman, a licensed engineer within the state of Missouri, brings a vast list of credentials which include a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, a master’s degree in Business Administration, as well as extensive training and education in leadership and management.
While working for the Missouri Department of Transportation, Wyman spent 25 years inMaintenance, Design, Construction, and Administration.
“I look forward to serving the residents of Dexter,” Wyman said. “Except for the years I spent living in Columbia going to college, Stoddard County has always been my home. It will be an honor to work with everyone to improve and develop our community.”
Wyman has been married to his high school sweetheart, Carrie, since 1996. They have a daughter, Kate, who is currently a Senior at Mizzou, and a son, Joe, who is a Junior in high school. They also have several friends and relatives that live within Dexter and the surrounding area.
Wyman’s selection as City Administrator makes him only the third Administrator in city history. Mark Stidham was the first City Administrator ever appointed by the City of Dexter, and he successfully managed the city for 20 years until he passed away in December 2020. Trevor Pulley was then selected as the second City Administrator in April 2021. Pulley worked successfully with the city until his recent decision to resign and move to the City of Cape Girardeau.
“Over the next year, the City of Dexter will be proudly celebrating 150 years as a city within the state of Missouri. If you look at the City of Dexter’s motto, it states that is has “A Bright Future ~ A Proud Past”......I am excited for the opportunity to work with a hard-working staff of city employees, a dedicated Board of Aldermen, a devoted Mayor, and an entire city full of good people to continue to make this the best place to live in southeast Missouri,” states Wyman.
Stoddard County Commission Meeting Agenda for Monday, December 12, 2022
April 2023 City of Dexter Filing Update
Alderman Ward I, Alderman Ward II and Alderman Ward III each with a two year term.
April 2023 Election will be held on Tuesday, April 4th
