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.

Missouri's 2023 back-to-school tax-free weekend starts Aug. 4, 2023, includes supplies, clothes and diapers.

Are you ready for school?  The back-to-school supplies are crowding aisles at many stores, especially Wal Mart in Dexter. 

Certain back-to-school items, such as clothing, school supplies, and computers, are exempt from sales tax during the three-day period, and yes, even supplies like disposable diapers for infants.

The sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 4th; however not all cities participate in the Tax Free Weekend.  Bloomfield, Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Marble Hill do not participate. City sales tax in these locations will still be collected on the sale of qualifying holiday items.

The sales tax exemption is limited to:

Clothing – any article having a taxable value of $100 or less

School supplies – not to exceed $50 per purchase

Computer software – taxable value of $350 or less

Personal computers – not to exceed $1,500

Computer peripheral devices – not to exceed $1,500

Graphing calculators - not to exceed $150

Qualifying Items

Section 144.049, RSMo, defines items exempt during the sales tax holiday as:

“Clothing” - any article of wearing apparel intended to be worn on or about the human body including, but not limited to, disposable diapers for infants or adults and footwear. The term shall include but not be limited to, cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing. Items normally sold in pairs shall not be separated to qualify for the exemption. The term shall not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles; and

“Personal computers” - a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, a keyboard, and devices designed for use in conjunction with a personal computer, such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughterboard, digitizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, sound card, or video card; and

“School supplies” - any item normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes, including but not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, graphing calculators, chalk, maps, and globes. The term shall not include watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures. School supplies shall also include graphing calculators valued at $150 or less and computer software having a taxable value of $350 or less.

Section 144.049, RSMo, establishes a sales tax holiday effective during a three-day period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August and ending at midnight on the Sunday following. Certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute, are exempt from sales tax for this time period only.

The sales tax holiday applies to state and local sales taxes.

The Stoddard County Commissioners began their meeting as they do every week with the Pledge of Allegiance and a special prayer over the county.

Commissioner Carol Jarrell was absent today due to her husband being in the hospital.  Prayers for his speedy recovery are most appreciated.  

First thing on the Agenda was to amend the agenda as Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis stated they needed to have a special meeting at 10:30 a.m.  to go over a Mold Sampling Report for the Justice Center.

Katelyn Lambert - Bootheel Regional Planning Commission and ARPA Updates

Duckcreek Township - Payne Contracting LLC has began construction on the bridge on County Road 420 and are requesting $50,800.00 out of the ARPA funds. They have also requested reimbursement of $61,268.27 for replacement of culverts, rock needed for rip rap and repairs to road, signage for road closures, truck hauling expenses and rental equipment expense.

Motion to release $61,268.27 to Duck Creek Township out of the ARPA Funds made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart, seconded by Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis.  Both voted yes and motion passed.

Motion to release to Duckcreek Township a total of $61,268.27 made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart, seconded by Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis.  Both voted yes and motion passed.

New Lisbon Township - This is their second and final request for ARPA Funds.  All the documentation is completed according to Lambert.  They are requesting $51.58 for the advertising reimbursement for the bridge work on County Road 249 in the local newspaper.  They are also requesting $60,000 to go to Payne Contracting LLC from the ARPA Funds. 

Mathis stated that there would not be a motion today.  The Commission will reimburse New Lisbon Township once the project is complete.  At that time they and Payne Contracting LLC will be paid from the ARPA funds.

Castor Township - "I do not have any signed paperwork or invoices," stated Lambert.  Mathis did ask for information from Dale Moreland.  Lambert had additional paperwork that needs to be signed by Moreland.

Bill Knoderer - PWSD #2 along with Dan Schlosser, Board Member

Knoderer was attending the meeting to see where the Commission was on his request for ARPA Funds. More than $115,000 was requested by Water District #2 to replace meters.

 "Your request is hanging out in the abyss. We ran into a couple of issues last week. We hope to have a work session this week to go over ARPA funds.  We are just kind of hanging this week and clear up a few matters," stated Commissioner Mathis.

"We do need to replace all of our meters and get that done by winter," stated Knoderer.  "We appreciate the consideration."

Dan Schlosser, Ditch #17 Drainage District

Schlosser attended a Commission meeting in October of 2022 and talked with the Commissioners who were here at that time.  "I am referring to Ditch #17 northwest corner of Stoddard County," commented Schlosser. "There is a deficit to our district and it is difficult to get a tax increase. We need to get the ditch mowed and timber removed again.  We try to do this about every four to five years. We would most definitely have to get bids to get the timber out and the mowing done.  Last time we did that was $38,000 for mowing and dredging. I hope to keep it way under that since we aren't doing the dredging"

According to Commissioner Mathis the Commissioners will get with Mr. Cecil Weeks, County Clerk and Mr. Josh Speakman, County Collector/Treasurer and see what happened before and just huddle together and see what our options are for doing this.  There is one total fund for drainage districts; however some ditches do not bring in enough tax revenue to cover their own costs of dredging, mowing, and timber removal.

David Scherer with Bell City Fire Department

"We are requesting $250,000 in ARPA funds for a building in Bell City."  commented Scherer. "I have one bid and am trying to get two more bids."

Commissioner Mathis stated, "You have given us an estimate not a bid.  You will have to go thru the formal bid process by placing int he newspaper and have a bid opening meeting before we can proceed."

Bell City had also applied for a CDBG grant with Bootheel Regional Planning Commission in the past and was turned down.  "I didn't know if we were required to apply again or could we just request ARPA funds from the Commission only to complete this project," stated Scherer.  "We need a fire department built and a safe room."

Lambert stated,  " If they tear down the old Shell station and build, in order to receive the grant there will be an environmental mitigation and that could cause delays in getting the grant or possibly be turned down.  You can request up to $500,000, but it will be at prevailing wages."

The window to apply for the CDBG grant is in the fall of 2023.  They may not be awarded the grant until the spring of 2024 if there are no hiccups along the way with the environmental study.

Loyd Rice with GoSEMO Fiber

Rice provided a draft of the Broadband Request for APRA funds that was approved by the previous Commission in the amount of 1 million dollars for broadband expansion in the Puxico School District in rural Stoddard County.   "It is ready for legal eyes on your side to look at," stated Rice. 

"I don't have any question at this time and read over it and I would like you to come in at the next meeting," stated Commissioner Mathis.

Sean Vanslyke, CEO of the GoSEMO Cooperative, "It has been a long time coming and the cooperative it committed to the area.  We are seeing the benefits now. We launched GoSEMO Fiber in 2017 and we have come a long way.  We have made a significant investment into the community. I just wanted to say thank you"

Other Business

Motion to close the 2023 Board of Equalization for Stoddard County made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Mathis.  Both voted yes and passed.

Motion to Open the 2023 Board of Appeals made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Mathis.  Both voted yes and passed. Board of Appeals shall be open for a minimum of two weeks.

Motion to accept the regular session meeting minutes from Monday, July 17, 2023 made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Mathis.  Both voted yes and passed.

Motion to accept the closed session meeting minutes from Monday, July 17, 2023 made by Commissioner C.D. Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Mathis.  Both voted yes and passed.

Special Meeting for the Mold Sampling Report in the Justice Center at 10:30 a.m.

"In 2011 we had mold in Justice Center.  It was nothing short of a disaster," commented Presiding Commissioner Mathis. "In 2017 we checked it again."

"Update to present time in 2023 and now having issues again, but looks as if they have caught it early.  The ducts need to be cleaned about every 10 years."

Commissioner C.D. Stewart and Commissioner Carol Jarrell gave Commissioner Mathis via phone calls the go ahead to and hire someone to get this cleaned before it became a huge problem.  It was an urgent matter and could not wait until the meeting on Monday.

Mathis had Environmental Consultants, LLC come in and do some testing in the Justice Center.

"We received the report on Thursday, July 20, 2023," sated Mathis.

Presiding Commissioner Mathis provided the report today during the meeting.

"Do we need professional cleaning and the answer was yes," commented Mathis.

Serve Pro is coming on Tuesday to get an idea on the building itself and timeframes to section it off etc.  They will be cleaning all the duct work and the individual cooling units in the Justice Center.

"Mr. Jeffry Faust, owner of Environmental Consultants, LLC will be here on Wednesday, time to be determined to discuss with the employees how they will be cleaning as well as to answer any questions anyone may have.," continued Mathis.

"There is no immediate health risk to the employees or people who enter the building," stated Commissioner Mathis. "We caught it early and we will get it cleaned this week."

Josh Speakman, County Collector/Treasurer

Tax Sale is being published next week.  The sale is August 28th at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Old Courthouse.  They will have to fill out an affidavit prior to the sale.

Motion to enter into closed session at 11:06 a.m. by Commissioner Stewart, seconded by Commissioner Mathis.  They both voted yes and motion approved.