Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis opened the weekly Commissioners' meeting stating he had spoken to Katelyn Lambert at Bootheel Regional Planning Commission about the ARPA Funds.
He stated, "Lambert had no update in relation to the ARPA funds; however she had reached out to a few people who wanted to still consider their application for the funding."
Commissioner Carol Jarrell said Lambert had also reached out to Water District #4 and they still wished to proceed with their application.
Lambert said she had a meeting with Bell City Fire. She said Bell City Fire was informed of a possible grant was available later in the year. Lambert said Bell City was interested in this. She then recommended retaining the ARPA request Bell City Fire submitted until it is determined what type of match this grant will require. Lambert also said she was waiting to hear from her legal team as to whether a new building would be covered under the ARPA funding. Bell City Fire is requesting funding to build a new fire station.
IDA Director Peter Coutavas said part of the building his office is in has been condemned. Coutavas said he would like to see this part of Bloomfield restored as part of his effort to bring more businesses to the county.
Coutavas said he also had a woman wanting to move in and open a boutique. Coutavas said he believed she preferred the old pharmacy building. Mathis asked Coutavas to submit a list of what she needs and what the building needed.
Stoddard County Commissioner Carol Jarrell made a motion to open the 2023 budget hearing. This was seconded by commissioner Greg Lintz. And the hearing opened with a 3-0 vote.
Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis went through the budget briefly for those in attendance during the hearing. Mathis opened by asking that Jarrell and Lintz to look at the equipment and remodeling budget. He said the collector/treasurer's office had a budget that was $6,000 less than the previous year.
Mathis said Stoddard County Collector Josh Speakman sent the commission Missouri Statute 52.317 that said the budget of his office may not be less than the previous year. Mathis said Speakman does not anticipate any remodeling but for legal reasons the budget was adjusted to what it was the previous year.
Mathis then called their attention to Legal Delinquency and Status Offenses. Mathis said the juvenile office received an email from the state that said whenever delinquency issues occur within the county's school districts, those juveniles will now be represented by the public defenders office. Mathis stated these attorneys would come out of St. Louis when their schedule permitted. Rather than potentially bogging down delinquency issues within a school administration $30,000 was put in the budget for a local attorney to handle the cases. Mathis said these cases could be handled on a weekly basis rather than wait for an attorney out of St. Louis.
Mathis pointed out a $37,000 increase to the juvenile office. He said this was simply due to the addition of a new employee.
Mathis then addressed the coroner's office and the refrigeration rental for storage of deceased individuals while the coroners office worked on the case. Mathis was renting refrigeration space to the Stoddard County Coroner's office $650 due to the county not having its own facility. Mathis said he stopped charging the county for this service once he presiding commissioner.
Mathis said he called the ethics commission prior to taking office and found this service could be bid out and if no one bid he could legally collect the $650 a month rent. Mathis said with everything that has gone on in the commissioners' office the last year it would be better if this went away. He said the money he had collected via the rent went to Midwest Crematory.
Next Mathis went to the Sheriff's Commissary Fund. He stated that the Sheriff's Department has had a part time nurse and has requested it become a full time job. The Sheriff's Department has direct video and audio with Southeast Health. This allows the nurse to communicate with a doctor and address an inmates' medical needs without transporting the inmate to a clinic. This will save the county both time and money.
The inmate will still be transported to a medical facility if the situation requires it. The Stoddard County General Revenue Fund and the Sheriff's Department will each pay half of the salary and benefits for the nurse position.
Mathis said the sheriff's salary is now mandated by the state. This is why there is an increase on this. Mathis said that the sheriff got a pay bump in the middle of last year plus back pay to meet state statutes.
Employees and office holders were given a three percent pay raise. Mathis said the commission and office holders did a good job with the budget, Mathis stated that he wanted to keep this budget as close to last year's as possible and this was a good budget.
In the 2023 budget the county has $5,794,913.92 in total accumulated revenue along with $15,801,625 in new revenue for a total of $121,596,538.92. The county has $21,532,694 in budget expenditures which covers salaries, benefits, utilities and any other expense that one of the county offices could incur. The county has a revenue surplus of $63,844.92 in the 2023 budget.
Commissioner Carol Jarrell motioned to accept budget, Commissioner Greg Lintz seconded. The budget passed with a 3-0 vote.
Article by by JOSH AYERS, Editor of the Dexter Statesman
Missouri Route 153 in Stoddard County will be closed as railroad crews perform railroad maintenance on the tracks.
This section of the roadway is located from Route 60 to Route 114 near Essex, Missouri.
Weather permitting, work will take place Friday, February 10 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.
Route AH in Stoddard County will be closed as railroad crews perform railroad maintenance on the tracks.
This section of the roadway is located from U.S. 60 to Route 114 near Grayridge, Missouri.
Weather permitting, work will take place Monday, February 13 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area.
Stoddard County Commissioners opened their meeting on Monday, January 23, 2023 with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer. They then read over the minutes from the past meetings.
Motion made by Commissioner Carol Jarrell to approve the Minutes for Monday, January 9, 2023. Seconded by Commissioner Greg Lintz. Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis asked that the minutes be corrected to reflect he was a member of the SoutheastHEALTH Regional Board. The name of the board was recorded incorrectly. All three voted yes.
Motion made by Jarrell to approve the minutes for Wednesday, January 11, 2023. Seconded by Lintz. All three voted yes.
Motion made by Jarrell to approve the Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Seconded by Lintz. All three voted yes.
Mr. Loyd Rice with GoSEMO Fiber and Electric
"Share with the commission on the annual update," stated Rice.
"We have paid $329,000 worth of taxes to Stoddard County. More than $125,000 is due to hanging fiber. We serve the bigger half of Stoddard County. We have a natural boundary with Crowley's Ridge. The need is high for fiber. We definitely want to work with IDA and the County with infrastructure. We are hoping to hear some announcements for help with the western half of Stoddard County."
He also stated he was a Bloomfield resident and that he hated to see some of our gravel roads falling in. he said the county needed to keep being progressive and moving forwards with repairs.
David Cooper, Water District #5
$31,000 + was initially approved for ARPA Funds. Turned in receipts. We are limited on funds so we had to wait until we had the monies to spend and then turn in receipts. Now it's my understanding that those rules have changed. We can ask for monies to make improvements.
Katelyn Lambert, Bootheel Regional Planning Commission, states that these expenditures are deemed good and the Commission can reimburse Waters District #5 for a total of $13,200.15. Water District #5 now has $15,015.15 left from their initial approved ARPA Fund amount.
"The first phase was to patch leaks using ARPA Funds. The leaks we know about have been taken care of for now," commented Cooper.
Requests by the board of Water District #5 for additional ARPA Funds. "We are currently purchasing water from the city of Bloomfield. We have done this for at least four years," per Cooper.
"Digital Mapping was approved by the Board as a recommendation from Missouri Rural Water. They hope to have it completed by February. We have located our valves," continued Cooper. "We are also trying to locate all the water meters. You will see a lot of blue markings around the area. The water valve replacement is a big chore. We have several valves that we feel are leaking. We could pay the city of Bloomfield to replace the valves."
County Road 510 is about five miles long and there are one or two sets of valves on that five mile stretch.
"The largest item is the meter replacement. Missouri Rural Water has also recommended that they replace the meter replacement with a wireless system. We would have to use an outside source to do that work. I have estimates as well." stated Cooper.
"Missouri Rural Water will come in and do a Rate Study so we can tell where we need to be as far as charing for water, etc. Our biggest problem over the years is that one meter has been connected to say five houses and we have some that are stealing water. We have roughly 300 customers," stated Cooper.
A voucher will need to be filled out and approved once the Budget Hearing has happened on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.
Water District #5 is requesting $224,000 today. They request has been sent to the attorney for approval.
There will be about $30,000 left from the ARPA Funds if all the requests that are in will be allocated and paid per Lambert.
Commissioner Greg Lintz contacted Bell City Fire - They initially requested $253,170.00. They were told to seek other funds by previous Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington. They did not seek any other funds as they did not know what to do. They felt they were all matching funds and they didn't have the funds to match. They were told to contact Lambert at BRPC. Money was for a building for the fire department. Contact person is Kevin Julian at Bell City Fire..
June 28, 2021 city of Bloomfield requested $400,000 in ARPA Funds in order to pay down their loan with the USDA for the sewer and water project. This would lesson their monthly bill to the citizens of Bloomfield. He had called the Commission several times and no one returned his call. Lambert will contact the attorney and make sure it is a viable expenditure.
Mayor Tilmon came by Friday from the city of Bernie originally requested 183,000+ on July 26, 2021. Tilmon told the Commission that he had contacted previous Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington several time, but never got returned phone calls. They wanted to refurbish a lift station and needed to put an alarm system in their lift station and get some spare lift pumps.
Waters Engineering has resigned from the city of Bernie and they have now hired Smith & Co. in Poplar Bluff for the water basin project and other projects.
The city of Bernie requested $480,000 for the water basin project. Mathis has contacted Smith & Co. and talked to them about the cost. The city of Bernie is having a Special Public Hearing on Monday, January 23, 2023 for the CDGB Grant information.
Water District #4 for $247,000 August 30, 2021. Commissioner Jarrell spoke to them and they are still very interested in the ARPA Funds.
In another conversation, "We are going to update all the County boards," stated Mathis. "Many of them have not been updated in years." The Commissioners will be looking at the appointments over the next couple of weeks.
Commissioner Greg Lintz made a motion to adjourn at 12:42 p.m. Seconded by Commissioner Mathis. Both voted yes as Commissioner Jarrell had to leave a few minutes early.
