VIENNA — MECO Engineering President Scott Vogler came to the Nov. 13 meeting to update the Maries County Commission on his firm’s upcoming replacement of the county road 213 bridge over Fly Creek.

He said the project would be fairly easy because the bridge is going back in the same spot as the one that is there now. The road is not moving.

The new bridge will be 125 feet long, which is about 5 feet longer than the current span. It will be about 4 feet higher than before.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre asked if MECO Engineering had talked to any of the surrounding landowners about the right of way for the project.

Vogler said the company could not begin the right of way negotiations until the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) reviews some of the documents related to the project.

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman asked about the width of the new bridge.

Vogler said the new bridge will be about the same as the current bridge. It will be about 28 feet wide with about 22 feet of clearance.

Stratman asked how long construction would take once it begins.

Vogler said he did not think the project would take more than two or three months. He added that he is hoping for construction to begin in the spring with most of the work happening over summer break to avoid disrupting bus routes that may pass through the area.

Public Housing

Stratman said he had recently attended a Phelps County Public Housing Agency (PHA) meeting. The agency works with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Choice Voucher program to help pay rent for renters with low income so that they can live in “decent, safe and sanitary housing.” The Phelps County PHA serves Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps and Washington counties and their cities excluding Rolla. Stratman is Maries County’s member of the PHA’s advisory board.

Stratman said tenants occupy about 93 percent of the 760 public housing rentals available in the area. Maries County has 38 leased units. Gasconade County has 31 leased units. Crawford County has 263 leased units. Dent County has 118 leased units. Phelps County has 90 leased units and Washington County has 167 leased units.

More information about the Phelps County PHA, including eligibility requirements and applications for tenants, is available at meramecregion.org/phelps-county-pha.

Environmental Grants

The federal Inflation Reduction Act signed last year includes the implementation of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, which “provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

Stratman said the Meramec Regional Planning Commission, like many similar organizations around the country, is working on a list of ideas that it can present to bring some of the program’s grants to the region. Some of the ideas the commission discussed included getting better insulation for government buildings, planting trees in public spaces such as parks or installing electric vehicle charging stations.

LED lights

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said the county had received an email from Ameren Missouri that said Maries County may be eligible for a program that covers the cost of LED upgrades in municipal buildings. The county has to get in touch with a pre-approved service provider to complete the application. Rodgers planned to call the closest option, which was a company in Jefferson City.

ESInet

Stratman signed a memorandum of understanding that Maries County will join the four-county group seeking a grant to help them join the Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet).

At a county commission meeting in October, Stacey Smith, the communications chief at the 911 dispatch center in Rolla, proposed the idea to the commissioners. The counties applying together for the five-year grant are Crawford, Maries, Phelps and Pulaski.

ESInet provides a reliable network to support and transport 911 calls to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) in the area. The network would replace the traditional copper trunk lines that the dispatching centers use to receive calls.

Sheriff’s Posse

Members of the Maries County Sheriff’s Posse recently supervised inmates of the jail while they voluntarily worked on the upkeep of the courthouse yard as part of the jail trusty program. Stratman said the workers did a good job cleaning up leaves, clearing window wells and trimming hedges.

Chief Deputy Scott John recently wrote an explanation of the posse on Sheriff Chris Heitman’s Facebook page. The post explains the purpose of each of the posse’s five divisions and addresses misconceptions the public may have about the group.

According to the post, the leader of the jail trusty group is posse volunteer Sgt. Donald Hale, who retired from the Missouri Department of Corrections. The division assists the sheriff’s office with escorting inmates to complete community projects. In addition to the courthouse project, the group has escorted and supervised inmates during projects at the Ya Ya Arena at Belle City Park and the Maries County Fairgrounds.

Additional training scheduled for the jail trusty division includes taser and pepper spray training, handcuffing techniques, self-defense tactics and inmate escorting techniques.

Sales Taxes

Treasurer Angie Stricklan reported the county’s sales tax figures so far this year.

In 2023 to date, the first sales tax fund has brought $331,471.27 to General Revenue compared to $300,844.89 at this time last year. November 2023 revenue increased by about 23 percent from last November’s total.

The second sales tax, which gives one-third to each of General Revenue, Citizens Safety, and Roads, has brought the county $329,463.91 in revenue so far this year. November 2023 revenue increased by about 23 percent from the previous November.

The third sales tax has raised $329,463.80 in revenue this year. Two-thirds of the tax supports Citizen Safety. Roads and General Revenue split the other one-third. November 2023 revenue increased by about 23 percent from the previous November.

The law enforcement sales tax has brought in $109,380.45 this year, which is $10,199.38 more than this time last year. November 2023 revenue increased by about 23 percent from last November’s total.

The use tax on online orders has brought in $267,607.82 so far this year, which is more than last year’s $177,029.33 total. Revenue from the use tax in November 2023 decreased by about 39 percent from last November.

Renewal Rates

Rodgers said the county’s worker compensation insurance cost is decreasing by 7.6 percent next year. The cost will go from $36,681 to $33,875 due to a decrease in surcharge.

The renewal base rate for the county’s liability coverage is increasing by 7.2 percent. The base rate for property coverage is increasing by 20 percent. The total cost went from $120,856 to $136,987.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said he did not know how insurance companies can continue to increase rates when wages and Social Security payments do not increase at similar rates.