Commissioners add amendment to stay-at-home order, close playground equipment, fitness gym

By Laura Schiermeier, Staff Writer
Posted 4/8/20

VIENNA — The Maries County Commission on Monday took the advice of the health department director and added one amendment to Governor Mike Parson’s recent stay at home order. Ashley Wann, …

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Commissioners add amendment to stay-at-home order, close playground equipment, fitness gym

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VIENNA — The Maries County Commission on Monday took the advice of the health department director and added one amendment to Governor Mike Parson’s recent stay at home order. Ashley Wann, Director of the Phelps-Maries County Health Department, asked the commissioners to include playground equipment and fitness gyms to be off limits during the coronavirus pandemic.

She met with the commissioners and other county officials including the county’s Emergency Management Director Scott John.

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman said the order Wann wanted them to consider for the county mirrors the state’s order, but adds playgrounds, fitness centers and athletic clubs. Stratman said he thinks it’s a good idea. County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said she thinks the gym in Vienna already is closed.

When asked, Stratman said the courthouse will remain closed to the public, but courthouse employees are considered essential and will continue to work. Wanna said the governor’s order did not close businesses, essential or non-essential.

EM Director John said the only way to keep people home is to declare martial law.

Wann said most fitness gyms have a card system for people to enter whenever they want. She thinks most of those systems have been turned off when they closed the gyms.

Stratman said there have been 2,400 positive cases of COVID-19 in Missouri, with 34 deaths. Half of the cases are in the St. Louis area. John said they’ve had a couple of traffic stops with people from the St. Louis area leaving the city and traveling through Maries County enroute to their vacation homes at the Lake of the Ozarks.

“They’re thinking about themselves,  but not about us,” Stratman commented.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel asked if the amendment to the order is needed as he thinks the gym is shut down and people are keeping their kids away from public playground equipment. John said they will put police tape around the playground, adding most moms won’t let their kids play on it if they see the tape.

Stratman said the amendment is more than the governor’s order, but “I like it in there.” Drewel said last week they said they would stay with the governor’s order. Wann said the amendment goes an extra step.

“What is the next step?” Drewel asked, and Wann said closing non-essential businesses. Drewel commented in three weeks, “We’ve come a long way.”

Wann said the numbers in Maries County are two positive cases with one recovered, but the contact numbers, the people who were in contact with someone infected, are growing rapidly.

Drewel said they need to talk to Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre to see if he agrees with the Maries County amendment to the governor’s order. Fagre was delivering meals to Maries R-1 students at the time. Fagre said he was good with it. Stratman commented he thinks the amendment is a good idea and is reasonable.

Drewel said Wann is “just picking up the slack” the governor missed. They agreed to sign the new order that mirrors the governor’s stay at home order but adds the amendment to prohibit children from playing on public playground equipment and for a fitness gym to remain closed. This order is effective until April 24 when it will be reevaluated.

John said the sheriff’s office received 50 PPE masks from SEMA and 12 biohazard bags.

Stratman said Quaker Window Products and Kingsford Charcoal are considered essential and will remain open.

John said the COVID-19 virus has a fatality rate of three percent and is more contagious that the swine flu 10 years ago that left 120,000 people dead. If 60 million people get COVID-19, some 1.8 million people could die.

April 2 Meeting

At last Thursday’s Maries County Commission meeting, several county officials, the EM Director Scott John and Health Department Director Ashley Wann met to reassess the current coronavirus situation.

Wann told the group the county currently had two cases of persons with COVID-19. Of course they could not release any names. However, John said the sheriff’s office has the addresses entered into their system for the safety of first responders. He expressed concerns about the county not having any personal protective equipment (PPE) on hand.

John said they are still having issues with some restaurants being open for dine in customers and per the current emergency order, all restaurants are to be operating with carry-out service only. The sheriff’s deputies have had to visit those restaurants and ask them to do curbside carry-out only.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said Missouri is one of 11 states where the governor has not issued a state-wide stay at home order to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Fagre said  that as a commissioner, he has a problem telling people what to do and would rather the governor or the president do it. It was said that if one county shuts down, people simply drive to the closest county without the order and do as they please. With the county’s current emergency order which limits groups to 10 people or less, encourages social/physical distancing, and no dine-in at restaurants, there aren’t any “teeth in it,” Fagre said. John said if they do a stay at home order, law enforcement can write tickets.

In the meeting with commissioners Victor Stratman, Doug Drewel and Fagre were County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers, Treasurer Rhonda Slone, Clerk’s Deputy Renee Kottwitz, Assessor Dana Simmons, and Circuit Clerk and Recorder Mark Buschmann.

The first emergency order is up for reevaluation on Monday, April 6 and the group agreed to take a look at that time and make a new, revised order if they felt it was necessary.

Tree Trimming

Stratman said Feeler Tree Service did a good job with the courthouse trees. He said the trees were trimmed away from the building and the sidewalks. They also did a good job cleaning up.

Commission Minutes

The commissioners reviewed reports from the license office and the collector’s office.

It was noted Jamey Snodgrass will continue to do the lawn mowing at the courthouse this year.

License Office Hours

Fagre said he has received phone calls concerning people trying to get in touch with the Vienna License Office but they can’t because it is closed most of the time now.

License Office Manager, Jennifer Roberson, is coming to work each day to work up the mail and to return phone calls. Then she goes home. Fagre suggested the office be open all day to field all the calls and do business for those who leave paperwork in the drop box at the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman said he spoke with Roberson and asked that she and office staffer Tessie Hughes work alternate days to keep the office open.

Full Staff

The courthouse is closed to the public but work continues in all of the county offices. Stratman said he spoke with all of the offices to see how they are doing. Assessor Simmons is working with one less staff member. All other offices are operating with a full staff.

Insurance Check

Rodgers reported Road One received a check for $1,262.70 for property damage to a county dump truck. A car failed to stop at a stop sign and ran into the truck. The commissioners signed and returned a release of property damage for Cameron Mutual Insurance Company.

BRO

Commissioner Stratman signed  progress invoice #5 for $3,740.97 for BRO-063(10). The current BRO bridge replacement project is on MCR #608 in Road One.