VIENNA — The Maries County Commission gave its approval for the custodian to build a wall in the first-floor break room with a locked door that will provide a secure storage area for the county’s vote-counting machines. This is something a recent security audit cited as needing to be done. The county clerk’s office said they can’t risk having the results of an expensive election overturned if they don’t take steps to secure the machines.

At last Thursday's county commission meeting, County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said they had a security audit for elections and several areas of concern were found. They have 10 vote machines that are taken to the polling sites the day before an election. This is a problem because once they leave the machines, ballots and other supplies at the polling sites, the election authority does not have control of it. There also is a question of who is taking the machines and supplies to the polling sites. It was suggested they put the ballots in a poll workers’ vehicle trunk overnight and Rodgers that’s not secure.

However, they did find a workable solution to have the 10 voting machines in a secured space at the courthouse when not being used. This has been a problem since the election authority acquired these machines because they are big and bulky and with 10 of them, there is not a dedicated space large enough to hold all of them.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre suggested the license office safe. They’d have to build a secure wall but it is a climate-controlled space. The windows might be a problem. They discussed the assessor’s mapping room, which in it is a big mapping machine and a server, but it may be some time before that space is available. Plus there are windows that decrease security.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel asked if the way they currently do it is that terrible or is the audit a type of paranoia. Rodgers said the audit was done by a contractor for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office and the score is from five to zero, with zero being the worst score. Rodgers said she hopes they can get at least a one but they may get a zero.

As they were in the first-floor break room discussing possibilities, custodian Shawn Eaton walked in and gave the solution. Instead of putting a wall splitting the room east and west, he suggested enclosing the north side of the room, which will give them space to store all 10 machines and other equipment if they take off the door to the closet. This can be closed in and secured with plywood inside the wall they build so someone can’t kick their way into the room. Plus a strong door with a secure lock would be installed. Eaton volunteered to do the work himself so it will cost the county only materials and supplies to do it. It does not impact any windows or disrupt any other office.

Top layer coming off

Ken Stratman spoke to the county commission briefly. He said he took up a section of the top layer in the sheriff’s office hallway and will give a bid on it. That layer is made of stamped concrete and this layer is what needs to come up. His plan is to fill in what is cracked beneath it. There is a product to patch gaps and then he will lay the square carpet pieces back down over it. He thinks its pressure and not water that has caused the flooring to heave upward.

24-month contract

Commissioner Stratman reported on the meeting he attended in Belle about the Maries County Sheriff’s Office taking over law enforcement activities for Belle at a cost of $155,800 per year. At the meeting with the city council, city clerk and city attorney, they discussed fines, liability, which will be held by the sheriff’s office, and who would be hired. He said the county is supposed to be paid quarterly with the first payment made in February. It is a 24-month contract. If Sheriff Heitman is no longer the sheriff starting in 2021, the agreement is still in place because it is a contract. The sheriff’s office will receive 50 percent of the fine money, which the office will get after the cost fees are taken out of it and Belle will split the fine money with the sheriff’s office. In the sheriff’s 2020 budget, the fine money was estimated at $46,000, which the sheriff said this number may be low. Heitman said the average ticket fine is $100 with the maximum being $500. The Belle tickets are infractions.

Flood Plain updates

Stratman said SEMA representatives were in the county last week with updates and revisions to the county’s flood plain map. There were only a few changes. They were told if county residents have trouble with their flood insurance, they are asked to contact commissioner Stratman who will work with MRPC to help resolve issues. He said the issues might come into play if people are told they need flood insurance when they didn’t previously or when land is bought and sold. MRPC can check to see if it is a mistake.

There are better maps now as technology increases. In 2017 the flooding reached the highest crest it had ever reached and this made more flood plain. Residents can contact Stratman and he will get with MRPC to see if the issue can be appealed.

Saving for GIS Mapping

Stratman said Assessor Dana Simmons wants to get GIS mapping for the assessor’s office. Most assessor’s offices have this tool. Right now Simmons is still looking at what to buy and where to buy it from. She thinks it will be about two years before it is fully operational. Once it gets going, the office will be able to recoup some money from the people who use it, such as realtors, title companies and MRPC.

She’s been saving up for GIS mapping for some time and told Stratman she receives requests daily for information GIS would provide. This year she budgeted $40,000 for it.

Button Box

Maries County’s IT Coordinator, Shane Sweno met with the commissioners briefly about the projects he is working on. For the Road One Shed, which has a landline that is costing $156 a month, Sweno suggested going with a $38 per month hot spot for internet and a Mytel internet-based phone, which also will allow WIFI access. Stratman noted the AT&T bill there is getting “out of hand” as the charge is over $1 a minute.

Sweno finally was able to get the contract canceled on the phantom phone number no one used. Stratman said he began calling AT&T about the number in January. Sweno said the company finally canceled it and began a billing dispute. There may be a refund.

Sweno said he’s been talking to Windstream about back-up internet so that the license office and sheriff’s office will continue to have internet if a fiber gets cut or something else happens. Windstream has more broadband although the county is getting plenty of service with its current provider. This would just be a back up.

He also is working on getting all of the security cameras installed. The infrastructure is in place and he has three or four cameras to put up on the first floor.

He asked the commissioners to approve a purchase for the dispatch stations. It is a one-time expense for a button box, which is an attachment that will call the highway patrol or example, when they hit the highway patrol button. This keeps dispatchers from having to look up numbers and dial frequently used numbers. It saves time. The commissioners thought it was a good idea.

Drewel asked Sweno about the “Belle deal.” He said that day he was going to look at their IT and will configure and set it up. They ordered a laptop and don’t anticipate adding hardware. Belle has been dispatching out of Osage County and this will come back to Maries County. Belle Fire will still use Osage County Dispatch. Sweno told the commissioners he believes the arrangement with Belle is a good one with people willing to step up and serve the people of Belle. Drewel said the biggest thing with some of the Belle residents is that they voted for a person for marshal and now it will be done differently. Rodgers said Marshal Joe Turnbough is still their person.

Approach City
of Vienna

Stratman said the City of Vienna used to provide $5,000 for dispatching and for using the jail. The last time the county received money from Vienna was in 2018 when the agreed-upon amount of $5,000 was paid by the city. The city paid nothing last year and thus far this year no money has arrived from Vienna. Fagre said they can approach the city and see if the council members are willing to begin paying the $5,000 again each year.

At a reduced fee

The Maries-Osage Ambulance District (MOAD) is giving the county a defibrillator for the courthouse and will provide training for its use. Rodgers said Ashley of the Phelps-Maries Health Department said they can provide bands and pads for the defibrillator at a reduced cost.

They talked about where it should go and decided the first floor would be best, but the machine may need a box. The machine includes audio that talks the user through its use.

New Director

Stratman reported there is a new director hired by the Central Workforce Development Board. Amy Sublett is the new director, following a shakeup last year. He said the board members say previous issues have been worked out and they are excited about her leadership. She has experience with workforce development and will work in offices in Jefferson City and in Rolla. There previously were multiple offices but the board was paying too much in rent and closed some of the offices.