MARIES COUNTY— On May 6 Maries County had a deposit into its bank account of $1,020,332. This is the money the county received through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Other counties in Missouri received substantial deposits as well to be used in the emergency response to pay for expenses incurred because of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Treasurer Rhonda Slone put the money into an interest-bearing MMDA account. She suggested they ask MRPC for some guidance on this money including helping the county keep track of expenses they use it for. She thinks other counties in the region have reached out to MRPC as well. Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said he thinks using MRPC for this is the best bet. Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman said a spreadsheet would be helpful to track the expenses. County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said MRPC will charge for the service but they have the money now that can be used to pay them for their work and expertise. Stratman said it would be good as Clerk’s Deputy Renee Kottwitz has enough work to do already. Rodgers said the county will be audited on this money. Stratman said he would contact MRPC.

Stratman said Vienna and Belle have been informed they can be reimbursed for expenses with this money. The cities must turn in to the county information on the expenditures to be reimbursed. Other funding has been established for fire departments. They don’t know about the schools. Slone said early next year the county will have to give back the money it does not use.

Stratman contacted Maries R-1 School District Superintendent Mark Parker via telephone about the CARES money. Parker told him the school will be receiving money from the state to pay for the foodservice it has been doing for students who signed up for it while school was closed due to the virus. However, the school will not be reimbursed with the same money for its transportation expenses to deliver it to students three times a week. They don’t know if this can be reimbursed with this money. Stratman said they have to look at it better but knows the commissioners must verify each expense. Fagre said MRPC can get it lined out for them, adding May 13 is the last day they will be delivering food.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said these days things don’t make sense. The virus was bad one day and the next day it was okay. Kids are hungry one day and the next they aren’t.

At the county commission meeting on May 4, they talked about not being able to use the CARES money to pay regular payroll, even if they were cleaning because of the virus during regular work hours. If it's in the county’s budget, it can’t be paid for with this federal relief money. If they have to pay the janitor overtime to clean, then it can be counted as a virus expense. They had planned to put the money in an interest-bearing account as interest will add up on $1 million. Money under different titles was going to states, counties, cities, firemen, hospitals and much more. Fagre commented they are “throwing money around like there is no tomorrow.”

Stratman said they emailed State Treasurer Fitzpatrick’s office for clarification on allowed expenditures on this money. Emergency management activities are included as well as emergency supplies such as counters with plexiglass. He said all documentation has to be kept to ensure they are covered in the future when the accounting takes place. They could hire workers to take temperatures as people enter the courthouse, but not a worker already on the county’s payroll and in the budget. “It has to be specific to the virus,” he said. They can claim expenses if an employee works more hours. It was noted time has to be allotted now to cleaning and sanitizing and the regular work is set aside to clean.

Shower and drain

Stratman said Custodian Shawn Eaton told him the women’s restroom in the sheriff’s office is vented, but the real worry is about the poor drainage from that restroom where they want to add a decontamination shower. They aren’t sure the drain can handle a toilet and a shower because there have been issues in the past with the drain. They will investigate it and take care of it. The drain is under concrete and they need to figure out where the elbow is and put the pipe in. They need a plan and a plumber. The plumbing was put in there 22 years ago when they renovated the basement area into the sheriff’s office.

Eaton said the men’s restroom in the sheriff’s office drains fine but the women’s restroom it is slow. There’s no room for a shower in the men’s restroom. There is plenty of room in the women’s restroom and all that is needed is to install the shower but the drain is an issue. Stratman said if Eaton has time and is willing to, he can install the shower on overtime and they can be reimbursed for it. They contacted plumber Wegman. This too can be billed to the relief money.

On May 7, Stratman said Wegman investigated the drainage problem and said the backflow value was stuck shut and he fixed it. Drewel said the drainage never went through it if it was stuck shut. Wegman can saw the drain and attach to another but they have to go under the floor and will have to patch the floor because of it. He said Wegman will put it in right and it won’t be a trip hazard. The CARES money will pay for it and hopefully, it finally will be put in the right way.

Trash Patrol

About the trash patrol grant, a quarterly report was submitted a little bit late and the county was docked $300. Stratman said Scott John has been dealing with emergency management issues. John had planned to do plastic collections at Belle and Vienna schools but could not do it because the virus closed down the schools. He said maybe in fall, they’ll just have to see at that time. He still plans to do a Gasconade River clean-up and would like to do one recycle collection.

Stratman said he’d like to see a recycling event on each side of the county, doing one in the spring and another in the fall. Fagre said as long as it does not cost the county a lot of money. In the past, they had recycling events and he would have his “whole crew” there helping with it. To help pay the workers, the county kept the metal and was paid for it when they scrapped it. Fagre said they came out okay. Then the rules changed and they were not allowed to keep the metal to help offset expenses, and people were being charged to leave certain items such as tires, televisions, and computer monitors. He said the company taking it all away was making money though.

Posted meetings

From now on, it is the commissioner’s plan to post a schedule of their monthly meetings as they meet on Mondays and Thursdays. This will be posted on the bulletin board in the foyer at the front doors of the courthouse. They also will post the agenda and the county clerk will post the minutes of the meetings also.

Elevator inspection

Schlindler Elevator, St. Louis, charged the county $1,934.36 for repairs to the intercom/phone in the elevator. They said the intercom was deactivated and the phone does not have a dial tone. It still doesn’t work. Plus the county was billed for its annual elevator inspection fee and $68.64 in expenses with the repair for a total bill of $3,201.96. Fagre said that’s an awful lot of money.

Stratman contacted the company, saying they think the bill is excessive. They told the county the repair was a non-component issue and he wondered what is covered with the county’s service contract with the company. The intercom was not working and someone inside could not communicate if they needed to. The county receives two inspections a year. The person he spoke to said they would get back to him.

On May 7, Stratman reported the company took over $1,000 off the repair bill, reducing it to $888. They said a wire was disconnected. He said it appeared they did not repair or accomplish anything but the county has to pay for the service call. Kottwitz questioned if the elevator phone is one of the phantom phone numbers/AT&T bills them for that they can’t figure out. They are going to see if Eaton can repair the intercom/phone in the elevator.

Bridge building

Drewel said three new water crossings have been built recently in Road Two. The improvements include two slabs and one bridge with a box under it. These were constructed over crossings on MRC 525, 454, and 451. Bouse Construction did one and Jeff Stricklan did two of them.

Road clarification

An email was received from MoDOT’s Kimberly Tipton, who is a planning coordinator. She asked for confirmation that MCR 340 actually belongs to the county. Both MCR 340 and 339 are old Highway 63 on the south side of the Gasconade River, which was given to Maries County by MoDOT. Drewel said both roads are 340 with 339 going north to the river and 340 going back to the scenic view.

Buildings and Grounds

Custodian Eaton showed the commission a six combo tool kit made by Craftsman he purchased for $299 at Lowe’s. He will use this to build the COVID-19 shields and more. Stratman said he won’t have to borrow tools now.

Eaton is interested in buying a washing machine with the virus relief money to he can wash cleaning cloths and mop heads. There is a drain in the mechanical room. He will get bids.

Eaton found a non-agitator machine at Lowe’s for a little more than $400. This will eliminate the need to pay CINTAS to clean the mop heads and it can be done in-house.

Eaton asked permission to move the old safe in the mechanical room to make room for the washing machine. Fagre said he tried to move it and it didn’t budge a bit. They thought they would need to use a pallet jack to move it and Stratman said they could put it in the front foyer. It’s a historical piece and would look nice there. They went to look at it and come back and said they were able to move it. It had wheels that did not rotate but the group of them managed to get it into the foyer.

Wide Open

On the day the courthouse opened, May 4, Stratman mentioned the many people in the hallway wanting to use the Vienna License Office. He hoped they were social distancing and being careful to stay away from one another.

On May 7, Fagre commented the traffic is back to being like it was before the coronavirus shut down. “It’s wide open. Everybody is out.” This is following the governor’s open Missouri phase one that everyone hopes does not lead to a large outbreak of the virus.