A new public administrator has been appointed for Stoddard County, Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis said following a recent meeting of the Stoddard County Commission.
Cindy Duckworth has been appointed by Gov. Mike Parson effective Wednesday, Aug. 1, following current Public Administrator Pamela Lape's resignation. Duckworth was sworn in Wednesday.
Lape, who is retiring, sent a letter to county officials March 19 announcing her last day would be July 31 after nine years in the position.
In her letter, Lape said she wanted the public administrator's office to continue to grow.
"I will gladly assist with the transition to another person," she said. "I wish many achievements to my successor."
SB40 update
After last Thursday's Senate Bill 40 meeting, commissioners expressed their thoughts following the appointment of three new board members.
The 2019 SB40 budget was presented to the board, but not approved. Under the proposal, the board would have less than $24,000 in revenues left before costs for budget items left blank were determined.
The proposed budget estimated revenues at $400,000 and estimated loan payments around $90,000.
Mathis, who was not at the meeting, asked Commissioners Carol Jarrell and Steve Jordan if discussions of refunding the "old" sheltered workshop was brought up during the meeting.
"Yes," Jarrell said.
She added the SB40 board wanted a contract signed first, so the Sheltered Workshop is working on a contract.
The loan of over $101,000 took out by the existing sheltered workshop was also brought up, as well as a possible monthly loan payment of $8,700 for new buildings scheduled to house targeted case management and a new sheltered workshop building. These possible loan payments for the new buildings would be higher than the 2019 budgeted amount. The SB40 board is still negotiating the details for debt for the new buildings.
"We got loans from the new Senate Bill 40 sheltered workshop and a $101,000 loan here for the old sheltered workshop," Mathis said. "At some point in time, there isn't enough money to go around to pay all the loans. If we are paying loans, we are not going to be able to help the developmentally disabled that's suppose to be getting help to begin with."
Nuisance ordinance
After researching that many counties in the area have no ordinances relating to public nuisances, the commissioners received sample ordinances from Cape Girardeau County and Jasper County.
With no ordinance in Stoddard County, Mathis said as he has suggested in the past, the best course of action for citizens at this time is to contact a public health department and an official will check if the nuisance is a health hazard.
"If so, they have the power to do something through the State of Missouri," he said.
Mathis also reported when searching for sample ordinances pertaining to meat packing plants, all that was found was in regards to contained animal feeding operations.
New stenograph
machine
Commissioners approved the purchase of a new stenograph machine for Judge Rob Mayer's court reporter Lei Ann Odom.
According to Odom, the new machine has a price tag of $5,300 with a rebate of $1,500.
Dunklin County has also agreed to share half the cost of the machine, leaving each county to pay $1,900.
Odom said the cost to repair the seven year old machine would be between $1,500 and $2,000.
Chiller update
Maintenance Supervisor William Dowdy reported the Justice Center chiller is "progressing slowly."
The next step is to schedule a Trane representative to be onsite overseeing the start up of the chiller to ensure everything is in place not to void the warranty.
Dowdy said work for the temporary unit is underway before turning off everything and hopes to be tearing the old chiller out by the end of the week.
County employees retirement
A group of county employees asked the commission what it would cost and their thoughts on moving employees from level seven LAGERS (Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System) to a level six.
The level move would result in a half percent increase for 52 county employees.
To financially help achieve this, County Collector Carla Moore offered to contribute to the employee salaries in her office from the collector's maintenance fund.
"The move to level six has been discussed in the past, but finances were not there to handle it," Mathis said. "We never had a viable option."
The funds for employee retirement comes from general revenue.
Commissioners agreed to have County Clerk Joe Watson look into the cost of adding the extra half percent.