Commission approves purchase of US Bank Building
The St. Francois County Commission gave final approval for the purchase of the U.S. Bank building on Liberty and Washington Streets in Farmington at its weekly meeting on September 16.
Recorder of Deeds Jay Graff addressing the Commission on the dangers of property fraud. Dan Schunks
US Bank will rent a portion of the main floor for individual banking transactions, while the rest of the building will be utilized for county business. An additional courtroom, beyond what is currently available, is needed due to the inclusion of a circuit judge added to the area by the state.
Road and Bridge
Administrator Brian Long informed the Commission of plans to replace a bridge on Alsbury Chapel Rd. and sought permission to seek bids for the steel beams to be used in construction. He indicated that “it’ll be mid-February before the beams actually come in. We’ll coordinate when they’re coming in, do our work where it’s limited in time.” It is estimated that the bridge is over 20 feet long. The bridge will be built by the county Road and Bridge department. The request to seek bids was approved.
When asked about social media reports that the county was spraying herbicides along roadways, Long replied that neither the county of MoDOT was spraying. Long said, “I’ve contacted MoDOT and marked his location and asked him and informed him what was being broadcast on social media, so they are not either, so we are not spraying any.”
In other R&B news, the Berry Road bridge project is nearing completion, with Turkey Creek Road being ready for base rock. DNS fencing began installing a guardrail and fencing on the project the week of the 15th. Asphalting of the roadway will begin before the end of the month. The report also included work done throughout the county on roads and the installation of pipes and culverts. Mowing is halfway through the fall mow-out cycle.
An entrance from Hunter’s Ridge onto Hillsboro was trimmed, and the Commission received several calls complimenting the job and the improvement in visibility at the junction.
37 surplus items from Road and Bridge were posted for sale on Purple Wave. The items range from old vehicles, pickups, to garage doors.
LAGERS election result
LAGERS, a retirement system for local government employees, held its annual election for its representative. The new representative will be Al Minghi, from the Auditor’s office. Sealed ballots from county employees were opened in the meeting, with Minghi receiving over a 3-1 majority over the nearest competitor.
Informal bid policy update
As defined by Presiding Commissioner Harold Gallaher, “Informal bid is where you can actually, if you’re working in a department, you can go out and buy something if you’re doing a project.” In this instance, the maximum amount allowed for purchase was raised from $1,500 to $2,500. A department may bypass the seeking of sealed bids by contacting 3 suppliers or merchants for a price on a given item, providing the cost is below $2,500, choose the lowest price, and then purchase the item. County Clerk Kevin Engler said, “I want to clarify, we keep talking about bid. Informal bidding is just obtaining quotes. The competitive bidding threshold is set by statute, and that’s $12,000.”
Commission Buckley added, “It actually takes you longer to do the bid process than it would to do the whole job. So, we’re just speeding up that time where we get the job done and go to another.”
During the discussion, the point was made that a central purchasing agent could be an alternative for departmental purchases. Engler countered, “If you could prove to me that we will save $70,000, I’ll tell you the department heads are not doing their job right now. I think your first step is to go to these people that are making those decisions and tighten the thing up because we keep adding people. We had 0.5% raise in sales tax. Whether we can save $70,000 extra every year on the difference, I question that.”
The limit for the informal bid process was approved at $2,500.
Sheriff’s report
Sheriff Jeff Crites reported that the calls for service last week were 432, with a total for the year, at this point, being 14,943. There were 144 currently housed in the county jail, with 122 males and 22 females.
Crites recognized Deputy Destiny Burbank and Officer Austin Anders, detention officers, who were both promoted to corporal within the detention center. “We’re really looking forward to them stepping up and what they can bring to the table,” said the sheriff. He also announced, “Detective Lieutenant Matt Wampler just completed a week-long training on internal affairs investigations. That’s something that we didn’t have any training on. He came back from that school and said it was very informative and he’s very excited about that.”
Crites added, “It may not sound like a big number, but I want to throw a little kudos out to one of our shifts. Sunday night was a busy night, and they made 10 arrests with one shift. That is a 12-hour shift. I want to commend them on what they did!”
Property Fraud Alert
Recorder of Deeds, Jay Graf, stated, “I just wanted to say we had this property fraud alert that’s offered through Fendler. They have put this together for us and we’ve had it for a while now, but if you scan this QR code it will take you immediately to the website where you can sign up.” The website is PropertyFraudAlert.com. Graff went on to point out the dangers of property fraud and how individuals often do not know about the fraudulent claims on their property until it is too late.
Thanks
Commissioner Kary Buckley thanked those who participated and supported a backpack program held Friday, September 12. “I want to thank everybody for coming out. It was very successful. We raised some money for the kids in the backpack program at all the local schools.” $11,000 was raised and will be dispersed among area schools.
County Employee Health Fair
County Clerk Kevin Engler brought a health fair for county employees to the attention of the Commission. “They’re going to check your blood pressure, your PSA level for men over 40. Everything from cholesterol, glucose, the phosphate. It’s a whole package besides the flu shot. And you do not have to get the flu shot. You can come for just the screening.” The event is scheduled for September 30, but reservations must be made by the 23rd. The county has 200 eligible employees, but 40 are needed to participate if the event is to continue.
Other business
The Commission voted to waive the penalty interest of $1,097.44 charged to Richard Figge due to the fact no bill was received. The address problem has been corrected.
The County Commission meets every Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., on the third floor of the Courthouse Annex, in the commission meeting room. Meetings are open to the public.
