HERMANN —  A new letter of agreement is in place that will continue Ameren UE’s support for the Gasconade County Emergency Management Agency.

The County Commission Thursday morning inked the new document along with representatives of Ameren UE’s Callaway Nuclear Power Plant.

The utility provides the county with $50,000 each year to help fund the Emergency Management Agency, which is responsible for updating its emergency plan in place to respond to an emergency at the nuclear power plant. Gasconade County is one of four counties within the plant’s contamination zone. Each county has a plan to deal with an emergency at the power generator.

Gasconade County Emergency Management Director Clyde Zelch, who was not at the Commission session Thursday morning, was lauded for his work by John Bassford of Ameren UE.

“He’s doing a really good job,” Bassford told the county administrators.

The letter of agreement between Ameren UE and the county is renewed every two years.

In other matters at last week’s session, it was noted that Presiding Commissioner-elect Tim Schulte and Circuit Clerk-elect Jennifer Schneider will be attending upcoming training provided by Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) for newly elected county officials.

On a related note, Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, said that on Dec. 13 he would introduce Schulte to Bonnie Prigge, executive director of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC). As the county’s top administrator, Schulte will be joining the MRPC Board of Directors when Miskel’s tenure ends Dec. 31.

At next week’s Commission session in Owensville City Hall, county administrators are scheduled to hear a presentation from Nick Baxter concerning the Gasconade County Fair. Baxter is president of the Gasconade County Fair Association’s Board of Directors.