VIENNA — The Maries County Commission and Amanda Sandbothe are considering the logistics of transitioning to coroner’s office to the courthouse.

Former Coroner David Martin retired Aug. 24, after serving 50 years. Sandbothe, deputy coroner and public administrator, has been the acting coroner since then until Gov. Mike Kehoe officially appoints her to the position. As the commission starts thinking about department needs, Sandbothe requested dedicated equipment and space for the coroner’s office.

Sandbothe’s first request Nov. 5 was for fireproof storage cabinets. Since documents must be stored permanently and are not all digitized, she recommended the cabinet be fireproof.

“There’s no way that I would ever have enough time to go all the way back to 1974 to log all of those,” she said.

Sandbothe also suggested storing the documents in a room that Assessor Dana Simmons is currently using. However, after entering the room, Simmons said that she has already removed what she can, and the room was still full around the walls.

The commissioners and Sandbothe decided to use office space at the University of Missouri extension instead.

MowerMax brush cutter

Randy Moss, regional sales manager for Atmax Equipment Company, visited the commission to answer any questions about purchasing a MowerMax boom mower.

The boom mower is a brush cutter that would help the county keep the county roads clear of overgrown trees. The commissioners Nov. 2 spoke with a representative over the phone, who estimated that the vehicle would be about $262,781 plus about $5,000 to ship it to Missouri.

“They do a really good job at keeping those canopy limbs cut back,” Moss said.

Presiding Commissioner Vic Stratman said that the county is waiting to see how the budget next year looks before deciding whether to purchase.

Moss gave more details about the machine, such as the engine having 154 horsepower and the speed capped at 20 miles per hour.

He also said that the company provides 24-hour technical support over the phone but that all the diagnostic information is on a screen on the vehicle.

“You don’t have to call us to come out and plug into it,” he said.

Moss also explained that there are technicians in each state with the closest being in Mountain Home, Ark., and Lake of the Ozarks.