OSAGE COUNTY — Osage County commissioners want to repair as many storm-damaged roads and crossings as they can with help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency Management Agency. At Tuesday’s meeting, the question was how much the county can afford to spend before that reimbursement arrives.

Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Peters asked his fellow commissioners to determine what the county could put toward repairs over the next 18 months if it might have to wait several years to recover the money. Road & Bridge Foreman Neil Mantle said he needed that direction before his crew spent more time documenting projects the county might decide it could not undertake, as they were falling behind on routine maintenance.

“We’ve got to get an idea of what us as a county can afford to put down in the next 18 months on repairs and take the chance of having to sit on that for three and a half, four years,” Peters said.

Mantle said a representative had indicated that, with complete documentation, reimbursement could take six months to a year and a half. Commissioners said they had also heard from other counties about much longer waits and difficulties getting claims paid.

Peters said he did not want the county to miss a chance to have eligible work reimbursed, only to replace failing culverts later with county funds. “I’m not putting this culvert work off and not getting paid by the government for it,” he said. “That’s not okay with me. I’m not okay with that. I’m personally not okay with that.”

Logan shared that concern but asked where the county would find the money to carry the work.

“If we’re going to spend a couple million dollars out of use tax and all of a sudden get screwed from FEMA, then what?” Logan asked.

Treasurer Valerie Prater said a planned budget amendment would move $400,000 from use tax to Road & Bridge, to pay for part of the repairs. Sales of equipment would add approximately $80,000. She suggested that use tax could also cover additional eligible work, with reimbursements returned to that fund when received. She advised against cashing out county certificates of deposit because of penalties and their value as reserves.

Commissioners discussed a possible $3 million to $3.5 million in work, but took no vote to commit that amount. Mantle said the discussion gave him enough direction to estimate what could be completed within the available time and seek contractor prices. The county would then have to decide which projects to pursue.

Peters proposed ranking damaged concrete crossings by condition and starting with the worst. Mantle identified crossings on county roads 403, 734, and 715 as substantial projects to consider. Peters also pointed to crossings on CR 319. Mantle said  does not have enough workers to replace the concrete crossings while its pipe crew handles culverts, so the concrete work would likely need to be bid out.

The number and cost of culverts remain estimates. Mantle said the county might have approximately 750 to replace once crews finish identifying damage. Logan initially calculated $750,000 at $1,000 apiece, but Mantle said installation, pipe and rock could bring the cost considerably higher. Logan put the likely minimum for culverts alone at $1.5 million. Commissioners also discussed the cost of rock needed after culverts and ditches are repaired.

When Griffin noted that Health Department Administrator Kim Sallin had been waiting for her appointment, Peters pressed to finish the funding discussion first. “This is a little bigger than the 15-minute appointment,” he said. “We need to make a decision what we’re going to do here.” Logan disagreed.

Mantle said he could wait: “Let her talk because this is the most important thing. So I’ve got today set for you.”

Commissioners returned to the road repairs after Sallin spoke.

Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin urged Mantle to focus on work the county and its contractors could finish within the required time. Mantle said contractors would need assignments soon, particularly with winter approaching.

“I just need to know exactly what direction I need to go in from you all to make sure that we’re doing this and we can get it done in a timely manner,” Mantle said.

Commissioners also stressed the importance of documenting each site. Road & Bridge crews are gathering photographs and location information for the claims. Peters said the amount at stake made it essential to have more than one person review the submissions.

• Commissioners separately approved a 175-foot guardrail along the bluff above the new Westphalia bridge at $51 per foot, or $8,925. Logan said approximately $25,000 remained in the project budget, enough to cover the guardrail. He said the bridge was expected to open on Thursday, Sept. 24, though commissioners were still discussing the final inspection. (Anticipated date was later changed to Friday, Sept. 25.)

Logan said he hoped Gene Haile Excavating would do more work for the county, as they had been great to work with.

• Interim County Clerk Brooke Dudenhoeffer presented the county’s proposed property tax levy rates, including the applicable sales tax rollbacks. Commissioners unanimously approved a general revenue rate of 0.2348 and a Road & Bridge rate of 0.2134. Dudenhoeffer said the general revenue rate was 0.2006 last year; she did not have the previous Road & Bridge rate on hand during the discussion.

• Commissioners also approved removing two computers used by Circuit Clerk Beth Billington from the inventory. Dudenhoeffer said one no longer worked and the other was incompatible with Windows 11. Billington sought approval to dispose of them.

• Dudenhoeffer invited commissioners to see the county’s new voting machines, which she said took about three seconds to read and deposit a test ballot, compared with 16 seconds on the old machines.

She said absentee voting had begun, but offered this statement after the meeting: “At this time, there is federal litigation that we are tracking that may impact which congressional districts Osage County voters will see on their ballot. We expect that the litigation will be resolved by Sept. 28, 2026. In the meantime, absentee voting is available in person at the County Clerk’s Office and by mail, but we do want to caution voters that they may wish to wait until the litigation is resolved to cast their ballot.”

Dudenhoeffer also raised the possibility of additional security around her office; no decision was made.

• Commissioners approved an approximately $3,000 estimate from Schaefer Electric for electrical changes that would allow the jail’s essential operations to continue on generator power during an outage. The expense will come from the Jail Renovation Fund. Commissioners acknowledged that the final cost could exceed the estimate.

• Commission Clerk Brandy Boessen said a resident on CR 612 had complained to Sheriff’s Office about their bushes being killed. Although the county was not blamed for the damage, Boessen asked commissioners if they could think of anything that might be killing them. Logan said Mantle confirmed Road & Bridge had not been on that road recently.

ROAD & BRIDGE

Foreman Mantle said crews were continuing to identify damaged culverts and concrete crossings for the FEMA and SEMA submissions. He said the crew’s photographs include location and time information, which can be matched with written records for each site.

• Mantle asked commissioners whether to accept the prices offered for a Kenworth road tractor and a belly-dump trailer listed through GovDeals. He said the tractor appeared to be worth less than expected, while an offer of approximately $10,200 for the trailer was too low. Mantle suggested finding another way to sell the trailer. Peters opposed selling it for $10,000 or even $20,000 because it cost the county nothing to store. Mantle said a conveyor would be listed for sale.

• Commissioners approved spending $18,950.32 apiece, or $37,900.64 total, to outfit two recently acquired trucks with snow-removal equipment. The expense will come from capital improvements. Prater reminded commissioners that new equipment also increases Road & Bridge’s insurance costs.

• Commissioners approved a fuel-based price schedule from Cole Backes for screened rock delivered to county roads. Under the schedule Peters read at the meeting, the per-ton price changes with the price of diesel fuel and falls if fuel prices decline. Peters asked that the schedule be kept with county records so invoices could be checked against it.

• Mantle said a newly installed pressure washer was working well and had received favorable comments from employees who used it.

• Commissioners also asked about markings for county trucks and the status of GPS equipment, which were not installed yet.

• The road report for Sept. 15 to Sept. 21 showed quarry rock was hauled on 251 (14.95T), 274 (31.41T), 412 (243.91T), 522 (70.2T), 602 (68.05T), 604 (14.80T), and 801 (293.02T); quarry rock hauled to project sites on CR 303 (17.93T) and 602 (17.45T); culverts were replaced on CR 303, 315, 412, and 602 (x3); road work was done on CR 319, 402, 412, and 602; trees were removed on CR 301, 632, and 734; brush mowers were working on CR 221, 810, 821, and 822; storm damaged culverts in the 700 area were marked for FEMA, and grader operators were active as follows: G01 (CR 412, and 503), G02 (CR 232, 263, 273, and 274A), G03 (CR 801, 804, 806, 807, and 808), G04 (CR 506, 507, 508, 522, and 525), G05 (CR 315), G06 (CR 314).

• Grader G04 (2025 140 15AWD) was serviced in house. Graders G02 (2014 772G John Deere) and G06 (2016 12M3 AWD, plow truck PT29 (2014 Dodge Ram two-ton), and whipper tractor W43 (2007 John Deere 6615 w/Alamo Machete Mower) were serviced out of house.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Health Department Administrator Kim Sallin said some people listed on employee Quick Care eligibility forms did not meet the qualifications commissioners had established. She asked to work with Interim County Clerk Brooke Dudenhoeffer to have supervisors review the forms before submitting them.

Sallin reported 30 Quick Care patients during the previous week. The department is tracking visits by county employees and State Tech students so it can report how the clinic is being used.

Quick Care’s grand opening was scheduled for Friday, Sept. 25.

• She said a new employee started Tuesday.

• Flu and COVID-19 vaccinations are available through the health department. Sallin said vaccinations for county employees are scheduled for Oct. 15.

911/Emergency Management

911/EMA Director Ron Hoffman said the county continues to gather information for its storm damage claims and has a follow-up meeting with SEMA Case Manager Marcus Battle scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m., and those meetings would continue biweekly. Hoffman also said Battle would help enter the information into the state’s system.

Logan asked that Commission Clerk Brandy Boessen be copied on related emails so the commission could follow the process.

Peters asked whether anyone was reviewing the submissions with Hoffman. Hoffman said, “Andi’s (Rice) been helping me because she’s been through this before.” 

Mantle said Road & Bridge would provide photographs and location records from its crews.

• Hoffman also said the planned switch to the 911 voice-over-internet-protocol system would not take place Tuesday. Testing had found connection problems that still needed to be resolved.

• Griffin asked Hoffman whether anyone had contacted him about Sestak slab. Hoffman said no one had, as far as he knew. Logan said he received an email stating that an independent consultant had contacted MoDOT about debris at the crossing, but commissioners did not know who the consultant was.

“Didn’t MoDOT design that bridge?” Hoffman asked.

“We thank them often for that,” Logan joked. “Every time the river comes up, we just praise them.”

Griffin said he would contact MoDOT to find out who had reached out.

FINANCIAL

• County Aid Road Trust (CART) distribution received from the state of Missouri for the month of September was $94,632.70, including Motor Fuel Tax ($72,507.04), Motor Vehicle Sales Tax ($16,297.34), and Motor Vehicle Fee Increases ($5,828.32).

• Time sheets were approved by commissioners.

• Checks were submitted for signatures.