MARIES COUNTY — At last Thursday’s Maries County Commission meeting, there was a visitor from Pulaski County who attended all of the meeting. Andy Helms is a recently elected Pulaski County Commissioner who will begin his new job in January 2023.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre knows Andy Helms, 60, of Crocker. He said his father was a county commissioners in Pulaski County when Fagre was first elected to the Maries County Commission over 20 years ago. He said they were neighbors as well.

Helms said he wanted to come to the commissioners meeting to see how other counties do things. 

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman asked how Pulaski County is spending its second round ARPC money. Helms, who has not taken office yet, said they have formed a committee and the committee is looking at what to spend it on. He said Pulaski County received a total of $10.2 million in ARPA revenue. Stratman said the amount counties received is based on population, and having Ft. Leonard Wood in its borders, “Is huge for you guys,” he said. 

Maries County, according to the 2020 Census, has a population of 8,432, down from the 2020 Census when it was 9,176. Pulaski County, in the 2020 Census, has a population of 52,359. Maries County is set to receive the second half of its ARPA funding, which is for Covid-19 recovery. Maries County’s total is not paltry but is a lot less than the adjoining county’s federal Covid-19 funding at Maries Count is to receive $1.6 million in two installments of about $800,000. They are still waiting on the second $800,000 to hit the bank account. IT Manager Shane Sweno worked on this technology issue recently, which is related to the county’s system awards management (SAM) number. 

Helms has a career has Chief Deputy Juvenile Officer at the Juvenile Office of the 25th Judicial Circuit. He has worked as the person staffing the metal detector in the Pulaski County Courthouse in Waynesville. The metal detector is staffed when the courthouse is open to the public. The commissioners referred to that county’s courthouse as new; Helms said it was built in 1990. On a Pulaski County Law Day, there might be 150 items on the court’s docket. There are three courtrooms in that courthouse. Helms said the circuit clerk’s office has 13 to 14 staff members. 

While Helms was observing the meeting, Dave Burns, Fabick Cat Territory Manager came to talk to the commissioners about new graders for the road districts. He gave them some numbers on 120M graders for Road Two and 140M graders for Road One, and also trade-in numbers. He said the warranty is for seven years/7,000 hours. Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel asked if 10,000 hours on the grader is where they stop. Burns said they expect major problems then, but they never know from one machine to another. 

Burns said there are not a lot of used machines around. Drewel asked where the Ft. Wood machines are going and Burns said they aren’t because the military buys a lot and keeps them for a long time. Some they refurbish and they actually have some older models still in use. 

Burns said there is a big difference in weight, about 7,000 lb. difference, and horse power with the 120M and 140M. Looking at the buy-back numbers, Fagre said the road districts may be better off if they sell their old machines themselves. Burns said by the time Fabick puts $10,000 into a machine, it will be at $120,00 and more asking price for the 140M graders. This depends on the cost put into it and what condition the machines are in when they come in. 

Stratman asked if there are local people who can work on the motor graders. Drewel said if they want it done right it’s best to go to the dealer because of all the computer systems. 

Looking at the numbers, Fagre said, “Ain’t no way we can afford it,” he said about the grader prices Burns brought them. He asked about leasing options. Burns said more counties are going that way, leasing with a warranty to go with it for the number of years they want. He said if Maries County does a lease, it is locked in. At the end of the lease, the machines go back to Fabick or they can be bought back at a stated price. Burns said he can get the commissioners some leasing prices and when he does this, the price of the machine won’t change, but the interest rate can change and the county is responsible for that. The minimum lease period is two years. Drewel asked if it will take a year to get a machine they want to lease and Burns said yes as the factory is backed up with orders. Drewel said the lease would tie them into a time period. Fagre said it would be the same if they bought the new machines, left office, and the next county commissioner would have to worry about how to pay for it. 

Burns said it is easier to get out of the lease and he will check on two, five, and seven year lease numbers for the commissioners. The usually figure about 1,200 hours a year is put on a motor grader. A five-year lease is 6,000 hours and seven years is 8,500 hours. There is a fee if the county goes over the number of hours it is paying for and it is substantial. Burns said they don’t want to underestimate the number of hours that will be put on a grader, as they charge by the hour. They don’t want to underestimate the hours the machine will be used. 

Burns spoke of idle hours on these machines, which on some can be about 40 percent of the time. Fagre said it’s best to start the machine and let it run awhile on a cold day. Drewel said its very seldom the machines are shut off once they are started. They will run all day. Burns said the company can get the idle info  usage via a product link and through the internet. 

He added the lease is for the whole motor grader. The county can’t sell its machines toward the lease. Fabick will buy them from the county and write a check, which could be used as money to make payments on the grader. 

Fagre said the numbers Burns brought them “are pretty high.” Stratman said it’s a lot of money and they have to see what John Deere can do for Maries County. Drewel said five graders at roughly $300,000 each is a payment of $250,000, and that’s not figuring interest, which at about four percent might add $10,000 per grader. 

Helms asked them why their road graders are different for the road districts. Fagre teased saying, “We get to work over here.” He told Burns the reason for the bigger machine is because of the hills on the west side. 

Burns asked about paved miles. Road One has one and a half paved miles and Road Two had 6 miles of it. 

Internet

The commissioners asked Helms about the quality of internet service in Pulaski County. He said Windstream is his provider at home and it works good. Pulaski County is getting bids for broadband expansion. Fagre said some people in Maries County are using Wisper, a company which in 2018 received or was supposed to receive $3.7 million to improve broadband in Maries County. It may still be hung up in court. They don’t know. Stratman said the company has six years to build it out. 

Library addition

Stratman said he spoke with Heartland Regional Library System Director Lisa Garro who said she planned to submit a claim for some of the county’s ARPA money to build on to the Vienna Library. Stratman told her to go ahead and submit an application, but he thinks the county will take the standard deduction and use it to pay for diesel fuel and grader blades. 

Stratman initially wanted a generator to operate the entire courthouse when the electricity is out. He has had second thoughts as an extended electrical outage doesn’t happen often and he doesn’t think they need it. The 911 Dispatch has its own generator and that’s where the electrical backup primarily is needed. 

Drought relief

Drewel said he heard the county’s potentially future State Representative Bennie Cook, is really pushing the farmers of the county to seek drought relief through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program at the FSA office. Eligible livestock producers are reporting livestock numbers and grazing acres to the FSA office and can receive a payment based on them. There is a line of areas of drought and part of Maries County is in it. 

Employment

Vienna License Office employee Nichole Bexten, is moving downstairs to become a 911 dispatcher. She is happy about the move. The Vienna License Office is advertising for a full time employee. 

Dollar Tree

Stratman reported the new Family Dollar/Dollar Tree store along Highway 63 N in Vienna was supposed to open on Thursday but it could not because it was waiting on getting internet established. 

Pay goes up

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said when the judges’ salary increased, so did the sheriff’s salary, which is now an annual salary of $75,015. This is by state statute. 

Soaped locks

Stratman reported getting a call to come to the courthouse because some of the jail inmates had used soap to rub locks and force soap into the jail cell locks so that a key won’t fit in them. At first he tried using a gun cleaning brush, but that didn’t work. IT Manger and dispatcher Shane Sweno suggested using a pick and between the pick and the brush, he was able to get most of the soap removed from the lock. He did call Abbco Lock & Key, Rolla about it and he came and dismantled and cleaned the soap out of the locks. 

Layoffs

In a recent Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) newsletter, it was reported by the Ozark County Times that budget reasons prompted the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department to pay off two full-time deputies and five other employees, which represents a 30 percent reduction in staff at the sheriff’s department. It is reducing patrols and only responding to crimes of a violent nature. This action is to keep the sheriff’s department from being over budget. 

The department is primarily funded by a half-cent sales tax that brings in annual revenue of about $400,000, which is not enough to cover sheriff’s department expenses that are about $1 million a year. The county commission is looking at putting another sales tax on the ballot. 

The presiding commissioner said the county has no laws on the books and it arrests and prosecutes offenders of state laws. He said he has no confidence in the state legislature, saying the state needs to pay its part instead of balancing the state budget on the back of the counties. 

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has increased coverage in the county as a result of the budget crisis. 

2015 Chevy truck

Stratman left a message with the sheriff asking him to bring the 2015 Chevrolet 4WD truck back to the courthouse so they can clean it up and sell it. 

Meeting

Due to appointments the commissioners said they would not have a meeting on Monday, Aug. 29 and instead will meet on Thursday, Sept. 1. They briefly discussed going to meetings only one day a week. Stratman said there are counties that do it that way, and even some with commissioners meeting only every two weeks. The issue was tabled for now.