Maries County’s University Extension’s office staffers submit resignations

By Laura Schiermeier, Staff Writer
Posted 10/27/21

MARIES COUNTY — At last Thursday’s Maries County Commission meeting, the two office staff members of the local University Extension office submitted letters of resignation to the county …

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Maries County’s University Extension’s office staffers submit resignations

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MARIES COUNTY — At last Thursday’s Maries County Commission meeting, the two office staff members of the local University Extension office submitted letters of resignation to the county commissioners.

The letters of resignation from Donna Backues and Tina Vogt were addressed to Commissioners Victor Stratman, Ed Fagre and Doug Drewel, and to Interim Maries County Engagement Specialist Rachel Buenemann. Tina Vogt brought both letters to the meeting. 

Both Backues and Vogt are administrative assistants and bookkeepers of the Maries County Extension Office.

In her letter Backues thanked them for the many years they have allowed her to work at the office, but stated, “It is time for me to resign to be able to spend more time with my family and help with church activities.” Her last day will be Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021.

The letter from Vogt said, “It is with a heavy heart that I submit my resignation.” She stated the years she has worked with the local extension office “have been wonderful and rewarding.” Vogt worked for the State of Missouri for 35 years, retiring, and then worked six years in the office in the courthouse with Maries County Extension. She wrote she will work with the commissioners and Buenemann to discuss the transition of her duties with her successor. Her last day is the same as for Backues, which is Nov. 30, 2021. 

The letters of resignation were accepted by the commissioners. Maries County financially supports the county extension office with a monthly payment of $1,333.33, which is used to support salaries and supplies. The Maries County Extension Council holds the responsibility of spending the money it receives from the county. It will be up to the local extension council to find replacements for these two staff positions. The office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Backues and Vogt split the five work days between themselves.

No longer farmed

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said in conversation with Assessor Dana Simmons, he learned the land on the county’s east side they anticipate will be leased to Allegiant or Invenergy for the development of a solar panel farm will be locally assessed at a different rate. Agriculture land is assessed at 12 percent, but at some point before or after the solar panels are in operation and producing electricity, that land will become commercial, which is assessed at 32 percent. It also has the potential to increase in value, thus increasing the monetary assessment of the property. 

Assessor Simmons said the solar farm industry is fairly new and certainly it is in Maries County. Because of this there remain questions Missouri’s assessors don’t have answers to yet. She is talking to assessors in other counties, comparing notes, as they begin to prepare for assessing agriculture land converted to commercial land with solar panels generating electricity. 

Simmons said land is assessed based on what is is being used for. Agriculture land is assessed on what it can produce. If the land is deemed commercial, it may have more market value per acre and this may be used for assessment rather than the agriculture productivity rate as it will be considered no longer agriculture land. 

As far as the property’s assessment increasing and higher taxes for the property owner, Simmons said who pays the higher taxes will be whatever is determined to be in the contract between the landowner and the company it leases the land to. It is possible that the leasing company will say it will be responsible for the taxes on the land it leases, whatever that cost may be. 

Fish Hollow

The commissioners received a letter from a Jefferson City law firm. It was addressed to Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman and concerned the Fish Hollow Fishing and Hunting Club.

The letter was written to the county commission on behalf of the firms’ clients, Eugene and Jacqueline Appel, who currently own the Fish Hollow river access to the Gasconade River in Maries County. The letter is to apprise the commissioners on the status of the access. 

The letter said entry to the Gasconade River using the Fish Hollow Access has been governed by the terms of a 99-year lease allowing access through their property. The terms of the lease expired in September 2021 and the lease was not renewed. The letter stated, “At that time, a detailed investigation was made to determine if any other persons or entities had rights of entry to the Gasconade via Fish Hollow.” The letter also stated the state has no ownership rights of Fish Hollow and there are no public easements that would allow others to cross the Appel’s property to get to the existing gravel boat ramp. Maintenance of the boat ramp, the letter said, was done by the Fish Hallow Fishing and Hunting Club, which held the 99-year lease. “Under the terms of their rental, their access rights have now been extinguished,” the letter said.

The Appel’s plan to place gates to block access to their private road from MCR 306 and this will stop the ability of the public to cross private lands to access the Fish Hollow Access. 

“We have requested that the Department of Conservation update their records and publications to remove any reference to Fish Hollow and mile 191.6 of the Gasconade River as public access sites. All methods of access for vehicles or via portage have been closed and marked as private property with no trespassing. Maries County Road 306 ends at the cattle guard by my client’s property, and that is where a series of gates will be erected to prevent trespassing. We are aware that Maries County road crews on one occasion placed gravel on the portion of the river access ramp that was leased by the Fish Hollow Fishing and Hunting Club. However, the public records indicate no ownership or access rights of the county or the state at Fish Hollow.” The letter was signed by David G. Bandre. 

Commissioner Drewel said MCR 306 goes all the way to the public use access. There is a cattle guard on that road, but that’s not the only one in Maries County on a county road as there is a cattle guard on the road 323 through Paradise Valley. The commissioners don’t have any other information about the 99-year lease or about the Fish Hollow Fishing and Hunting Club. 

Drewel said as long as he’s been a county commissioner and very likely long before that, Maries County has maintained the road all the way to the access to the Gasconade River. He said the road is graded about every two to three months, depending on how long it take the Road Two crew to get there on its regular maintenance routine. 

He also knows that access to the Gasconade River is used by local people. 

Maries County receives County Aid Road Trust (CART) money, gasoline tax money, from the State of Missouri on that road. Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said if county equipment is used to maintain a road, it is considered a county road. The map they consulted listed MCR 306 as a county road all the way to the Gasconade River. The commissioners said they will go through the proper process, but just because someone puts up a gate on a county road does not make it not a county road. The commissioners spoke with Prosecuting Attorney Anthony “Tony” Skouby about the letter they received. 

Belle Ordinances

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers had two ordinances passed by the City of Belle, #612 and #613. They were recorded in the circuit clerk and recorders office and she will place them in her city ordinance file. Rodgers said the county keeps track of this because they are taking land from the county and putting it in the City of Belle.

Both ordinances dealt with annexation of land. One in the Garstang Addition and the other is along Highway 28.