Lincoln County recently completed renovations of the Justice Center HVAC systems. The renovations are estimated to reduce electrical usage by 82.5% annually and save an estimated 76% on the annual bill. The estimated payback period for the project is 4 years.

Work was completed by Jarrell Mechanical Contractors in conjunction with the Ameren Missouri BizSavers Program. Ameren presented Lincoln County with an $85, 586.64 incentive check for the work completed at the Justice Center. The check was presented on September 10, 2019.

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• The Commission and the Sheriff met this week to discuss the second of, hopefully, many deposits made under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was signed earlier this year to create a systematic savings plan for revenues generated by the housing of Federal prisoners. The MOU calls for a quarterly reconciliation of actual versus projected revenues, with the excess being applied to the Law Enforcement Trust Fund (20%), the Jail Emergency Fund (40%), and the Retirement Savings Fund (40%). This agreement simultaneously bolsters the funding of Law Enforcement by providing a stream of income for the present as well as creating a contingency fund in the event of a decrease in prisoner population. Finally, the MOU creates a mechanism to solidify the retirement plan offered by the County to ensure that the folks who retire from the County can count on the money being there and ready when they need it.
• In addition to the efforts in the Law Enforcement area, the Commission has also begun a systematic plan to capitalize on year end surpluses by creating a dedicated savings fund for future building projects. Later this fall, the Commission also plans to dedicate a portion of any future surpluses to a fund specifically for potential cost-share projects relating to Economic Development opportunities and local transportation infrastructure projects. Keep in mind, these actions only take place with surplus funds that exist AFTER the regular reserve funds have been determined to be at a healthy level. As these funds accumulate, projects can be undertaken while minimizing, or in some cases eliminating entirely, the need to borrow money.
• Next week the Commissioners and Road and Bridge staff will travel to St. Charles for the annual meeting of the Missouri Association of County Transportation Officials (MACTO). The MACTO conference provides an opportunity to gather with people from all parts of the transportation industry to learn about new technologies, discuss old ideas, and broaden our understanding of the industry, which is a large piece of a Commissioner’s responsibilities. The County has also begun to host regular training sessions for its employees through the Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program (MO-LTAP) which is administered by Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. Topics range from jobsite safety and flagging techniques to proper culvert placement and grading techniques. Our goal is to continue to improve the work that we do while also making sure it is done in a safe environment for both workers and commuters.

That is all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail, or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• Sales tax revenues continue to climb with the August 2018 collections exceeding the same month for the previous year by nearly 20%. Year to date, 2018 sales tax revenues are 2.32% greater than they were at this time in 2017.
• We are excited to announce that work will begin soon on the bridge construction on Taylor School Rd. over Bob’s Creek. The low bid was submitted by Widel, Inc., and the work should be completed by the end of the year. This project is being paid for in part by an 80% Hazard Mitigation Grant from FEMA with the balance coming from local funds. This badly needed improvement should put an end to landowners in the immediate area being awakened at all hours of the night by folks who are stuck in the old creek crossing as well as eliminating a secluded area that has been a favorite hiding spot for drug activity and other illegal shenanigans through the years.
• If there is a silver lining to the cloud that was the 2015 Flood, it would be that, as a result of the disaster, the County was able to obtain a detailed inventory of pipes, box culverts, and small bridges that are not included in the Federal Highway BRO program. With this detailed information, our Road and Bridge staff has been able to identify a number of structures that will need to be systematically replaced. Preliminary engineering for these projects will get underway soon with construction anticipated to begin as early as next year.
• This week the Commission adopted an updated Floodplain Ordinance which included a number of clarifications of previous sections, some provisions as required by FEMA, as well as some new provisions. The most notable revision was a requirement to store hazardous chemicals at least 3’ above base flood elevation or in an appropriate, secured container if stored below that level. The overarching goal of the Ordinance is to protect life and property throughout the floodplain by mitigating hazards to the greatest extent possible through requiring the elevation of structures, responsible storage of hazardous chemicals, etc. The more we address this situation locally, the better prepared we are to deal with disasters, and to some degree, we can lessen our dependence on the Federal Government, particularly FEMA, during times of disaster. The debate surrounding the passage of this updated ordinance did bring to light a number of ongoing items which the Commission will have to continue working to address, not the least of which is the need for the Corps of Engineers to study the North and West forks of the Cuivre River and update the floodplain maps to reflect those findings.

That is all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• The Commission, along with all of Lincoln County, mourns the passing of the Journal’s Bob Simmons. Bob has been a fixture in the newspaper business around the County since 1972 and he will be missed.
• The renovations to the Courthouse continue with the insulation work and cupola repair having been completed. Soffit repairs are underway as well as the refurbishing of the six columns from the front porch. For being almost 150 years old, the columns are in good shape and with a little professional attention, will be back in place ready to stand for decades to come. Please keep an eye on the Journal as we will be conducting an open house at the Courthouse later in the year to commemorate the County’s Bicentennial as well as to let folks get a look at the results of the renovation project. A Master Plan has been developed by our historical architectural firm to serve as a guideline for future projects. Within the next few years, there is a foundation issue where the old and new buildings meet that will need to be addressed, but the crawlspace of the old building is rumored to be home to a rather large blacksnake, which may prove to be interesting if not entertaining.
• In addition to the projects at the courthouse, the Commission has also begun discussions regarding potential capital improvement projects to other County-owned buildings. Our Project Management office maintains a list of both long and short-term projects which is reviewed annually to prioritize the needs. Capital Improvement projects are largely based on technical data, but we all know that air conditioners and other building components do not announce in advance when they are going to break down. For instance, we know that the roof top unit at the Justice Center is reaching the end of its useful life and based on the technical data needs to be replaced, but the decision to replace it this year or next is a tough one. If you push it back to 2020 and it dies in 2019, it is imperative to have a contingency plan in place to replace the unit. The Project Management office works closely with our Maintenance staff to gather as much information as possible to guide the Capital Improvement process.
• The Road and Bridge Department is looking to expand its mowing crew for next summer. Anyone looking for part-time work with flexible hours should apply. If you are looking for work before next summer, turn in your application now as there is still some time left in mowing season and there is the opportunity to become a part-time member of the snow plowing team for this winter. All opportunities have the potential for full-time employment for the right candidate.

That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• The County recently received a deposit of $97,467.95 from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). These funds represent the close-out of Project Work sheet #1154 from the flooding that occurred in 2015. Our staff continues to work diligently with SEMA to secure the remaining reimbursements for the outstanding Project Worksheets from that disaster.
• Road evaluations will soon begin throughout the County. In the fall of each year, Road and Bridge personnel evaluate the condition of all asphalt surface roads, assigning a score of either 1, 2, or 3 based on the condition of the surface. A road with a 1 score is in good condition and will not require maintenance work in the 2019 paving season, while a score of 2 indicates that the surface is in fair condition and will likely require a maintenance seal treatment in 2019. Road surfaces with a score of 3 are in deteriorating shape, which will require maintenance work and a 1 ½”-2” asphalt overlay next year. Based on these evaluations, the asphalt budget will be crafted for the coming paving season, with the maintenance portion taking priority over all other paving expenditures. Once the funding for the maintenance is in place, any available dollars that remain unbudgeted can then be allocated toward the addition of hard surface roads to the inventory.
• Work has begun in earnest on the façade of the Courthouse at 201 Main St. in Troy. Martin General Contractors is doing the work and this week they are working on a number of tasks, including the rehab of the cupola atop the building. When you begin to remove things from a building of this age, it is important to be prepared for an occasional surprise, but the careful planning by our Project Management staff, with the assistance of a Historical Architect, should keep these surprises to a minimum.
• Road crews continue to clear areas where we have been able to obtain easements in order to widen roads and make other needed improvements. As mentioned in previous columns, please contact the Highway Department at (636)528-7112 if you would like to meet with our staff to clean up the roadsides on your property.
• The County is accepting applications for a night time Janitorial position. Interested parties should apply at the County Clerk’s Office. The Highway Department is accepting application for both full and part-time positions in various capacities at the office at 219 Highway H in Troy.

That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• As the opioid epidemic continues to destroy lives and families throughout Missouri and the rest of the country, government agencies have begun to join together in filing lawsuits against the manufacturers and distributors of opioid based medications to recoup the costs that result from the crisis. The resulting costs are borne by social services, law enforcement, etc., which puts a strain on budgets that are often already tight, especially in rural areas. The Commission attorney is currently researching the possibility of participating in one of these lawsuits and any money recovered from such action would be used to bolster prevention and enforcement in an effort to combat this destructive problem.
• As a result of the cooperative efforts of our Floodplain and Project Management offices, four derelict buildings in the flood plain will be demolished this fall. This is the first step in what will hopefully become a regular activity of cleaning up badly damaged structures utilizing available grant funds. Thank you to the property owners in these four cases who have worked with County staff to get this project rolling.
• Sales tax numbers continue to climb after a slow start and were up 4.9% for August 2018 when compared to the same period last year. Year to date, 2018 is currently .1% greater than January through August last year. Gas tax revenues remain strong with an 8.1% increase for August 2018 and the overall tally exceeding 2017 by 8%.
• Bids have been opened for the replacement of the bridge on Snyder Rd. off Highway H near Troy and construction should begin later this fall. The original bridge, built in 1955, sustained significant damage during the 2015 flood. Much of the solid ground on which the bridge was constructed was washed away and has been replaced with silt. At a glance, the structure looks like it is sound, but the silt that is there now will erode away over time, leaving the abutments with inadequate support. The project will be paid for using funding through the Federal Bridge Program (BRO), resulting in no out of pocket costs to the County.

That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• Thanks to the cooperation of area landowners, the finishing touches are being applied to improvements to Creech School Rd. between South Ridge Road and Brevator Road. In addition to rerouting a portion to soften a curve, the roadside has been cleared in several locations which enabled crews to widen the roadway. These and other safety upgrades were necessary to prepare the road for paving this well-travelled route in the future. If you own property along a County road and are willing to allow the County to clean up your roadside in order to make safety improvements, call the County Highway Department at (636)528-7112 to set up an appointment with our staff to review your project. Please keep in mind that we are scheduling for 2019 and into 2020, so don’t delay if you are interested.
• Entities throughout the County are in the process of holding hearings and setting property tax rates for bills that will go out later this year. The County tax rate hearing is Tuesday, August 28, at 10 a.m. in the Commission Meeting Room in the Courthouse at 201 Main St. at which the General Revenue and Road and Bridge levies will be set. As we have discussed previously, this will be the last year that the Hospital Debt Service tax will be on your bill as the Series 2015 bonds that have been paid by this tax will be retired on April 1, 2019. Keep in mind that the Hospital Maintenance tax on the other hand will remain in place as long as Lincoln County continues to own the facility, which is currently operated by Mercy Health.
• Commuters along Hampel Rd. may have noticed that the bridge just north of the intersection with Adelhardt Rd. has received a temporary repair to the deck which should get us through the winter and into a position to make the permanent repair as planned after school lets out in spring 2019. As is the case with all roads and bridges throughout the County, we need the public’s assistance in keeping an eye on this problem area and encourage folks to call or e-mail when they see a potential problem.
• With students returning to school at the same time our construction season begins to wind down, it is more important now than ever to exercise caution when traveling. Be on the lookout for large yellow objects as construction equipment and school busses make their way throughout the County. Please be patient, especially with the bus drivers, as they are carrying a most precious cargo.

That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• The Commission recently received a Court Judgement from the Eastern District of Missouri in the case of Argonaut Great Central Insurance Company v. Lincoln County, Missouri, et al. The Court found that Argonaut has a duty to defend the County Defendants for the claims raised in the Russell Scott Faria v. Sergeant Ryan J. McCarrick, et al case.
• As we talked about last week, the budgeting process has begun, and the early focus, as it is every year, is the 911 Dispatch Center budget. Based on the recommendation of the 911 Advisory Board, letters will be sent to all agencies that use the Dispatch Center’s services outlining their respective costs for the services in 2019. All agencies will be invited to attend the September 911 Advisory Board meeting to discuss the proposed charges. It is important to note that the services are provided to each agency at cost minus a credit for a proportional share of the land line revenues. Other than the land line revenues to fund the 911 Emergency call taking, no entity, including the County, has a source of revenue specifically dedicated to the cost of dispatch and warrant processing. Offering competitive wages and keeping qualified employees remains a challenge as the greener pastures in other areas often draw away employees that we have paid to train. This has been, and will continue to be, a challenge, but the bottom line is to make the funding as equitable as possible and to not lose sight of the focus of our efforts, which is the safety of the residents.
• We have broken through the last remaining obstacles on a few bridge projects, and will soon open bids to construct a replacement bridge on Snyder Rd. and build a new bridge on Taylor School Rd. in place of an old creek crossing. The bridge on Snyder Rd. is sitting on an unstable pile of sand, and the crossing on Taylor School, as we have discussed before, is a dangerous situation that has worsened as the population in that area has increased. Both are worthwhile projects, and Snyder Rd. construction will be funded at no additional cost to the County through the Federal Bridge Program (BRO) while the Taylor School project will be 80% funded by a FEMA Hazard Mitigation grant. The end result will be two worthwhile enhancements to our system at minimal cost to the County.

That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.• Assessed valuations are in and this year the overall number for the county is $857,485,260 which represents positive growth of 3.6% from last year. While some of this growth is due to re-assessment (which means property is gaining in value which is positive), the change due to new construction accounts for over half, 51.4%, of the overall growth. Furthermore the growth attributable to new construction has increased by 27% over 2017’s numbers.
• As we have discussed in previous columns, the State of Missouri continues to lag behind in its reimbursements to counties for the housing of State prisoners. It is important to keep in mind that the board rate for reimbursement stands at $22.58 per day, per inmate which represents about ½ of what it costs Sheriff Cottle to house these prisoners. As of October 31, 2017, Lincoln County was owed $97,236.44 for prisoner boarding, and while the State has since taken steps to improve the payment of these bills, the balance due to the County has risen to $259,979.94 as of June 30, 2018. In private industry, we would turn such a “customer” over to collections and stop doing business with them. Unfortunately, in government we do not have that luxury and will continue to make the ends meet. With Sheriff Cottle and his staff, we have the right people in place to keep the operation financially stable.
• While December seems like it is a long time away, we have begun preparing for the 2019 budget. If current conditions continue through the end of the year, we plan to retire most if not all of the little short-term debt we are carrying and designate the remaining surplus to the appropriate reserve. In addition to the systematic savings plan we recently implemented with the Sheriff, the Commission will soon be expanding this philosophy to further build up reserves in General Revenue with a focus on long-term building maintenance and economic development projects. The overarching theory is to use times of strong revenues to make thorough preparations for that “rainy day” when income slows down.

That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners

A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• This week, Treasurer Brenda O’Brien presented the Commission with the semi-annual Treasurer’s Report which is a snapshot of the County’s financial performance during the first 6 months of 2018. Revenues at the halfway point are at 50.02% of projections, and expenditures are at 38.04%, so we are on pace to accomplish what we set out to accomplish AND put a little money back in the reserves. Of particular note is the balance in the Road and Bridge Fund. You may recall that in past articles we have discussed that a healthy reserve balance in the fund is about $1 million, but as of June 30, 2018, the reserve balance is $3,897,719.96! We will spend some of that balance down on projects before the end of the year, but we are on track to again finish the year in a strong financial position in Road and Bridge. The County as a whole is on track to have another good year financially.
• Permitting and easement acquisition activities continue on a number of projects. Of course, we have to do an Indiana bat study for the bridge project on Taylor School Rd. to make sure we aren’t upsetting any nesting habitat. The bat habitat study is just one of many regulations that we are required to adhere to in order to get a project off the ground. The creek crossing on Taylor School Rd. has been the site of a number of high water rescues, including one some years ago when a young mother was trapped in her vehicle with two small children. Once this project is complete, the dangerous crossing will be replaced with a safe, well-built bridge which will be 80% funded by a Hazard Mitigation Grant through FEMA. While there are regulations with which we have to comply that seem burdensome at times, the effort is worthwhile as the net result is a safer travel route for the taxpayers of Lincoln County.
• Speaking of regulations, our status as a 2nd Class county brings with it a number of statutory regulations regarding procurement, bid solicitation, purchases, etc. Each formal bid packet that the County prepares is crafted on the basis of these statutes along with the technical requirements for the particular product or service being solicited. In addition to submitting the bid price, the vendor must also comply with all requirements in the packet in order to be considered. Unfortunately, bids that do not meet the requirements must be rejected. A recent example is our Aggregate Sealcoat bid packet, wherein a vendor submitted a bid of $800,200 which was significantly lower than the second bid of $1,496,200. While that seems like an attractive bid on paper, the rest of the packet was missing a number of required documents, not the least of which was the McCleod Mix Design which is the “formula” that outlines the methodology they intend to use to complete the job. The low bid vendor also contacted our Project Management office and shared that they had made a calculation error by not factoring in all necessary information to submit an accurate bid. Fortunately, we discovered all of this prior to making the award, and ultimately the bid was rejected.
• That’s all we have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…

The Commissioners