The commissioners approved a new computer for Treasurer Linda Brown and voted to pay half of the loan on the Mack Truck plus interest so that they could keep a cushion for other needed expenses.
Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe reported that the county was in the process of seeking a $15,000 Homeland Security grant for equipment for the Security Command Trailer. Included are three computers, one monitor, portable radios, a wireless printer, a camera, and radio battery chargers. Region H, which includes Worth County, has gotten $460,000, of which half of that has already been allocated. Commissioners also directed Kobbe to sign a memorandum in support of a pet trailer that the City of St. Joseph is seeking to shelter pets in the event of an emergency; the county would be able to use it in case of an emergency on their part. Both Kobbe and new Presiding Commissioner Ted Findley said that there were people who would not leave even in an emergency situation because they did not want to leave their pets uncared for. There would be no cost to the county. Kobbe said that she wanted to get various sized pet carriers for people who wanted to help care for pets in such a situation. She said that hopefully, the new fire building and two other places would be able to shelter pets if needed.
Kobbe said that if Homeland Security wanted the county to go through a bidding process, that they would be ready to do so. The National Earthquake Exercise will be held from 8-12 a.m. May 19th at the Worth County Sheriff's office.
Kobbe discussed Department of Homeland Security Directive #5. It says that all responders should respond on a unified system. There is a push to get all systems on the same page to ensure better communication in the event of an emergency. The first person who responds to an emergency would become the Incident Commander; they could hypothetically overrule the President if he were to be there. The Incident Commander would then step aside when someone with more experience came to the scene. The main goal is for there to be someone in charge of the scene when an emergency is taking place. The ultimate goal is to get to where everyone in the US responds in the same way whenever an emergency situation arises. For the county, Kobbe said that the goal was to get more people trained in order to get more funding for local needs. Specifically, many of the newer personnel need training. Kobbe said that the government was asking a lot of people who are volunteers to give up a lot of time in order to take training; most of the agencies in the area are volunteers.
Discussion then turned to powering up the generators in the event of an emergency. Work is partially done on the task of getting the Courthouse to where it can be given limited power in the event of an extended outage. The sheriff's office and the emergency command center would be hooked up, as well as the heating system. Commissioner Rob Ruckman said that the county would not want to run anything else except when it was absolutely necessary. The WCCC has a generator that automatically switches on. The county is in the process of securing books for the generators so that people would know how to use them if needed. The problem is that manuals for them are not readily available. After searching, Ruckman reported that he had found some leads on where to get a manual.
A special meeting regarding the square fire will be held at Grant City Hall. Commissioners Ted Findley and Dennis Gabbert reported that part of the old Art Shop building tested positive for lead contamination. One of Grant City Auto's basement walls also tested positive for contaminants, but Gabbert reported that owner Dennis Adams is challenging that because the rest of the walls which had the same paint tested negative.
Road and Bridge Foreman Jim Fletchall reported that the county crews were in the process of fixing up equipment and putting on tire chains in case of ice. They were also lining up patron gravel for the roads. Discussion focused on the Mike Troutwine road north of Sheridan, which has a lot of traffic and which needs blading and ditch work. Fletchall said that the county has already put the special rock on that road, but that nobody has put up money to put CART rock on. Gabbert said that he had looked and that he could not find any previous agreement regarding the upkeep of that road between the county and landowners. "I can't believe we would have agreed to gravel that road," he said.
Discussion turned to brush removal and cost sharing. Fletchall said that it was important that landowners allow county crews to do needed sloping and bank work so that the problem doesn't return in 5-10 years. He said that in some cases, just removing the brush was just a halfway solution. Commissioner Ruckman said that the policy of the county was to only cost-share on brush removal once.
Fletchall reported that a tube extension that had gotten cut near Denver needed work. He said that there were various roads around the county that needed mulching work.
Commissioner Ruckman said that the policy regarding the CART program was to deliver gravel as soon as possible to landowners who really wanted it now and to "roll with the punches" regarding the weather.
The county reenacted the Emergency Rock program with the expiration of the CART signup for this year. Cost is $150 per load, payable in advance. All rock will be at least two inches or greater. Gabbert said that the county was in the process of lining up old Emergency Rock and Patron Gravel orders for delivery so that the county could close out the books on this year. There is currently $22,352 left in the Emergency Rock fund.
Fletchall said that with the freezing weather, the county was done doing digging work for FEMA relief projects. He said that with the frozen ground, all the county could do now was to put some rock in that had washed out.
The commission announced a new policy regarding visitors. Visitors who wish to meet with the commission need to call the County Clerk's office at (660) 564-2219 by Thursday to put themselves on the agenda. Commissioner Gabbert said that the county would manage it so that Fletchall would be there to talk with landowners when necessary. Time allotment will be 15 minutes per person. Typically, the county will meet with visitors for public comments at around 11:30, but Gabbert said that the county would be flexible for the first two weeks while the word is getting out. The commission can call an emergency meeting without 24 hour notice in order to deal with emergency situations. The commission can also take a vote to go into closed session to discuss litigation or personnel issues as allowed in Missouri Statue 610.022.
Commissioners are in the process of drawing up a written policy regarding brush law enforcement. Fletchall and commissioners are coming up with ideas on what they want the enforcement to consist of.
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