Elevator Bids Come in $50,000 Over Grant

The County Commission found that the bids for the elevator project came in $50,000 over the projected estimate. The Northwest Missouri Regional Council and Roger Versules, the engineer for the project, are working to cut the costs of the project. The county was unable to get extra money for the project from the state. One option for the county would be to turn down the grant and reapply based on the bids.
The commission set their next meeting for Wednesday, August 6th due to election day.
Mary Carroll was appointed by the commission to the Library Board.
The commission voted to authorize Dallas Ruth to set up a horseshoe pitch in the courtyard subject to commission approval.
Commissioners Bill Mozingo and Lorace Waldeier and County Clerk Lisa Hargrave were checking for a surplus truck that could give better mileage than the current one that Road and Bridge foreman Jim Fletchall could use to check gravel.
There was gravel washed off some roads and debris that was caused by the flooding last week. The commission authorized Jim Fletchall to get pictures and documentation in the event the county was declared a FEMA disaster area. Rain was not heavy in the west part of the county, but East Commissioner Bill Calhoon said that he got 3 inches of rain and the northeast corner of the county got 6. There was brush on the road near Jerry Cook’s, while the flooding completely submerged the Mosbarger bridge and the Nonneman bridge needed shoring up. In addition, there were some ditches that needed to be graded back into shape once the roads had sufficiently dried. Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe said that she was doing preliminary estimates on damage.
Among other work, the Lynch road needed blading while a tube on the Kerwin road needed repair and the road by the Jerry Dignan was caving in. Fletchall said that the county would need to order some more tubes before the year was out. Richard Supinger told the commission that the repair work on the road west of his house help up against the rains and flooding of last week.
Len Green will look at the lock on the trailer that was broken.
Treasurer Linda Brown reported that the state had reimbursed $53,000 for Barb Foland’s office. The county is waiting on $7,000 that the state owes the county for prison restitution.
Fletchall reported that United Electric was working on an overhead power line at the Missouri Taylor bridge; after that project is complete in a couple of days, the project would be ready to start.

Opinion: Holiday Tree in Courthouse Worth the Effort

by Barb Rowe
Decorated trees are traditionally used at Christmas time to celebrate the Christmas holidays but at the Worth County Court House there is a new tradition in the workings. If you have had reason to be in the courthouse you will have seen the tree with decorations for other holidays. This tree has been a conversation piece since the people who work in the courthouse started working on it.
The tree was a gift from Linda Brown who won it in a drawing and since it was too large for her home, she donated it to the County for the courthouse Christmas tree. After Christmas the storage space that was being used was being considered for restoration so there was no place to put the tree. The employees in the courthouse decided to make a Holiday Tree. They thought of what holidays would be coming up and went to work on getting decorations which were their own or were donated. Sunday School classes have had children make some of the decorations and other county residents have provided some of them.
After Christmas the tree was decorated for Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter. Plans are being made to decorate for April Showers. Courthouse workers do the decorating in their spare time. Some people think it is foolish to be spending time on this project but others think it is a nice addition to the courthouse. I for one walked around the tree and looked at the Easter Decorations and thought the childrens’ work on the paper eggs and ducks and rabbits were really cute. The courthouse workers should be applauded for bringing some holiday spirit into the courthouse all year long and not just on day a year.