August 22, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

The Gadfly attended the August 22, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All commissioners were present.

The first agenda item was Bid Award – Juvenile Justice Center – Trane Air Conditioner.

Camden County had received two bids at a previous meeting for this bid request.

Representatives from the Juvenile Justice Center mentioned that they had received information that after speaking to one of the bidders (Clemm Mechanical) and they were informed that the bidder had mistakenly believed that all of the the air conditioner units had to be installed on the same day. If they did not have to install all of the units on the same day, Clemm could reduce their bid cost by $10,000.

Presiding Commissioner Skelton felt that Gold’s bid was still cheaper and both companies have done a lot of work for the county before. Commissioner Williams mentioned that it also might create an issue if Clemm was allowed to reduce their bid amount after the bids were unsealed. (This was an excellent point.)

The commissioners voted unanimously to accept the bid from Gold Mechanical.

The second agenda item was Bid Award – Sheriff – Inmate Activity Logging.

The bid from Guardian RFID was received at the previous meeting. They are on Missouri’s Sole Source list for bidding, so their bid could be accepted without any competing bids.

This bid for the inmate activity monitoring system was approved unanimously.

There was a bit of agenda juggling which made the third agenda item Juvenile Justice Center – Maintenance Issues.

Commissioner Gohagan explained that Camden County hosts the Juvenile Center, but its use is shared by the other counties in the judicial district. The annual budget to run the facility is $280,000. Camden County contributes $80,000 of that. Gohagan felt that Camden County has shouldered the majority of the financial burden for maintaining the building.

There are problems with the water softener and the water heater. The roof needs tuck pointing, and drainage issues under the foundation of the building require work. It sounded like the total cost to fully repair the building would be a little under $200,000. The Justice Center representatives were open to paying for some of the repairs with their budget, but they couldn’t come close to funding the whole amount. The average inmate population at the Juvenile Justice Center is 8. They have beds for 24 residents, but they are only funded by the State of Missouri to handle a maximum population of 16.

The Commission voted unanimously to table this matter so they could establish what repairs are required and what repair bids have been received.

The fourth agenda item was Senior Citizen Tax Fund Board – Discuss SB190.

James Rogers and several other members of various county boards were present to inquire about how the Commission planned to implement SB190.

County Attorney Jeff Green has been working on this matter, and he briefed the audience on his progress.

According to Green’s research, SB190 provides a real estate property tax credit for senior citizens aged 62 years and older. While there have been questions asked around the state if this credit could be retroactive, Green’s interpretation is that the freezing of the property tax for seniors will occur when the law becomes effective on August 28, 2023. If people make major improvements to their primary residence, their property will be reassessed. If properties are sold, they will be reassessed at the new value at the time of the sale. Homeowners will have to apply for this tax credit with the county every year.

The Commission meeting on September 7, 2023, will be the meeting where the county’s final plan to pass an ordinance and implement SB190 will be finalized and executed.

(I’ve talked about SB190 before. It really is a shame that the Legislature put the responsibility for implementing this onto the counties. It would have been so much easier for the State of Missouri to manage the tax credit. They already had an income-based property tax credit in place at the State level! I don’t understand how Camden County will be able to verify if someone who claims that they have their primary residence in Camden County doesn’t also have a primary residence that they’re claiming in Cole County. Or any number of other counties, for that matter.)

The fifth agenda item was CAT Equipment Leasing – R&B.

The Commission is seeking to sign a 5 year lease for Caterpillar road graders for the Road and Bridge Department. The lease is going to allow for warranty coverage for the leased vehicles and will be good for 1,500 hours/year and a total of 6,500 hours. I was really surprised to hear that the Road and Bridge Department currently has a monthly maintenance cost of $50,000 for repairs and maintenance on their vehicles. $600,000 per year!?! That’s some serious wear and tear on a old equipment fleet.

The five year leasing plan would allow them to save money on those repairs through warranties. At the end of the lease, they could make the final lease balloon payment and retain enough value on their purchased graders to then roll them over into a cheaper lease term for new graders. As each lease term rolled over, they would build more and more equity in their existing fleet.

After discussing the various options, the Commission agreed unanimously to lease two Caterpillar 140-15 road graders now and lease more graders next fiscal year.

The final agenda item was IJ Technologies USA – Culvert Piping Replacement Presentation.

This was a presentation by a company that has developed a trench-less pipe rehab technology. The company is from Australia, but they have a US location in Kansas. Their technology has proven especially useful for repairing damaged culverts.

To paraphrase from one gentlemen present at the meeting, it’s like a heart stint for pipes, using PVC coils that interlock with each other along rails inside the existing pipe. As more PVC is fed into the pipe, the PVC coils extend until they reach the other end of the culvert. The coiled PVC pipe is then fixed in place on the far end with a rod, so as the pipe continues to add PVV, it expands in circumference until the PVC insert pipe fills the interior of the damaged pipe.

Here’s a great demo of how it works on Youtube:

It looked like it would be very useful for repairs and they are supposed to be developing a version that will also repair box culverts and other unusually shaped pipes..

Horseshoe Bend Special Road District has used them to repair a culvert and their administrator was happy with the results.

And that was that.

Before I go, we need to talk about one more thing. Somebody needs to address the new carpet in the Commission meeting room. So many questions.

How much was Camden County paid to install it? Somewhere in Kansas is a Holiday Inn breakfast buffet room missing its flooring?:

It’s a crime, folks.