November 2, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the November 2, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

Commissioners Skelton and Gohagan started the meeting. Commissioner Williams arrived a few minutes late.

Commissioner Gohagan asked to amend the agenda to add the Medical Examiner’s contract for Old Business.

Presiding Commissioner Skelton explained that Southwest Forensics is asking for $400,000 to perform autopsies for Camden County. They would provide their own vehicles, office space, and coroner investigators. Southwest’s contract with the county has remained at $200,000 since approximately 2012.

Commissioner Gohagan did not like the autopsy “bundles” that Southwest previously used for their billing. They have changed their contract and will now just charge Camden County a flat rate for their services. There will no longer be a “per autopsy” charge.

MU also bid on the Medical Examiner contract for $260,000. While the price was cheaper, Camden County would have had to hire and train their own coroner investigators which would have cost the county more money in the long run.

The Commission voted unanimously to approve the Southwest Forensics bid for the Medical Examiner’s contract.

(Camden County has a Medical Examiner instead of a Coroner because Camden County is a 1^st Class County that does not have a charter form of government. And as a reminder for readers, Camden County is considered a 1^st Class County because we have an assessed valuation of over $900 million. As a fun fact you can use to impress at cocktail parties, we are by far the smallest in population of all of Missouri’s 1^st Class Counties.)

And if you want to see how annoying Missouri statutes can be, read and enjoy the statute below that explains how a county finds out it needs a Medical Examiner. “…any county of the first classification which has a population of at least ninety thousand but less than ninety-one thousand inhabitants…” Or a first class county that has a population between 60,000 and 70,000 which borders a third class county with at least 35,000. Sheesh. Just name the county for Pete’s sake!

The first agenda item was Wastewater Variance Board Re-apt – Alan Parker.

Alan Parker was re-appointed to the board unanimously.

The second agenda item was Bid Award – Recorder – Plat Cabinets.

There was only one bid for the request. The Recorder recommended they accept the bid for 2 cabinets at $10,340.22 each. These plat cabinets are apparently hard to find.

The Commission approved the bid unanimously.

The third agenda item was Request for Surplus Funds.

This request was reviewed and approved by the County Attorney and the County Treasurer. The surplus was for 2189 Dodds Camp Road, Climax Springs for approximately $36,800.

This was approved unanimously.

The final agenda item was Discuss Changes by Travelers Insurance.

The county’s insurance premiums have gone up and its coverage limits have gone down. Deductibles on its new policies have increased. The main reasons given to the Commission for these changes were Camden County’s risk exposure and loss history. (Based on some of the shenanigans that I’ve heard about in the past, we should be happy anybody is willing to insure the county.)

And that was that.