I attended the November 9, 2023, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.
All commissioners were present. There was a pretty good crowd in the room. More than most meetings.
The first agenda item was Annex Letter for City of Camdenton.
City Manager Jeff Hooker informed the Commission that the city was approached by MODOT who were interested in having the city annex their storage yard out on Business 5 so they could hook up to city water and sewer. They would be hooked up through Winnelson.
Presiding Commissioner Skelton read a letter stating that Camden County had no objection to the annexation. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve this letter.
The second agenda item was Four Seasons POA – Discuss Cancellation of Services from the Sheriff.
(Quick update for those readers who haven’t been following the latest excitement on Horseshoe Bend.
The Four Seasons Lakesites POA (POA) paid $144,000 annually to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) for “enhanced services.” The Village of Four Seasons (The Village), a municipality, paid an additional $85,000 annually to CCSO for the same enhanced services. In effect, this additional money ensured there would be extra deputies assigned to patrol the Horseshoe Bend and Porto Cima. To make things more confusing, most, but not all of the Village is in the POA. The POA, in turn, includes quite a few neighborhoods that are not in the Village.
The POA recently announced it would no longer be paying the annual $144,000 to the CCSO. This caught the Sheriff, his deputies, and many POA members completely by surprise. Below is the POA’s explanation):
Nobody was present at this meeting from the Four Seasons Property Owner’s Association (POA). Nobody in the audience wanted to speak in favor of the POA’s decision.
Tony Baldridge, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Village of Four Seasons, addressed the Commission first. He clarified that the Village is very happy with their current arrangement with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. There has been a lot of confusion regarding the Village’s position, but according to Baldridge, they plan on continuing their portion of the CCSO contract and the Village’s relationship with the CCSO.
Jerry Jackson, the President of the Horseshoe Bend Special Road District, spoke next. He was very concerned that the POA cut off the support for the CCSO without any warning or consultation with its members. He informed the Commission that this decision was made even after an 11% increase in POA dues for 2022 and an 18% increase in POA dues for 2023.
Sheriff Helms said how surprised he was to hear that the POA had cancelled the contract. He stressed that his department would still provide law enforcement coverage for the POA areas, but he couldn’t justify assigning dedicated deputies there when other areas of the county needed service also.
There was a discussion about the possibility of the POA hiring security guards to patrol their neighborhoods. Sheriff Helms recounted the story of two Four Seasons security officers who were shot and killed on Horseshoe Bend in 1994 while responding to a burglary at a boat dock.
https://www.missourimemorial.com/roll/camdenco/1994_FredFeuser/
https://www.ky3.com/2022/12/09/camden-county-sheriffs-office-remembers-deputy-killed-line-duty-1994/
Helms was concerned about the potential liability of using security officers to perform duties that were normally provided by law enforcement. The security officers lacked the powers of arrest and detention that peace officers possess.
Deputy Phil Cannon also spoke about this issue. He added that when he was the Director of Security for Four Seasons in 1999, they had a $500,000 security budget.
Ranita Jones, another Village Trustee, stated that she was happy that the Village is keeping their contract with the CCSO. She was not happy about the increase in POA dues and the sudden cancellation of the POA contract. She has attended all of the POA meetings and she had never heard the cancellation discussed there.
Several other citizens spoke in support of the CCSO and expressed their desire that the POA should continue with the contract.
If you’re interested in hearing the POA’s explanation for this in person, the Four Seasons POA has stated they will have a meeting to discuss this matter on November 14, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center (2750 Horseshoe Bend Parkway).
And that was that.
So what does the extra $229,000 paid annually by the POA and Village provide and how will it change if the POA stops paying their share?
Currently, Horseshoe Bend has a Lieutenant and a Sergeant assigned to it permanently. They are both excellent and have great reputations within the community and the department. They also have approximately 8 deputies assigned to work patrol there. This doesn’t mean that all 8 are out there every night because you have to account for time off, vacations, training, etc.
Here’s what I’ve heard from some pretty reliable sources. Without the POA money, the assigned car that patrols MM will be gone and Porto Cima will just become part of the countywide patrol area. They will be assigned police response based on call priority along with the rest of the county. The Lieutenant and Sergeant will stay at the Village of Four Seasons.
The deputies work 12 hour shifts on patrol. The patrol coverage will be reduced to two day cars and two night cars in the Village. Those units will respond as needed to other emergencies, but when they’re available and clear, chances are good that they’ll be patrolling the Village. All of this is tentative and subject to change, but it’s a pretty reliable estimate.
If you live in the POA and aren’t happy with this development, I look forward to seeing you at the POA meeting on November 14.
Among the Dogwoods 