May 7, 2024, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the May 7, 2024, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

Commissioners Gohagan and Skelton were present. Commissioner Williams was absent. No public information was released by the Commission to let your faithful author determine if this absence was again related to animal husbandry.

(And please be sure you know the meaning of that word before you send any angry emails to the editorial offices of Among the Dogwoods.)

The first agenda item was Collector – Bid Opening 240507 Tax Sale Publication Bid.

The Lake Sun bid $285 per broadsheet page.

The Reporter bid $320 per broadsheet page.

The commissioners voted unanimously to select the Lake Sun bid. The Lake Sun reporter in the audience smiled with satisfaction at the commissioners.

(I had considered bidding on this item, but my particular medium is still looked upon with disdain by Missouri statute and most of my relatives. I also don’t want to change Mrs. Gadfly’s skeptical impression that I’ve chosen a second occupation that actually loses us money every year. You’ll always get your money’s worth, folks!)

The second agenda item was Road and Bridge – Bid Opening – Asphalt Overlay.

Capital Paving was the only bid.

Capital bid to pave 21 roads with 12,800 tons of asphalt at $106.75 per ton.

Commissioner Skelton noted that the actual bid came in slightly cheaper than they expected.

The Commission voted unanimously to accept the bid.

There were 4 Requests for Surplus Funds on the agenda.

(I get asked about these a lot and the County Attorney actually explained how this works during the meeting, but I’ll give you the non-billable hours version. Before we start, I’m not an attorney.

You own a property and you haven’t paid property tax on it for 3 years.

It then goes up for sale at the Tax Sale. Someone wins the property at auction for $100,000. You owed $10,000 in property tax, interest and penalties on the property. That means there is a surplus of $90,000 on the property.

You can request that $90,000 as the original property owner. In effect, the Collector shouldn’t make more in the Tax Sale than the property taxes and penalties that were owed. If the surplus isn’t claimed, it is rolled over to the school district.)

The first surplus request was for Blackhawk Estates #1 for $67,215.19 (That’s an unusually big surplus).

The next three surplus requests were for $26,890.13, $979.60, and $6,828.15. All three surpluses were requested by the same owners.

These surplus requests had all been reviewed by the County Attorney and the Treasurer.

The commission approved these requests unanimously.

The final agenda item was Annual LANEG JAG grant acceptance.

This was for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant provided by the federal Department of Justice to combat drug-related crimes. Representatives from the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group explained that this grant helps fund their task force, providing money for equipment, rent, insurance, benefits, and salary. This particular grant was for $616,000 in 2024.

The Commission approved the receipt of this grant for LANEG unanimously.

And that was that.