August 1, 2024, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the August 1, 2024, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

Commissioners Gohagan and Skelton were present.

The first agenda item was Stacy Robinett from the Pros. Atty.’s office – discussion of security for parking lot.

Robinett stated that there have been security issues involving certain cases and threats have been made against some of the prosecutors. The office has even had to use the investigators from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to escort the Prosecuting Attorney (“PA”) to other county courthouses and get her in and out of the courthouse.

She requested that a reserved parking space be set aside for PA Grosvenor in the judges’ parking lot. She also asked if an interior monitor screen could be installed at the back door of the courthouse so the PA employees could view what is happening in the area outside that back door. The exit door for the court officers is close to the same doors the Sheriff’s Office uses to release their prisoners.

Presiding Commissioner Skelton discussed if the parking lot could be fenced off for security. The Maintenance Department supervisor responded that it would be very expensive and restrict fire department access to that area. He suggested that the county could provide an additional Sheriff’ employee’s deputy to escort employees to their cars at night.

Commissioner Gohagan confirmed with the Sheriff’s Office representative that they do have a deputy present at the courthouse whenever court is in session.

Robinett pointed out that there are times when the prosecutors stay late after court is over. They have observed inmates waiting for up to five hours outside near the back door after they were released.

It didn’t sound like it would be very difficult to add a camera monitor in the interior of the building by the back door so employees could see who was waiting outside before opening the door. Commissioner Skelton asked the Maintenance Department to look into adding a parking space and installing a monitor.

The second agenda item was Bid opening – Assessor – 240801 Assessment List Printing and Mailing.

There were two bids.

One was from the E.J. Rice Company for $39,319.79.

The other bid was from Input Technology, Inc. for $9,945.

(The Assessor told me later that the second bid didn’t include postage costs.)

The Assessor asked that the bids be tabled so he could review them.

The Commission voted unanimously to table this item.

The third agenda item was July 2024 tax abatements.

The tax abatements were approved unanimously.

Old Business.

The shower pods in the jail are leaking water and the water damage is eroding the base of the showers underneath them. The initial estimate for repairs was $132,592, but the Maintenance Supervisor cautioned that the actual cost might be much more. The estimate was prepared based on the assumption that the contractor would have complete access to the jail.

The security issues of working in the jail and the need to keep some of the showers operating while the remediation is conducted could greatly increase the labor cost for the project. The Maintenance Department estimated that the repairs could potentially cost between $250,000 and $300,000.

Commissioner Skelton emphasized that he wanted there to be an effort to get bids from multiple vendors because of the difficulty in accurately estimating the labor cost and the impact on jail operations. There was a brief discussion about potentially transferring the inmates to other facilities or providing an alternate shower facility for the prisoners.

ARPA Money.

Commissioner Skelton mentioned that the Commission is seeking to “claw back” the ARPA federal funding that was earmarked by the Commission for Camden County Public Water Districts #3 and #4. Those districts have not provided any evidence that they have committed their county ARPA money to contracts that were eligible for ARPA funds. According to the Auditor, this would recover approximately $500,000 in ARPA funds that could be allocated to other projects. Both water districts have been notified about the possibility they will lose the ARPA money.

Commissioner Gohagan reminded Auditor Jimmy Laughlin that the Lake Area Community Development Corporation (“LACDC”) received $250,000 in ARPA funding. Gohagan asked Laughlin how that ARPA money qualified under the federal guidelines? Laughlin responded that the prior Commission told him to give the LACDC the money so they were given the check. Laughlin explained that the county had received some receipts from the LACDC.

Commissioner Skelton asked why some organizations were simply given ARPA checks by the county while others couldn’t get their allocated ARPA funds from the county until they proved the payments qualified? There didn’t seem to be a good explanation. Commissioner Skelton stated that he wanted to put the LACDC on the Commission agenda to discuss their ARPA expenditures.

To summarize some of the Commission’s previous interactions with the LACDC:

At the May 17, 2022, Commission meeting, the Commission gave the LACDC $250,000 in ARPA funds with a 2-1 vote. Hasty and Willams voted for it and Gohagan voted against it.

At the May 16, 2023, Commission meeting, Commissioner Skelton asked Richard Ross from the LACDC how many families had received loans through the LACDC? Ross replied that nobody had received a loan yet. Camden County was the only county to contribute. Laclede, Miller, and Morgan counties gave no money to the LACDC.

The LACDC website says that they have monthly meetings but they haven’t posted minutes from a meeting since February 2, 2023. The minutes from the January 5, 2023, meeting are below, for your reading pleasure:

And that was that.