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

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

Commissioners Gohagan and Skelton were present.

The first agenda item was “Camden County Board Appointments/Reappointments.”

Rick Johnson was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

(I’ve heard it called the Planning and Zoning Board or the P&Z Board, but according to the Unified Land Use Code, it is the Planning Commission or the Planning and Zoning Commission. Make sure you correct your friends at Christmas parties when they call it by the wrong name. They’ll be really impressed.)

The commissioners stated that Johnson will be replacing David “Stoney” Stone who is resigning from the commission. Based on the various planning and zoning meetings I’ve had the misfortune of sitting through, this change of personnel will be appreciated by county homeowners.

Nancy Rogers was reappointed to Board of Equalization.

Alan Parker and James Rericha were re-appointed to the Wastewater Variance Board.

Elizabeth Perkins, Brian Willey, and Paul Dibello were all re-appointed to the SB40 Board that guides the Camden County Developmental Disabilities Resources agency.

All of the appointees were directed to proceed to the County Clerk’s Office to be sworn in to their positions. Good-humored efforts by a few of the appointees to negotiate modest salaries for their board positions were rejected with the same good humor by the commissioners. Thanks for volunteering!

The second agenda item was “Bid Opening – Road & Bridge – Pavement Condition Survey RFP 240429 -B.”

There were three bids received for pavement surveys. These bids were all for services where the companies survey the county’s paved roads and grade them for the Road and Bridge Department.

First Step Pavement Management for $35,000. Their bid included a map layer so the public could review their road ratings.

IMS for $65,400. They conducted the last county road survey, but the Road & Bridge Administrator wasn’t sure if the bid included a layer for the public to see the road grades.

Roadway Asset Services for $153,843. I can only assume this bid included the kitchen sink.

Such a large disparity in bid amounts usually means the Commission will face the challenge of not having an “apples to apples” bid comparison to review.

The Commission voted to table the bids for review.

The final agenda item was “Discuss Destination Marketing Organization Resolution.”

Heather Brown was present representing the Convention and Visitors Bureau (“CVB”).

Brown told the Commission that the county needs to designate a Destination Marketing Organization (“DMO”) if they want to receive matching tourism dollars from the Missouri Department of Tourism. Organizations have to meet specific state requirements to apply as potential DMO’s. The agreement could last for 5 years and would qualify the Lake Area for $280,000 annually in marketing funds.

Commissioner Skelton preferred to keep the designation on a one year renewal because he was concerned that it might involve a lodging tax in the future.

Members of the audience asked the Commission to put the request for a DMO out as an RFP and advertise for the submission of DMO applications to the county. They were concerned that there was only one organization present to offer its services and more competition for DMO designation would be better for everyone.

Another audience member complained that the TCLA hadn’t been answerable to Sunshine requests and wanted to make sure any new DMO would be transparent.

Brown responded that the DMO should be sunshine-able because they are receiving state funds.

There was some question of whether the Commission had the time to put the DMO request out for bid, but some quick Hooterville Googling revealed that the application period with the state is open until February 28, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.

Missouri Department of Tourism Link

This DMO Certification Guide was published December 2024 by the Missouri Department of Tourism for the FY 2026 program year that will last from July 1 , 2025, through June 2026. According to the guide’s DMO certifications and timelines, the FY25 guidelines will be posted January 1, 2025. The Application opens on February 28, 2025, (Friday) and closes on March 1, 2025 (The next day). They announce the FY 25 Awards on March 15, 2025. The timeline looks to be a bit rushed, but what do I know about marketing?

And that was that.