October 2, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the October 2, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All commissioners were present.

The first agenda item was “Road & Bridge budget amendment – $21,595.00.”

The Road and Bridge Department sold off some scrap metal. The money earned from this sale will be allocated to Willow Creek Bridge expenses.

This amendment was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The second agenda item was “Purchasing budget amendment – $43.00.”

This amendment documented a reimbursement from the MU Extension. I believe it was for office supplies.

This amendment was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The third amendment was “Maintenance budget amendment – $800.00.”

Maintenance sold a Cushman and wanted to use the proceeds to pay for supplies.

This amendment was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The fourth agenda item was “Accounting policy regarding reimbursement requests of $75.00 or more.”

The new accounting policy would require travel reimbursements for total travel expenses over $75 to have a receipt submitted. County Auditor Laughlin said that the current policy requires receipts for reimbursement anyway.

Commissioner Gohagan explained that in the past, a county employee was able to submit reimbursements in $50 increments to avoid the requirement. This change to the policy would close that loophole.

This amendment was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The fifth agenda item was “ Discuss annual NACo membership – $855.00.”

Presiding Commissioner Skelton discussed whether the money for membership and travel expenses for the National Association of Counties (“NACo”) was worth it, but he didn’t feel they could influence any changes if they didn’t participate. Skelton described NACo as “very left wing.”

He felt the same way about the Missouri Association of Counties (“MAC”) and disagreed with some of the lobbying and political strategies that MAC has pursued.

Commissioner Gohagan described NACo as a lobbying market for big government.

Commissioner Dougan agreed and wanted to participate in organizations that had more of a local focus.

The Commission voted unanimously to no longer participate in NACo.

The sixth agenda item was “Ordinance pertaining to TCLA funds received by Camden County.”

The ordinance established that the proceeds from the Lake Ozark Business District of Camden County, the TCLA funds, would be set aside and sequestered except by formal order of the Camden County Commission. Control of the funds would be managed by the County Treasurer.

The Commission approved this ordinance unanimously.

The final agenda item was “Presentation of Peer Connect for County employees.”

This was a presentation from First Response Mental Health. They developed Peer Connect software that the Sheriff’s Office will use to manage their Peer Support program. They also discussed a Section 125 mental health benefits plan that employers can establish that would be budget neutral for the county.

Employees would contribute pre-tax dollars from their paycheck that could be used for mental health services for members and their families. The plan would be a “use it or lose it” annual plan and employees would be unable to change their elections outside of a set enrollment period without a qualifying event.

It appears that the Sheriff’s Office might be offering this plan to its employees, but the Commission wanted to review more information before they were willing to make this plan available to all county employees.

And that was that.