County Saves On Health Insurance

STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD

Ste. Genevieve County will be staying with United Health Care for employee health insurance, after all.

County Clerk Sue Wolk updated the county commissioners on the issue during last Thursday's commission meeting.

United raised its rates by 15%, prompting Wolk to request a quote from Aetna. In the past, United had provided everything but vision and dental, which Aetna provided.

Once the county started shopping around, however, United came back with a lower offer – just a tiny increase, if the county goes with them for vision and dental, as well. The county would save $28,000 overall..

The dental/vision plan is optional and would cost employees $6.18 per month.

Wolk went over the policy options with the commissioners.

SCHMIEDER REPORTS

Scott Schmieder, road and bridge foreman, reported that the bucket truck, out of commission for some time, should be back that day or the next.

He said he was "trying to get a few things done" while the weather holds out.

No word had been received from Smith & Company Engineering on plans to replace the Franklin Bridge on the outskirts of St. Mary.

The commissioners voted to pay an invoice from Aaron Braun Excavating for work on St. Mary Cemetery Road.

SERVER REPLACEMENT

A server shared by the county collector and assessor's offices recently went down. The commissioners approved spending $12,036 in American Relief Plan Act (ARPA) funds for two replacement servers.

Since it was an emergency, and since the servers have to be compatible with the offices' existing system, the county did not have to solicit bids.

No data was lost when the server crashed.

MEETINGS

The commissioners also reported on meetings they had recently attended. At the Southeast Missouri Solid Waste District meeting, they found that grants are on hold for a while. At the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission meeting, it was announced that the next round of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) will begin in April Last cycle 40 of 115 applicants were approved.

At the Southeast Missouri Transportation Advisory Council meeting, it was learned that the Chester bridge project is making good headway. Also, Missouri Department of Transportation personnel announced that statewide fatalities are down by 10%. This is presumed to be due to anti-texting laws.

Only 12 commissioners (including Ste. Genevieve's three) attended the Southeast Missouri Commissioners meeting, out of a possible 30. At the meeting, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) personnel talked about state disaster preparedness.

Second District Commissioner Mark Marberry expressed frustration at the apparent lack of commitment some county commissioners seem to have.

"It takes commitment," he said." There are too many commissioners who don't go to a lot of meetings."

The meetings are where the commissioners learn about grants and other means of getting money and addressing problems.

You're not earning your pay when you do that," Marberry said.

Notes

The commissioners will talk to city leaders about possible help on meeting the 25% match on the Off-system Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation (BRO) grant that would help replace the 90-year-old bridge over the North Gabouri Creek on North Main Street.

At the Monday, Oct. 21 meeting, the commissioners asked Schmieder to put 25 miles per hour signs on Coffelt and Boyd roads.

Brockmiller Construction forwarded $2,599 for costs related to previously approved ARPA-funded HVAC work at the detention center. The commissioners voted to pay it.

Brad Arnold, community center director, reported that a fire inspection had been completed at the community center. He also updated the commissioners on working done there.

County Collector Lisa Marschel visited Monday, to get Ruzicka's signature on paperwork for the review of state sales tax information.