Meramec Regional Planning Commission
Minutes
April 12, 2007
Call to Order
Chairman Bob Reed called the April 12 meeting of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission to order at 7:35 p.m.
Welcome
Dennis Wilson, newly elected mayor of St. James, and Sandy Allison, newly hired economic development coordinator for Sullivan, were welcomed to the meeting.
Consent Agenda
The following consent agenda items were presented for approval.
1)..... March minutes
2)..... Contracts
• ...... Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District (Amendment)
........ Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to sign an addendum to its contract to provide administration of Ozarks Rivers Solid Waste Management District to add projects to the scope of work and for additional funds to cover those costs.
• USA Tours
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement to work with USA Tours to provide commuter transit services involving Ft. Leonard Wood, Rolla and Lebanon, Missouri.
• ANE Contracting (Steve Dalgerry)
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract to provide asbestos sampling of an old gas station in Devils Elbow, Mo. for ANE Contracting.
• Rolla Fire and Rescue
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract with Rolla Fire and Rescue for the development of an Assistance to the Firefighter Grant application. The city of Rolla will provide allocated hours for this project.
• Doolittle Rural Fire District
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract with Doolittle Rural Fire District for the development of an Assistance to Firefighter Grant application. The city of Doolittle will provide allocated hours for this project.
• Freeburg Fire Department
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract with Freeburg Fire Department for the development of an Assistance to Firefighter Grant application. The city of Freeburg and Osage County will provide some allocated hours for this project.
• Meta Fire and Rescue
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract with Meta Fire and Rescue for the development of an Assistance to Firefighter Grant application.
• Genesis/Good Samaritan Resource Center
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director enter into a contract with Genesis of Waynesville for the development of a USDA Rural Development loan/grant application for building construction.
• Homeland Security Oversight Committee
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a grant agreement with SEMA and/or the Region I Homeland Security Oversight Committee for grant funds for a volunteer and mass care/shelter development project and interoperability planning.
• Phelps/Maries County Health Department
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract with the Phelps/Maries County Health Department for a tabletop exercise.
(Additions)
• City of Hermann
Permission was requested for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract to provide technical assistance in the preparation of CDBG application for an industrial infrastructure project for the city of Hermann.
• Gasconade Valley Enterprise Zone and Linn Area Development Corporation
Permission was request for MRPC’s chairman and/or executive director to enter into a contract to provide technical assistance in the preparation of a 501c3 application for the Linn Area development Corporation.
3) Meramec Regional Development Corporation Board Appointments
Nominations to the Meramec Regional Development Corporation (MRDC) board, which oversees Small Business Administration and Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) loans, are made by the presiding commissioner of the affected county.
• Pulaski County
Bill Ransdall, presiding commissioner, nominated Gerry Lewis from Bank of Crocker, to the MRDC’s board.
Additions
• Dent County
Darrell Skiles, presiding commissioner, nominated Scott Shultz from Progressive Ozark Bank to the MRDC board.
• Osage County
Russell Scheulen, presiding commissioner, nominated Jerry Wolfe to the MRDC board.
No objections were received from MRPC’s board. Therefore, Chairman Reed appointed Mr. Lewis, Mr. Shultz and Mr. Wolfe to the MRDC board.
4). Transportation Advisory Committee Appointments
Nominations to the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) are made by the presiding commissioner of the affected county.
• Maries County
Ray Schwartze, presiding commissioner, nominated Richard Huse to the TAC committee.
• Phelps County
Randy Verkamp, presiding commissioner, nominated Larry Stratman to the TAC committee
Addition
• Dent County
The Dent County Commission nominated Darrell Skiles to represent the county on the Transportation Advisory Commission (TAC).
No objections were received from MRPC’s board. Therefore, Chairman Reed appointed Richard Huse, Larry Stratman and Darrell Skiles to the Transportation Advisory Committee.
Gary Brown made a motion to approve the consent agenda with the additions; seconded by Jim Schatz. The motion carried.
External Relations Committee
Russell Scheulen, committee vice chairman, reported on the activities of the external relations committee as follows:
• The committee reviewed proposed changes to MRPC’s board policies. Copies of the draft proposal were distributed to board members for review. Anyone having comments were urged to contact Bonnie Prigge before MRPC’s May meeting.
• The committee reviewed nominations for the at-large positions of transportation and emergency management on MRPC’s board. The committee recommended the approval of Donald Dodd, editor of the Salem News and a member of TAC, to represent transportation, and Kraig Bone, a MREPC committee member from Washington County, to represent emergency management.
Ed Worley made a motion to approve the recommendation as stated; seconded by Mary Heywood. The motion carried.
• All of the listed officers and at-large members are eligible for re-election for another term. Staff will contact all of them to see if they are willing to serve. A slate will be presented for board approval at the May meeting.
Presentation on the Homeland Security Advisory Committee and Grant Projects in Region I
Tammy Snodgrass made a powerpoint presentation on the activities of the Region I Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSOC).
In July 2006, the Missouri Department of Homeland Security (MDHS) contracted with nine regional planning commissions across the state to implement regional homeland security planning and administer homeland security grant funds in those respective regions.
The regional boundaries are based on Highway Patrol regions, not regional planning commission regions. MRPC is responsible for Region I, which includes Crawford, Dent, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Laclede counties. Gasconade and Osage are in Region F and Washington is in Region C. Regionalization means more local control and more local input into decisions made at the state and federal level on homeland security activities.
The HSOC is made up one representative from each of 14 disciplines such as fire departments, police, sheriff, mayor emergency medical, schools, etc. The ex-officials members are from state agencies, highway patrol and RPC director. Bob Hutson of Bourbon chairs the committee.
The purpose of the HSOC is to determine the needs of their planning area and how Homeland Security funds are spent in their region. HSOC also provides input to the governor’s State Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Region I has $577,933 in funding allocations for Homeland Security Grants. The allocation formula was based on the number of counties, population and critical infrastructure and key resources. The committee submitted projects for funding to SEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, which were approved in March and will meet on April 19 on plans to implement the projects.
MRPC’s responsibilities are to provide administration, fiscal support to the HSOC and grant administration, which includes procurement, compliance and reporting. It also assists HSOC in fulfilling its responsibilities. The MRPC board can help by staying informed on HSOC’s activities.
Operations Committee
Jesse Jarvis made a motion to approve the financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2007, which includes MRPC/MRB, MRPC/MRDC-RLF & IRP programs; seconded by Ron Jost. The motion carried.
Linda Loughridge presented a proposed personnel policy change to the “Personal Use of Company Property” section of MRPC’s personnel policies. The proposed change adds what would be acceptable and unacceptable use of the Internet by staff.
Jim Schatz made a motion to approve the proposed personnel policy change; seconded by Paul Smith. The motion carried.
Linda Loughridge reported, that every three to four years, staff conducts a salary comparison of the positions at MRPC in order to keep its salaries competitive to attract and retain qualified personnel. Each position was compared with the positions listed with State Office of Administration, UMR, other regional planning commissions and organizations with positions similar to MRPC.
MRPC’s salary schedule has a minimum, mid-point and maximum range for each position. The comparison resulted in an overall 7.13 percent increase in minimum starting salaries. However, this does not mean everyone will get a raise. It will only be used as guideline for hiring new employees. Most of the salaries were in line with the salary rate for the area, but there were a few in the higher paid salaries that were low. The range for a couple of positions were too high.
Paul Smith made a motion to approve the proposed salary schedule; seconded by Jesse Jarvis. The motion carried.
Planning Committee
John Petersen reported the main discussion of the planning committee was the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative. If passed into law, the initiative does four things:
1) It provides a one-time infusion of approximately $350 million for capital improvement projects at Missouri’s higher education institutions and a fund to facilitate and accelerate commercialization of technology companies.
2) It will allow MOHELA to more predictably borrow on a tax-exempt basis to benefit Missouri students.
3) It commits $25 million in new General Revenue for Missouri’s under-funded scholarship programs.
4) It commits $60 million in new General Revenue for improvements to Missouri’s Federally Qualified Health Centers.
If made into law, two colleges in the Meramec Region would benefit. UMR and Linn State Technical College would each receive about $15 million in funding. UMR could finish the construction of a three-story addition to Toomey Hall, and Linn Tech could build its Vehicle and Power Center.
At the recommendation of the planning committee, John Petersen made a motion to approve a draft resolution in support of Senate Bill 369, specifically the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, to be sent to the state legislators for the Meramec Region; seconded by Paul Smith. The motion carried.
Grant Update
Amy McMillen gave a grant report as follows:
Upcoming Deadlines:
• MoDOT Transportation Enhancements: Matching grants for transportation-related projects. Minimum grant of $25,000/Maximum $500,000.
Deadline for District 5 is May 15. Deadline for District 9 is June 15.
• CDBG: All categories are open year round. Applications will be accepted beginning April 1 for community facilities, public needs, downtown revitalization, water and wastewater, etc.
Applications in Process
• Dixon Area Caring Center – NAP
NAP credits to acquire and renovate Town and County building into a caring center.
• Eden Heritage, Maries Manor – NAP
NAP credits to provide outpatient rehab, respite care, caregiver training and support groups for caregivers.
• Hermann Cheese Factory – Industrial Infrastructure.
Currently, this project is in the planning phase. Looking at adding 10-14 jobs and will be applying for $100,000–150,000 for road and storm drainage improvements.
• Newburg Fire Station – CDBG
Construct a new fire station.
• Bourbon Fire Station–CDBG
Construct a new fire station, beginning planning stages.
• Sullivan Demolition–CDBG
$125,000 to demolish blighted residential/commercial structures in town.
• Assistance to Firefighter Grants (total of 5)
Doolittle
Freeburg (two separate applications)
Rolla Fire & Rescue
Meta
• USDA Loan Guarantee applications for Good Samaritan Resource Center—Genesis Woman’s Shelter.
• Missouri Department of Economic Development Enhanced Enterprise Zone for Crawford County including the cities of Cuba, Bourbon and village of Leasburg.
Recently Submitted applications
• St. James Industrial Infrastructure – the total project is approximately $4 million with $200,000 in grant money to provide infrastructure improvements to the St. James Industrial Park.
• Potosi DRA for industrial/infrastructure improvements for water and sewer line.
ª St. James Caring Center – Neighborhood Assistance Program through DED. NAP tax credits for $364,000 to acquire triplex and property to expand/improve services.
• Crawford County Foundation for the All Aboard Learning Center Neighborhood Assistance program NAP Tax Credits for $500,000.
• Village of Leasburg for $298,000 CDBG Community Facility grant to construct a new firehouse.
• Osage County for the Osage County Community Living, Inc. – total project for $610,000 ($300,000 in grant money) CDBG Community Facility grant to construct a new Ability Center, which will provide services for those with mental and physical development disabilities.
Grant Awards: There were no awards to officially report this month.
Environmental Report
Tammy Snodgrass reported on environmental department update as follows:
• Staff testified at the public hearing last week and sent a letter to the area Missouri Department of Natural Resources ombudsman to allow more time for editing the draft rules and regulations being drafted by DNR that will affect the solid waste districts.
• Chemlab cleanups have been completed at five schools.
• Staff has selected Stan Slaughter, an environmental educator, to do programs in seven schools in the region. Plans are to schedule those programs for the fall of 2007.
• Staff has been working with UMR on Earth Day celebration activities, as well as the poster and trash art contest. Staff is in the process of collecting entries. Judging will be done on April 16 at noon at MRPC.
• Staff met with DNR staff and trained on the use of Ozark River’s new surveillance camera.
• The next meeting of the MREPC will be April 25 at noon.
• CERT trainings will be held in St. James on April 26-28 and in Rolla on May 10-12.
• Staff is working on analyzing the data and writing the final report and how-to-manual for the 604b Wastewater Treatment Assessment Grant.
• The next meeting of the Homeland Security Oversight Committee (HSOC) is scheduled for April 19 at 2 p.m. at MRPC. Preceding the meeting, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., will be the SEMA area coordinator’s quarterly meeting. The Homeland Security response team from Rolla will be providing a presentation on how they handled an alleged WMD incident with a UMR student.
• Staff is working with the Phelps/Maries County Health Department on a tabletop exercise on pandemic flu for all of Region I.
• The city of Rolla will be hosting an electronics waste collection on April 21 at the Rolla Recycling Center from 8-12. There is a fee of $5 for televisions and computer monitors. Other electronics waste will be accepted at no charge.
Business Loans
Tom Klebba reported on business loan activities as follows:
• The next scheduled meeting of the MRDC is for May 17 at noon.
• The MRDC’s Partner of the Year Committee met on April 9 at MRPC to discuss the criteria that will be used for the selection process of this annual award.
• Currently, the business loans department is working on closing one SBA 504 loan located in Boone County. This loan will be closing in April and funded in May. There are four IRP and five EDA/RLF loans that are in process. The MRDC loan review committee will be meeting on April 25 to review two new SBA 504 loans for small businesses located in Phelps and Boone counties. The committee will also be reviewing an RLF/IRP loan request for a small business located in Washington County.
• George Gruendel and Larry Salveter have resigned their membership with the MRDC board due to other obligations. The MRDC board is seeking two representatives from Dent County and one representative from Osage County.
Transportation Advisory Committee
The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) met on April 12. Gary Brown, co-chairman from District 9, reported on the meeting as follows.
• Russell Scheulen, of Osage County, was elected co-chairman for District 9.
• Machelle Watkins, MoDOT transportation planning director, presented information on the statewide major priorities process. She noted that transportation partners across the state will be asked to identify and prioritize projects they would like to see completed, if additional transportation funding becomes available.
• Jay Gourley reported that the city of Hermann wishes to apply for an Enhancement Grant for sidewalks for the schools. He presented handouts on the proposed project, which is in District 5.
• Gary Brown stated the importance in working to get transportation needs met in Districts 5 and 9.
MCEC
Connie Willman reported that the Meramec Regional Enhancement Corporation met on March 13. At that meeting, Bonnie Prigge reported that MRPC has submitted two Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing grant applications. One was for Cuba Retirement Homes and the other one was for Leasburg Senior Citizens Home Inc. This is housing for the elderly that was formerly financed through USDA Rural Development.
Ms. Willman further reported that publicity has started on the Fort Wood Transit project. Amy McMillen, new staff member, was introduced to the MCEC board. The next MCEC meeting will be held on June 12.
Director’s Report
Richard Cavender reported as follows:
• Sympathy was extended to Jay Gourley on the recent passing of his wife, Debbie.
• On April 13 at 8:10 a.m., MRPC’s monthly radio program on KUMR will feature information on Earth Day activities by Tammy Snodgrass and Brady Wilson. Nick Barrack, from USA tours, will provide information on the new Fort Leonard Wood to Rolla/Lebanon transit program.
• As in past years, the chairman and executive director went to NADO’s Washington Policy Conference in March. They hand-delivered the legislative priorities to the region’s federal legislators. Marcus Maggard accompanied them on the trip at his own expense. Mr. Cavender noted that the sessions were informative. They visited with Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Sen. Kit Bond and the staffs of Rep. Skelton and Rep. Hulshof. Sen. Claire McCaskill was in the process of moving to another office and could not meet with them.
Phelps County Sesquicentennial
Bonnie Prigge reported that Phelps County’s sesquicentennial celebration will be held on June 2, and that tee shirts are for sale at Leo Cardetti’s and the Visitors Center for $10 each.
Adjourn
Paul Smith made a motion to adjourn at 8:55 p.m.; seconded by Jim Schatz. The motion carried.
____________________________________
Bob Reed, Chairman
____________________________________
Russell Scheulen, Secretary