MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Board of Commissioners met with employees of the Department of Jobs & Family Services on Monday to open bids, and also with Roger Shooter, director of the department, to hear reports from his office.
Bob Wise, president of the board of commissioners, opened bids for automotive care as part of the Prevention, Retention and Contingence program. Part of the program funds automotive repair in order for county residents who meet certain income requirements to remain a viable part of the county work force. The quotes were submitted by Details Unlimited Auto Care, Firestone, Blubaugh Body & Frame, Mulisano Motor Works and NAPA. The Department of Jobs & Family Services advertised for quotes on the following repair items: Price of labor per hour, price for parts, towing, alignment, repair estimates, analysis and warranty.
After all of the bids were opened, Shooter said that all of the numbers will be crunched on computers in order to fully calculate the bids. Decisions regarding the bids will be rendered on or before July 1, which is the beginning of the new term for the PRC program.
Shooter reported his department is expecting to receive approximately $1,750 for workforce development, and he would like to use this extra money to hold a job fair in the county.
In addition, Shooter told the commissioners that his department, which has 43 employees, has nearly completed six months without any sick leave being taken. Commissioner Allen Stockberger noted that Shooter has been working diligently to combat sick leave abuse by the employees of the J&FSD for several years, and commended Shooter for his work in this area.
The last item Shooter reported on was the nonemergency transportation program. According to Shooter, the program is funded by Medicaid; J&FSD issues gas vouchers to eligible residents of Knox County. These gas vouchers can be redeemed at participating gas stations throughout the county. Shooter said his department is working to expand the program to include more gas stations that participate.
For their first meeting of the afternoon, the commissioners met with Ron Simpson, superintendent of the water and wastewater department.
One item discussed was the choice for an engineering firm to complete a wastewater plant survey for the plant near Howard. During discussion, two of the four estimates were discarded due to their price. Estimates from Poggemeyer Design Group, and ADR and Associates elicited further discussion. Although the estimate from Poggemeyer initially seemed the lower of the two, Stockberger speculated that because ADR and Associates is involved with a substantial amount of work for the county for the de-centralized sewer project, which may receive grant funding, ADR and Associates might be the cheaper firm.
Meetings with Poggemeyer and ADR will be scheduled, preferably on the same day, in order for the commissioners to learn more about the estimate from each firm.
Simpson also brought up the topic of attending a convention in Las Vegas in October. The convention, according to Simpson, is sponsored by Sensus Metering Systems. Simpson said that in the future, if funding permits, he would like to have these installed throughout the county, and this convention would be very informational for him. Stockberger said he had never heard of one company holding its own convention, but told Simpson that he had the support of the board to attend the event. Simpson estimated the total cost of the convention to be approximately $1,225.
The final item discussed was a wage increase for employees of the water and wastewater department who have recently received wastewater operator’s licenses. Commissioner Tom McLarnan moved for the meeting to go into executive session; no action was taken after returning from executive session.
The commissioners met with Mike Smith and Cale Grubb of the Fredericktown Tomato Show. Smith reported that electrical upgrades were needed in order for the Tomato Show to operate safely this year, but that because of inclement weather during last year’s event, they were not able to hold the plate auction, which generally brings in a lot of funds. Currently, there is a shortfall of $4,917 that is needed to complete the required upgrades.
McLarnan initially made a motion to grant the full amount, but after some discussion, $3,200 was approved by the board. Smith and Grubb agreed to seek alternate sources of funding for the remaining amount.
