MOUNT VERNON — On Monday morning, the Knox County Board of Commissioners had a meeting with Emily Marth, safety, loss-control and HR coordinator. Marth had several updates to report, ranging from the fairgrounds fire preparedness to workers’ compensation for the county.
Marth reported that she recently met with Mount Vernon Assistant Fire Chief Chris Menapace at the fairgrounds, and that save for some “minor tweaks,” the location is ready to host the fair next week. She said she will participate in a final walkthrough of the fairgrounds on Friday.
Marth said that for the current year, there have been only seven workers’ compensation claims filed for county employees. In addition, said Marth, there has been no lost work time due to workers’ comp filings. The commissioners and Marth discussed the prospect of using a different formula for workers’ comp among county employees, a formula which would require departments that file more claims pay more into the workers’ comp fund. No decisions were made. Marth said she would look into the matter further and contact other counties who use different workers’ compensation formulas for more information.
Another topic was records retention. Marth said she and recorder John Lybarger are in the process of trying to work out an electronic file storage and retention system for the county, and that other county offices would be looking to the commissioners to lead in the process. Rochelle Shackle, clerk-administrator for the commissioners, said the matter was before the data board, and the commissioners were waiting to hear back from the board regarding the issue.
The commissioners went into executive session to discuss personnel with Marth. There was no action taken after the closed session.
On Monday afternoon, the commissioners opened bids for reconstruction of the cupola on top of the Memorial Building on East High Street. The bids were for reconstruction of the current structure, with one alternate to replace the copper roof and a second alternate to replace the structure with one made of prefabricated aluminum, copper roof included. The estimated cost of the project presented to the commissioners was $175,000.
Commissioner Bob Wise read the bids, which ranged from $142,200 to $214,000 for reconstruction of the structure. All of the bids except one had a higher cost for replacing the current structure with a prefabricated one. After the bids were read, they were given to Paul Mullins of MKC Associates for further review. Mullins said he hoped his firm could render a recommendation by late this week or early next week.
Also in the afternoon, the commissioners met with Audrey Sammetinger of Centerburg to discuss the cat shelter situation for the county and whether it would be possible to improve it. Sammetinger emphasized her love for cats, and said she would be willing to support the humane society’s efforts to care for cats in the county.
Stockberger said it would be wise for Sammetinger to alter her will in order to reflect her desire to support the humane society and its efforts to care for cats in the county. Stockberger also said the commissioners would continue to support the humane society and its efforts.
