Brisk business as Cape Girardeau county commissioners regroup

Despite a somewhat subdued mood, Cape Girardeau County's three commissioners efficiently worked through the agenda at Monday's meeting.

It was the first full board meeting since the county's prosecuting attorney called for Missouri's attorney general to send a special prosecutor to investigate 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell, and Purcell responded by suing the body of the county commission for violations of Missouri's open meetings and records act, also called the Sunshine Law.

Without mentioning any of the pending legal action, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, Purcell and 1st District Commissioner Larry Bock unanimously agreed to the following items:

• Spending $22,290 for a combination generator and light plant that can provide power to the county's emergency operations center and information technology department during a disaster. It can also be used to light nighttime car accident rescue operations, according to Dick Knaup, the county's emergency operations director.
• Approved McCormick Tire Brokers as the contractor for today's scrap tire collection. Robb McClary, assistant to the commission, said as many as 8,000 tires may be collected, but since this is a first-time project, is was impossible to predict how many tires would be dropped off. He said if fewer than 8,000 tires were collected, the county could offer a second collection date.
• Approved right-of-ways signed for construction of the Blue Shawnee Creek bridge at County Road 524, a MoDOT-funded project.
• Approved additional software for the county collector's office that will improve efficiencies. The county will spend a total of $220,000 for the package, of which $155,840 is already paid, according to Collector Diane Diebold. She said the software will connect her office records to those of the assessor's and recorder of deeds' offices.

In the last item on the agenda, Purcell asked for the other two commissioners' approval to make some suggestions at a future meeting to revamp the agenda. Purcell praised the commissioners' administrative assistant, Donna Oldham, for her initiative in broadening entries to include specifics on presentations, but suggested more could be done.

"There are ways of improving things," Jones said. "But I'm not interested in hamstringing government."

Jones said he would like to see bids grouped together, so the commissioners can review them as a category, rather than having them listed as separate, nonconsecutive items.

The commissioners also approved a donation from the city of Jackson, which is giving the county 14 boxes of surplus computer paper with an estimated total value of $500. Each box holds 2,500 sheets of 15-by-11-inch paper.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

Jay Purcell suggests guidelines for agendas

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