Cape County commissioners approve request to advertise for digitizing records

In anticipation of digital imaging service vendors possibly being booked for several years, Cape Girardeau County commissioners approved a request from the Recorder of Deeds' Office to advertise for digitization of records.

Cape Girardeau County Recorder of Deeds Drew Blattner told commissioners Monday morning he'd heard reports other counties were planning to use some of their allotted COVID-19 relief funding toward digitizing records, which could cause vendors to be booked for several years.

"I'm concerned because I was planning on trying to get all the rest of the loose-leaf documents that are over at the archive imaged this year," Blattner said. "I was going to wait to do this until later in the year, but with our vendors anticipating being booked up, I'd like to lock them down first and we have the money to do so now."

Blattner said the estimated cost would be $81,587, which would come out of the recorder's budget.

The project, Blattner said, would include going through and cleaning up early loose-leaf marriage records from the 1790s through the 1890s, creating digital images for records from approximately 1895 through the early 1940s, importing a segment of records from 1968 through 1973 and cleaning up some original deeds from the early 1800s.

"This is not so much for the preservation of records, but for public access," Blattner said.

In other business Monday, commissioners:

• Approved a four-year contract with Wood & Huston Bank to provide depository services for the county.
• Approved a bid from Apex Paving Co. for $1,598,831.25 for plant mix bituminous paving.
• Approved a motion authorizing the county clerk to sign an agreement to move forward in the State of Missouri's election security policy and plan creation agreement between cyber defenses and local election authorities.
• Approved issuance of bonds not to exceed $70 million from the Industrial Development Authority of The County of Cape Girardeau to assist with the building of SoutheastHEALTH's new West Campus.