Cape Girardeau County Commission approves payment for rental truck damages

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify statements made by Clint Tracy regarding personal sick days.

At its Thursday meeting, the Cape Girardeau County Commission approved $516.63 to be paid from general revenue to cover the cost of damages to two rental trucks used during the April election.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said her office rents trucks every election to haul voting booths, ballot boxes and other supplies to each voting location. The trucks were also used to move other materials during the rental period.

Four trucks were rented from Penske and two suffered damages. One truck's windshield was struck by a rock and another truck's mirrors hit a Southeast Missouri State University bus on Broadway.

Summers said the accidents were not the fault of the drivers. Insurance was purchased for the vehicles with a deductible of $1,000.

The clerk's office does not set a budget for the April elections, and costs are charged back to municipalities. The incidents should not be charged to municipalities, she said.

"It was an accident, and the county should be liable," she said.

In other business

* A purchase order of $9,252.44 was approved to Drury Development Corp. for the Kohl's Agreement first-quarter sales tax.

* A purchase order of $1,011.86 was approved to UMB Bank for the Town Plaza Project fourth-quarter sales tax.

* A grant was received from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for $9,145.19, and will be distributed to Nell Holcomb School for $1,410.48, the Leopold School District for $5,203.78, the city of Cape Girardeau for $1,094.12 and to Cape Girardeau County for $1,436.81. The funds will be used for lighting, window replacements and other energy-efficient usages.

* A motion passed to accept a bid of $42.47 for bands and $13,330.46 for pipe for the purchase of culvert pipe from Contech Construction Products of Sikeston, Mo.

* Paul Suhr was appointed to the Cape Girardeau County Road and Bridge Advisory Board to fill the vacant Whitewater Township position.

* A motion carried to eliminate the Cape Girardeau County Shared Sick Leave Program, which allows employees to provide additional paid leave to their co-workers who are without any remaining available time due to a personal illness or injury to themselves or their spouse or child. Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said the personal sick day policy is still in effect but is being reviewed.

* A motion passed to rescind the a resolution involving employees' compensation reimbursements and adopt workers' compensation procedures as the new policy.

* Requests for proposals were accepted and referred to Don McQuay, Cape Girardeau County public works director, for the roof replacement of the Jackson Courthouse from Pyramid Roofing Co. of Sikeston, Mo., and Drury Co. of Cape Girardeau.

* A motion passed to accept bids for railroad tank cars to be used as culverts.

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