The Atchison County Commission met Thursday, January 19, 2023. Present were: Presiding Commissioner Curtis Livengood, South District Commissioner Richard Burke, North District Commissioner Jim Quimby, and Susette Taylor, Clerk of the Commission.
Presiding Commissioner Livengood called the meeting to order.
Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
Bills were reviewed and approved.
Month-end department reports were reviewed and approved.
The commission reviewed the updated details for the new voice over IP phone system for the courthouse. Midwest Data Center reported that due to going with a different system the new monthly charges would be lower than originally stated. Overall monthly charges will be much lower with the new system and allow for many new features. Presiding Commissioner Livengood signed the agreement and installation should be completed by March 1.
Clerk Taylor reported that cybersecurity training was moved to January 27 in Maryville due to expected weather.
The commissioners reviewed and signed the intergovernmental agreements with Tarkio and Phelps City Special Road Districts for 2023. Both districts apply their own rock to their miles of road.
Collector Diane Livengood was in to report on the 2022 tax collections.
There being no further business, the commission adjourned.
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The Atchison County Commission met Tuesday, January 24th, 2023. Present were: Presiding Commissioner Curtis Livengood, South District Commissioner Richard Burke, North District Commissioner Jim Quimby, and Susette Taylor, Clerk of the Commission.
Presiding Commissioner Livengood called the meeting to order.
Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
Bills were reviewed and approved.
Road and Bridge Supervisor Kamron Woodring met with the commission to forward information from Amy Dowis with the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments about the current status of the Reconnecting Communities Grant application and a new grant opportunity called RAISE.
Amy Dowis shared the following: “As you remember we submitted a Reconnecting Communities planning grant on behalf of Atchison County for a bridge replacement project back in October of 2022. We had hoped to know if those grants were funded before another opportunity came out to apply for. However, that didn’t happen. The 2023 round of RAISE is open, and it has funds earmarked for planning grants as well. The deadline to apply is February 28, 2023. I have reached out to our federal highway contact and federal legislators to try and get information on a Reconnecting award announcement date or information as to whether the grants submitted from our five counties will be awarded Reconnecting funds. The latest I’ve heard is that the Reconnecting awards won’t be announced prior to the RAISE application deadline.
“After reviewing the RAISE NOFO, I wanted to reach out to the four counties who have planning grants in for bridge replacement projects for the Reconnecting grant to see if you would be ok with us tweaking those applications to make them fit the RAISE criteria for submission for a RAISE Planning Grant? We are proposing joining the four individual county applications into one regional application to give us more leverage and hopefully increase our chances on being awarded RAISE funds. Obviously, the choice is up to each county.
“The biggest thing about RAISE grants is that they don’t require a match for rural projects, so that’s a pretty good incentive to move forward on any projects we have that might fit the requirements.”
After reviewing the options presented by the Regional Council and discussion, voted to have Amy Dowis tweak the county’s Reconnecting Communities application to be part of a regional/four-county bridge application for RAISE.
In follow-up Supervisor Woodring stated that if we do get funded by the Reconnecting Communities grant, we will withdraw from the RAISE planning grant. But if the Reconnecting Communities grant does not come through then we will continue with the RAISE grant process. He will notify Amy Dowis of the commission’s decision.
Rhonda Wiley, E-911/Emergency Management Director, was in to visit with the commission about final upgrades to the 911 office to allow for greater social distancing within the office. The commission requested that she get an estimate for the remaining work and come back before a decision is made.
There being no further business, the commission adjourned.
