Commission Appoints COVID-19 Task Force

The Grundy County Commission has named three county residents to a task force to help determine distribution of CARES Act funding.
Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray said Elizabeth Gibson, administrator of the Grundy County Health Department; Glen Briggs, county emergency management director; and Dr. Lenny Klaver, president of North Central Missouri College, have been appointed to serve on the COVID-19 Task Force, with two other members to be announced once their appointments are confirmed. Working in conjunction with the commission, the task force will help determine needs of the various taxing entities within the county and determine how best to utilize up to $1,155,602 in funding the county has received through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. The funds can be used to cover costs that are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19; were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020; and were incurred during the period of March 1 through Dec. 30, 2020.
Documentation of the expenditures must be maintained and the funds cannot be used as a revenue replacement for lower than expected revenue collections. In addition, the funds cannot be used for expenditures for which a local government entity has received any other emergency COVID-19 supplemental funding, whether that funding is state, federal or private in nature, for that same expense.
Applications for the funding will be accepted through Nov. 17 for review, with funding decisions to be approved by Dec. 15 and funds distributed by Dec. 30.
In other business from Tuesday’s meeting, the commission heard a report of repairs being made to a tube on SW Fir Lane, which was displaced by heavy rain on May 14. Residents from the northeast part of the county also were in to speak with the commission concerning a low water crossing on NE 70th Street, with that issue added to the road and bridge list of projects.
Briggs reported that new 911 radio equipment has been installed in ambulances and the county was not a recipient of the Emergency Management Performance Grant, which was funded by the Department of Homeland Security.
Michael Marriott with the Missouri Department of Transportation, met with the commission by phone, giving an update on the Highway 6 paving project. Sidewalk and utility work is being done within the city as part of a resurfacing project that will extend from Trenton to I-35.
The commission also heard a report from Ms. Gibson, who said there are still no confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grundy County.
The agenda for the Tuesday, May 26 meeting of the commission includes a road and bridge update at 8:30 a.m., followed by an emergency management report at 9 a.m. and a report from Ambulance Director Steve Tracy at 10 a.m. The health department report will be presented at 10:45 a.m.