County accepts vehicle financing bid, discusses courthouse stair replacement

During their regular weekly meeting Monday morning, the Ozark County Commissioners opened bids for financing of an Ozark County Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle, the upcoming planned removal of the concrete handicap ramp and stairs on the east and west main entrances of the courthouse and a project to reconstruct the entrances and handicap accessible entrance at the basement level of the southeast corner of the building. 

Bid financing

Presiding Commissioner Terry Newton said that Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin found a 2020 Ford Explorer that was a former Missouri State Highway Patrol vehicle for sale with mileage just under 65,000 miles to replace a vehicle the OCSD has now that has had transmission trouble. To purchase the vehicle and outfit it for law enforcement use will cost $38,800. The county accepted sealed bids for financing of that amount, and two bids were submitted.

The first bid opened Monday was from Southern Bank who bid a 4-year fixed loan at 6.18 percent or a 5-year fixed loan at 6.39 percent. A representative of the bank was at the meeting for the bid opening. A second bid was opened from FMDC for a 5-year fixed loan at 6.456 percent. 

“We’ve done business with them before, and they’re less money. I make a motion to accept Southern Bank’s bid on financing,” Western Commissioner Layne Nance said. Eastern District Commissioner Gary Collins seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. The county opted for the 4-year fixed loan option. 

Martin said it was difficult to find a vehicle to purchase, and options were limited. 

Courthouse and jail work

Newton gave an update on other projects that are in the works. The county is in the process of replacing the heating and cooling systems in the courthouse and re-roofing of the Ozark County Jail. 

When the roofing crew is at a good point in their work at the jail, the HVAC company will then move to the sheriff’s department to install a new system there. 

Removal and replacement

“We need to set a date to open bids for redoing the steps and handicap walkway at the courthouse,” Newton said at the meeting. 

Newton explained that the project includes replacing both sets of concrete steps on the east and west sides of the courthouse due to deterioration. They will also replace the concrete handicap accessible walkway with a covered one to the basement after an engineering firm inspected the ramp on the west side and found that it was non-compliant as an ADA-accessible entrance for multiple reasons. Although handrails aren’t required, Newton said he thinks it’s a good idea to add handrails to at least one side of the basement handicap entrance for safety reasons. They hope to be able to use the current handrails on the long handicap ramp that is to be removed on the west side of the courthouse for the basement entrance or in the roofing process of that entrance.

The cost of the removal of the stairs is below the threshold of what is legally required for sealed bids; however, the replacement project will be put out for bids. The commissioners will accept sealed bids for the replacement project through July 10. They will open bids at the meeting that morning. A formal bid request will run in the legal section of an upcoming edition of the Times. 

Workers will do the work on each side of the courthouse stairs respectively, so that the courthouse is accessible at all times. Commissioners are hopeful that the work on the handicap walkway will be able to do over the weekend, so the handicap entrance is open during open hours. 

Meeting change

The commissioners office and other courthouse offices will be closed next Monday, June 19, for the  Juneteenth holiday. They will hold their meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 20, at their upstairs office in the Ozark County Courthouse. Meetings are open to the public.