Cass County Commission approves arbitrage review, impact-mailing contract and two bridge work orders

At a Cass County Commission meeting, commissioners approved four resolutions to hire consultants and contractors for a bond compliance review, a mass mailing of property impact notices and engineering work on two local bridges.

The commission voted unanimously on a resolution authorizing the Cass County Treasurer's Office to engage Gilmore & Bell to perform a required arbitrage (tax compliance) analysis related to the county's 2020 general obligation refunding and improvement bonds, series 2020A. Treasurer Steve explained the purpose of the analysis and the financial context: "At the time, the interest rate that we were receiving was literally point 12%." He said banking benchmark rates have risen to around 5%, and the five-year arbitrage review will determine whether the county earned more interest on invested bond proceeds than allowed and whether any rebate to the federal government is required.

The report to be produced by Gilmore & Bell will quantify any arbitrage liability; the county will then know whether it must remit an amount back to the federal government. The commission voted 3-0 to approve the contract for the analysis.

The commission also approved a contract to have Edward J. Rice Company print and mail property-impact notices. Roger, a county staff member, described the scope: "It works out to about less than $8.78 cents a letter. So probably send out 45,000 impact notices." The commission approved that contract 3-0.

Road and bridge work were the other two items the commission approved. Director Jones described a work order with Great River Engineering to prepare shop drawings, permitting and environmental/wildlife permitting tasks for replacement of the Camp Branch bridge (structure ID referenced in the work order). Director Jones said Great River will handle permitting and watershed studies and that the county expects coordination with MoDOT for soft-match funding because the county will perform the replacement in-house. The commission approved that work order 3-0.

A second work order with Great River Engineering covers replacement of a narrow wood-deck bridge on Pervis Road (work order number 4493.21). Director Jones said that deck will be replaced in-house and that the structure is not considered an inspectable bridge for additional funding. That work order also passed on a 3-0 vote.

All four resolutions passed by recorded voice vote with three in favor and none opposed. The meeting record shows routine motions and seconds without individual movers or seconders named on the transcript.

Votes at a glance - Resolution 25-38 — Authorize Treasurer to engage Gilmore & Bell for arbitrage/tax compliance analysis related to series 2020A bonds. Vote: 3-0, approved. - Resolution 25-39 — Contract Edward J. Rice Company to mail property impact notices (approx. 45,000 notices; unit price described in meeting). Vote: 3-0, approved. - Resolution 25-40 (listed as "25-4" in the record) — Work order with Great River Engineering for Camp Branch Bridge (work order 4493.2). Vote: 3-0, approved. - Resolution 25-41 — Work order with Great River Engineering for Pervis Road bridge (work order 4493.21). Vote: 3-0, approved.

The meeting proceeded with brief staff explanations and no extended public debate recorded on these items. Commissioners Bob Houston, Mike Moreland and Jeff Fletcher formed the unanimous vote on the items listed above.