Cole County commissioners used Tuesday’s meeting to approve several administrative items and agreements and to handle routine county business following extended public comment on the Wren trust.

Key votes at a glance

- Parks pet-leash and waste ordinance: Commissioners approved a new ordinance requiring pets in county parks to be under immediate control or on a leash except in clearly marked off-leash areas; the prior animal-waste ordinance was rescinded. Staff said the new rules will be implemented through park signage and administration.

- Appointment: Bradley Kellerman was appointed to the Cole County Parks Committee to fill a recent vacancy.

- Conservation cost-share agreement: The commission approved a cost-share agreement with the Missouri Department of Conservation to reimburse rock placed on access roads to conservation areas; staff reported a not-to-exceed reimbursement total of $29,025 on a reimbursement basis.

- Towing and storage contract: Discussion of a bid for towing and storage flagged unusual language in the solicitation that counsel and the prosecutor said could be construed as a bribe. Commissioners voted to table the award until Jan. 27 so counsel and proponents can attend and the county can clarify procurement/legal questions.

- Assessor error-and-omission abatement: The assessor requested and commissioners approved an abatement of the 2025 real estate tax bill for a parcel where a cell tower was removed (parcel listed as 12000 Dunantin Road); staff verified the tower was removed in 2024.

Background details and figures: Staff said the county’s parks sales-tax funding for capital improvements is on a cycle and previously authorized funds had been expended; a commissioner described a rough phase-one park estimate of about $220,000 if the county chose to develop the Wren property. The Missouri Department of Conservation cost-share agreement covers reimbursements for rock placed on access roads to conservation properties with a potential maximum of $29,025.

What’s next: Staff will publish ordinance text and update park signage, notify the newly appointed parks committee member, submit reimbursement paperwork to the Department of Conservation as required, and prepare for the Jan. 27 discussion of the towing award. The assessor and taxing authorities will complete the abatement paperwork.