County OKs extra sheriff’s deputy
by Patty Cheffey
While the budget is still in the works, one thing is certain for 2021, the Sheriff’s Department will be getting a new deputy.
The Marion County Commission approved the hiring of an additional deputy during Monday’s commission meeting, at which they also discussed soft match for hard match trade for bridge projects.
County Clerk Valerie Dornberger said Sheriff Jimmy Shinn had asked her if the commissioners had approved him hiring a new deputy while discussing his budget.
Although they did approve the new deputy, how much the sheriff’s department employees and all county employees will make is still dependent on the budget.
The commissioners were planning to continue discussion about the budget this week.
In other business, the commissioners and Teya Stice, county improvement coordinator, discussed which counties to contact about trading some of Marion County’s soft match funds for hard match cash.
At least two counties stood out, Benton and Harrison, as they have a large amount of hard match funds, but are almost out of soft match funds.
Stice said she plans to contact Harrison County first to see what kind of trade they will do.
Western District Commissioner Steve Begley asked her to try to get a two for one trade.
Exactly how much soft match Marion County will trade depends on the deal they can get, Begley said.
Stice also reported she will contact Matt Walker with Poepping, Stone, Bach and Associates this week to get an update on the County Road 402 bridge.
She further reported she had gotten final requests from the city of Hannibal and from Hannibal Regional for CARES Act funds, which have already been allotted.
Stice noted she is waiting on receipts from Hannibal Regional before sending out those funds.
The commissioners also approved the contract with Ivan Schroeder, an attorney, for $1,200 a year for legal advice. That is the same amount as was approved last year.
Dornberger also reported the IRS mileage dropped to 56 cents a mile for 2021.
