Record: 7-30
COMMISSION MINUTES
The Nodaway County Commission met in regular session Tuesday, July 14.
In attendance were Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker, North District Commissioner Chris Burns, South District Commissioner Scott Walk and Melinda Patton, county clerk.
Business before the governing board included:
• Requisitions and approvals: Road and Bridge to Gray Oil & Gasoline Co., Inc. for diesel fuel.
• The commission reviewed the following information: Annual Sales Tax Received reporT. Sales Tax/Use Tax/ Road and Bridge Special Sales Tax/Use Tax report. Emergency Services 911 Sales Tax/Use Tax report. Cintas renewal agreement (see notes). Legal documents from attorney(s).
Quarterly Office Holders – The Commission hosted the quarterly meeting for office holders with the following in attendance: Burns, Walker, Walk, Tina Deiter, Lori Burns, Sally Duff, Rex Wallace, Lisa James, Elaine Wilson, Austin Hann and Patton. The next quarterly meeting will be October 1, 2026. Also in attendance: Geoffrey Woehlk, Maryville Forum, Mike Wilson, Scott Wilson, Rena Puckett, Rhonda Beattie, Linda Hayden, Sharon Hayden, Nina Wiederholt, Kim Swyers, Tim Schaer, Amy Zeigler, Bryce Howard, Dustin Skoglund, Kim Mildward and Josh McKim, both with Nodaway County Economic Development (NCED).
-Wallace shared that Nodaway County will not have any Board of Equalization (BOE) hearings for 2026. The Assessor’s office has completed numbers and turned over Form 11 information to the County Clerk. Wallace stated his office is back to fully staffed with the hiring of Danielle Johnson. Wallace, who serves on the Nodaway County Fair Board, stated the fair went very smoothly.
-Hann reiterated that the fair went well from the law enforcement side of things. Lindsey Aley, new jail administrator has been hired and is working well, implemented some new processes for staff and inmates. Jail inmate population is currently sitting at 19 inmates, with many needing a lot of medical. The medical line item in the budget is concerning. The jail and sheriff’s department have several openings (deputy, cook and jailer positions). One employee is currently attending the academy. Hann has applied for the Deputy Sheriff Supplemental grant and if approved it should provide an additional $3,000 per deputy annually. The Blue Shield grant was approved although the amount is lower this year as word has gotten out about the grant.
-L. Burns reported that she currently has 62 wards. Burns shared her appreciation for Judge Robert Rice being so easy to work with in situations involving the Public Administrator duties Judge Rice understands that the Public Administrator is not just someone to throw cases at because that is easiest and he evaluates each situation to do what is best and right for each individual case.
-James shared a press release regarding Senate Bill 938 and talked about the fee changes. She will be emailing Maryville Forum, county financial institutions, law offices and other entities that record in our office to update them on the information. The new scanner is up and running. The recorder’s office has scanned six books already, with plans to scan all the way back to book 1 (1845).
-Wilson stated they had a larger number of protection orders keeping her office busy, but otherwise business as normal.
-Duff’s office has wrapped up the Senior Tax Credit renewal and application process. 124 new applicants applied, bringing the total number in the program to 1261. The tax sale is scheduled for August 24th and we currently have 66 parcels as of July 14. Duff requested assistance posting signs this year instead of hiring out like last year. Hann volunteered his department to assist with this process. Duff’s office is also reviewing numbers or State & Local Assessed Railroad and Utilities the County Clerk’s office has entered.
-Deiter shared numbers with those present. Her office has charged 236 defendants in 330 criminal counts, disposed of 249 cases, seated a grand jury two times with that grand jury returning felony indictments on 23 separate individuals. Deiter currently has 15 cases set for jury trial between now and April 2027. Deiter also shared that her office had a trial on Friday where the defendant was found guilty of Possession of Child Porn, sentencing will be set by the court in September.
-Patton reported that her office is busy prepping for the August Primary Election. Election Judge training is being conducted this week and a portion of next week for those already scheduled to work. Patton shared that they continue to have difficulty in filling all the election worker seats for their 17 precincts each election and will have to consider consolidating precincts in the future. Absentee voting has begun in the clerk’s office and No Excuse Absentee Voting starts July 21st. Railroad and Utilities Local and State Assessed Valuations have been entered, with Assessed Valuations (before BOE) being sent out to taxing entities last week. Once the assessor closes his books, Assessed Valuations (after BOE) will be sent out to all taxing entities to begin their process for holding hearings on setting their levies. The county clerk’s office has had multiple Sunshine Request letters coming through that have taken staff time and have been working through the new process for the CART Rock billings.
-Commission shared updates on softmatch bridges: two completed, one BRO bridge beginning in August and four BROs bridges and four softmatch bridges in the planning stages for 2027. The road and bridge crew is doing culvert and tube work throughout the county. The commission has been meeting with the public and with the county’s attorney regarding a proposed data center. A State of Emergency was declared and revisited following severe storms. The commissioners are waiting to hear back on whether the county has hit the threshold for damages. Administration Center’s third-floor conference room is nearly complete, just waiting on the curtain wall to come in and the roof has had some more work done to it. A new camera system is up and running in the courthouse.
• Public Comment – Walker updated the group on the moratorium process. The commissioners met with the attorney in closed session on Thursday to review the document regarding a temporary moratorium within Nodaway County, Missouri. This meeting allowed the commissioners to give feedback and recommend changes they wanted in the document. The commissioners have a follow-up closed session meeting on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. to review suggested changes and any new information they may have after having time to review the documents. If all changes are satisfactory, the commission tentatively plans to share the document with the public on Thursday, July 16th and M. Wilson shared concerns with Chapter 100 bonds and the process involved. S. Wilson has concerns with the amount of natural gas that might be used and the potential rate increases. Schafer questioned whether the commission had seen the Development Agreement yet. The commission responded that they have to do the process one step at a time. The moratorium is their first priority.
• Green Township’s application for road improvement for one mile on Road #346 was approved for work by the commissioners. A call was made to Jeff Meyer, Jackson Township trustee, to discuss 257th Street outside of Ravenwood. Commissioner Burns did some investigation of this street and found it had been deeded to the Township in 2000 by Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).
• Discussed documents from Travelers Insurance on a 2023 Ram 1500. Placed a call to the claims department to discuss, waiting on a call back.
• Brian Engle, road and bridge supervisor met with the commission to give updates on crew activity. Bridge #164 is completed and bridge #367 will be started in early August. The crew has been doing tube work.
• Karl Ritterbusch stopped in to discuss the process for petitioning to have the question on the ballot regarding noxious weeds. 263.255 RSMo was reviewed. An email was sent to Ivan Schraeder to get more guidance on the process.
• The commissioners went into closed session at 1:03 p.m. and back into open session at 2:06 p.m.
• Commissioner Walker made a call to Sleek Creek Heating and Cooling to discuss the air conditioning unit in the county clerk’s office in the Administration Center. Contacted Geist Heating and Cooling regarding the air conditioner at the courthouse. Touched base with Garnett Plumbing to work on the water fountain at the courthouse.
• The commission reviewed documents sent by Dan Scheffler, Vice President of Development with Scale Microgrids. Scheffler shared a Water Strategy Memorandum for White Cloud Acres Campus, a Water Schematic chart, a flyer on Data Center water use and a flyer from Evergy regarding Large Load Power Service.
• Reviewed and signed Reimbursement Request #9 on BRO-R074(004) bridge with Great River Engineering. (Bridge #0530012.) Reviewed and signed the (404 permit) for Authorization to Act as an Agent forms for both BRO-R074(001) and BRO-R074(002) sent by McClure.
The Nodaway County Commission met on Thursday, July 16.
In attendance were Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker, North District Commissioner Chris Burns, South District Commissioner Scott Walk and Melinda Patton, county clerk.
Business before the governing board included:
• Requisitions and approvals: Collector/Treasurer to Devnet for quarterly license fee.
• The commission reviewed the following information: Emails from citizen on proposed data center.
• Public Comment – Walker updated the group on the moratorium process. The Commissioners have received a draft document regarding a temporary moratorium within Nodaway County, Missouri that was shared with those present as well as a press release that was sent to the media. Linda Hayden asked how often the Office Holders meet for updates: Quarterly, next meeting scheduled for October 1 at 8:00 a.m. Susie Strauch reported that she believes positions have been posted on Indeed.com for the data center and questioned why there were people with microphones. Commissioners let the group know that they were likely doing a sound study and they were not aware that jobs were posted. Jennifer Gillespie shared concerns regarding others in the public stating they are in favor of the project. She felt this is a non-partisan issue as well as a globalism issue. Tim Schafer questioned the Commissioners again on the Development Agreement, but they are working through the temporary moratorium process first to seek more information. Donna Tompkins asked for clarification to the tax abatement process. Cindy Roach asked who determines the abatements, which is the Commissioners. Also present: Allee Armitage, Geoffrey Woehlk, Maryville Forum, Josh McKim and Kim Mildward, Nodaway County Economic Development (NCED), Jesse Starke, Sheridan Express, Scott Wilson, Irene Alexander, Dustin Skoglund, Mike Wilson, Amy Ziegler, Bryce Howard, Jeff From, Kim Swyers and Holly Caviness.
• Reviewed the updates to the Road Use Agreement submitted by Travis Elliott, Ellis, Ellis, Hammond and Johnson, P.C. for the Mullin Creek project south of Maryville on Highway 71. After review, the commissioners unanimously agreed to sign off on the document and submit to Andrew Bittner, Kiewit. The agreement was forwarded on to Bittner.
• Reviewed and signed Reimbursement Request #9 on BRO-R074(003) bridge with Great River Engineering. (Bridge #0866002.
• Discussed a claim with Amy Sarrubbo, Travelers Insurance on a 2023 Ram 1500. Sarrubbo requested the county provide comps for the payout price they are requesting. A call was made to Shane Garnett, Garnett Plumbing on a toilet in the Administration Center.
• The commission, along with Brian Engle, road and bridge supervisor, looked at Road #346 in Green Township and a private road off of PP Highway southwest. A call was made to Lisa Linville, Green Township Trustee regarding Road #346.
• Tom Shelton, President of NCED, Josh McKim, Executive Director, and Kim Mildward, Project Manager, met with Nodaway County Commissioners Bill Walker, Scott Walk and Sheriff Hann to discuss the development of a Nodaway County Fairgrounds.
– On Monday, July 13, Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2108/Senate Bill 937, authorizing Northwest Missouri State University to sell approximately 59 acres of property, including the rodeo arena, after August 28, 2026. Passage of the legislation represents a significant milestone toward establishing a permanent fairgrounds and agricultural event venue for Nodaway County.
– The concept of a county fairgrounds has been discussed for many years by NCED, the Nodaway County Commission, and community stakeholders. Most recently, an advisory group was formed to evaluate the feasibility of the project and develop a path forward, with NCED leading the coordination efforts. With the legislation now in place, the County, NCED, or another qualified nonprofit organization may pursue the acquisition of the property.
– Shelton and Mildward have been meeting with representatives of Northwest Missouri State University to negotiate the terms of an initial purchase option. Later this month, representatives from the University, the Commissioners, Shelton, and Mildward are expected to meet to finalize the proposed option agreement and discuss the terms of sale.
– Following the discussion, the group agreed that the preferred ownership structure would be for Nodaway County to purchase and own the property while entering a long-term lease with a nonprofit organization responsible for fundraising, facility development, programming, and day-to-day management of the fairgrounds on the County’s behalf.
– The Commissioners indicated they are comfortable with the County purchasing the property and financing the acquisition over a three- to five-year period. The group also discussed the need for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and the nonprofit organization to clearly define responsibilities during the pre-development phase. The MOU would address maintenance and upkeep of the property until construction begins and the facilities become operational. In addition, a long-term lease agreement would be developed outlining the nonprofit’s responsibilities for managing, maintaining, and operating the fairgrounds on behalf of the County once the project is complete.
– To support this effort, NCED has been working with a group of interested community members to establish the Nodaway County Ag Expo and Fairgrounds Association, a new nonprofit organization that will lead fundraising and oversee the long-term development of the project. Draft Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws have been completed, and an initial five-member Board of Directors is being assembled. Once the board is finalized, the incorporation documents will be executed and filed. The draft Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws have been reviewed by Bob Sundell and Dannen Merrill, NCED’s attorney and accountant, respectively. During the startup phase, the nonprofit will operate under NCED’s organizational umbrella until it receives its federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt designation, at which time it will become an independent organization.
• Spoke with a resident of Lincoln Township regarding cleaning up brush on Road #329 so the county crew can work on a tube.