Cape Girardeau County board receives clean audit, approves contract bids

The historic 1908 courthouse in Jackson, under renovation until late summer of 2024, will have new landscaping once the renovations are complete. The Cape Girardeau County commissioners approved which company would be responsible for that during their Thursday, June 27, meeting.

Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com

An audit of Cape Girardeau County’s finances found they were growing steadily, as told by Patrick Kintner, of Stanley, Dirnberger, Hopper & Associates, who presented the annual audit report to the county’s commissioners during their Thursday, June 27 meeting.

“I have no weaknesses or concerns identified in the audit itself … from that standpoint, a clean report, which is good,” Kintner said.

Kintner reported the county had $76.5 million available at the end of 2023, with $45 million of that held in reserve for the county’s 1908 courthouse, new jail and emergency operations center projects.

The taxes flowing into the county had more than doubled over the last decade, he continued, from $15.8 million in 2014 to $34.4 million in 2023. The increase was driven largely by a 2020 voter-approved sales tax increase of one-half of 1% to support law enforcement and public safety services, Kintner said.

The sales tax led to an increase in the amount of public safety expenses for the county as well. In 2023, 42% of county expenses went to public safety, compared to 32% in 2019. General government expenses were down seven percentage points to 28% of the overall expense from 2019 to 2023. Road and bridge expenses were down two percentage points over that same time to just 20% of the overall expense.

Courthouse landscaping

The county’s park superintendent Bryan Sander recommended the commissioners accept a bid from Willingham Outdoor lawn services of Cape Girardeau for landscaping at the 1908 courthouse. It would cost $7,807.20 from the capital improvement fund.

“I looked at several different factors — cost, overall what we were looking for — and I just felt like … we were getting the best bang for our buck,” Sander said.

Cassi Holcomb, who runs Cassi Bock Landscaping & Flower Gardens in Jackson, had also presented a bid for the courthouse landscaping project. She reviewed the Willingham Outdoor bid and requested the commissioners take some features of her own into consideration before making their final decision, such as a memorial space and trees that change color in different cycles throughout the year.

“Making that establishment around such a large, historic building that’s been a huge part of our community is very important to me,” she told the commissioners.

Sander said the lawn area in the Willingham Outdoor bid was what the department had been looking for. It was also slightly cheaper than Holcomb’s bid. The commissioners approved Sander’s recommendation and he said the landscaping would most likely be done by the end of the year.

The courthouse is currently under renovation for use as a future administrative building for county offices, with an estimated completion time of August or September 2024.

Bids and projects

Sander also briefed the commissioners on putting out a need to bid for concrete services to complete future projects, including new shelters and restrooms at both the Cape Girardeau Veterans Memorial and a new playground. The total cost of concrete for all projects will amount to more than $25,000, Sander said, and the ad for services must run in local newspapers for three consecutive weeks.

In addition to putting out a bid, the commissioners also accepted one, this time to build a man basket.

“This is a basket that … attaches to the excavators and allows you to reach under the bridge to be able to work,” Associate Commissioner Paul Koeper explained.

The county received two bids, one from Southeast Fabricating of Cape Girardeau for $7,011 and another from MDT Customs of McClure, Illinois, for $7,050. The commissioners went with the lower bid, with the money coming from the Highway Department fund.