Presiding commissioner Jason Brown took charge over his last Platte County Commission meeting this week at a brief and uneventful administrative session.
After one term in office, Brown will turn over the reins to Ron Schieber, who took a three-man race in August’s Republican primary to an unopposed November election to the post. Brown declared intentions not to run earlier in the year.
Schieber and incoming Republican county clerk Nancy Armstrong will be sworn in at 11 a.m. Dec. 30 in the Platte County Administration Building.
With his young son, Thomas, on his lap, Brown gave a brief farewell at the end of his last session, and Thomas banged the gavel to adjourn this last administrative session of the year and his dad’s tenure.
Brown said he believed the officeholders, agree or disagree, always worked toward what they felt was in the best interest of Platte County and its residents. Brown’s term, which followed the decade-long tenure of Betty Knight, has faced a few ups and downs regarding budgets, the parks and recreation sales tax and clashes with other county officials.
“I appreciate all the support I have received over the last four years,” Brown said. “I hope you have found me a passionate and faithful supporter when we agree on subjects, and I hope you found me a worthy adversary when we didn’t agree.”
At Brown’s final meeting, the commissioners approved an agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to relinquish three roadway segments in exchange for an improvement project.
According to director of public works Greg Sager, MoDOT will complete approximately $300,000 in improvements to the intersection of Highway E and Elm Grove Road near Camden Point, Mo. The hill will be lowered and sight lines improved to make the intersection safer. In exchange, Platte County will assume ownership of a section of the Highway 45 Spur, a portion of Highway K and a remnant of Union Chapel Road.
All three road sections will be under the jurisdiction of the Parkville Special Road District, which was already performing maintenance on the roadways.
An engineering service agreement with TranSystems for surveying and engineering work to reconstruct approximately three miles of River Road near Waldron was also approved. The contract included a not-to-exceed cap of $121,000, with the project funded through the transportation sales tax.
Also at the meeting, Platte County sheriff Mark Owen announced the resignation of Capt. Randall Pittman, investigations division commander. Pittman has served at the Sheriff’s Office for almost 25 years. His retirement will be effective Jan. 2, 2015.
“Captain Pittman has served very honorably for this department,” Owen said. “During his time here, we went from a small jail to a big jail and been able to participate in more city-wide efforts, such as joining the Kansas City Metro Squad and the formation of the Cyber Crimes Task Force.”