Commissioners approved funding for the county’s drug task force and the purchase of new equipment for the county fitness centers this week.
Major Erik Holland of the Platte County Sheriff’s Office presented the item concerning the grant-funded MoWIN Task Force for Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratory Enforcement Operations at the Monday, Dec. 17 meeting. Holland said the lengthy moniker describes a program countering all drugs, not just meth. The MoWIN (Missouri Western Interdiction and Narcotics) task force is made up of officers from Platte, Clay and Jackson counties and the City of Kansas City. The $202,823 in funding will cover salaries and overtime for Platte County deputies and the sergeant assigned to the task force. Due to the division of the fiscal year, the total covers portions of 2018 and 2019.
In the last year, Holland said, the task force has seized $1 million in cash, 2,387 pounds of various kinds of marijuana, 516 pounds of methamphetamines, 122 pounds of cocaine, 41 pounds of fentanyl, 31 pounds of heroin, 7 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms, 1.6 pounds of PCP, 3,266 illegally-possessed prescription pills and 338 ecstasy pills.
Also at the meeting, the commissioners approved almost $100,000 in equipment purchases for both Platte County Community Centers. According to assistant parks director Chris Oryshyn, user fees paid by community center members will cover the costs of the replacement equipment.
Contracts were approved for dozens of machines of varying types from Precor, Octane Fitness, Performance Fitness Equipment and Johnson Health Tech of North America. The equipment will be installed in January.
Later this week, the commissioners will hear the results of a study on the county jail conducted by consultant Bill Garnos. Garnos will present his report at 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21 in the commission’s meeting room at the Platte County Administration Center.
On Thursday, Dec. 27, re-elected officeholders, including presiding commissioner Ron Schieber, will be sworn in at 11 a.m. in the same room.
In the new year, a public hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 14 on the county budget, which commissioners plan to approve the same day. The auditor’s recommended budget was released in November, projecting mostly flat sales and use tax income and recommending a 2.5 percent cost of living adjustment for county employees.
The commissioners’ proposed budget will be released to the public on Friday, Jan. 4.
David Park, who ran against Schieber in the November election, spoke up at the meeting Monday, asking if commissioners intend to host any public meetings before the Jan. 14 hearing, at which time the budget would already be presumably set. Schieber said no additional meetings were planned, with first district commissioner Dagmar Wood adding that budget meetings are open to the public and that commissioners can be contacted with concerns at any time.