County seeking qualifications for federal ARPA program

The Platte County Commission issued a press release after its Tuesday, Sept. 7 approval of a request for a request for qualifications (RFQ) for projects utilizing federal funds via the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The approval came after a virtual meeting of the ARPA committee, held on Wednesday, Aug. 25. Led by commissioner Joe Vanover, sheriff Mark Owen, prosecutor Eric Zahnd, judges Ann Hansbrough and Tom Fincham and others participated in the meeting to discuss the fifth draft of the RFQ.

A sixth draft was later passed on to the commissioners for approval this week.

Recorder of deeds Gloria Boyer voiced concerns about verbiage in the RFQ stating the commission’s goal was to decrease the number of people in county buildings by increasing the numbers of employees working remotely. Commissioners have also suggested remodeling the administration building in Platte City to relocate offices often used by the public and secure areas less commonly used by the public.

“Yes, everyone in this building would like more space, however increasing the number of employees working at home and converting spaces falls on the officeholders and we need to be very careful,” Boyer said.

Boyer said she had seen such things work against individual officeholders during budget meetings. Officeholders are capable of making decisions for their individual offices without being nailed down by the wording in an RFQ, she said.

Owen said he believed Boyer’s concern was that the RFQ document could live on beyond the COVID funds and later commissions could interpret the wording in their own way and apply it to unrelated topics.

Vanover said as a newcomer to the commission he could not speak to the past, but believed the proposed changes would help with mitigating COVID spread and also with security concerns to keep unauthorized people from wandering the buildings.

Hansbrough said while working from home may work for some county employees, that model may not work for the courts. People in immediate distress need direct access to court services instead of relying on online portals.

“When I have a woman who just came from the hospital with a broken orbital and she needs an ex parte, she needs a person, not a kiosk,” she said.

On a side note, she brought up plumbing problems in the courthouse building, complaining of constantly clogged toilets and water quality concerns.

“If you’re anywhere near a toilet that explodes where people have COVID that’s not a good thing,” Hansbrough said.

The Platte County Commission issued a press release just hours after the Sept. 7 meeting, announcing the county would solicit architectural firms consultants, and other experts to lead an effort to use $20 million to respond to COVID-19 by making capital investments and operational changes to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. The money comes from a federal grant approval in March.

Presiding commissioner Ron Schieber noted at the Sept. 7 meeting that the county had already received $10 million of the federal funds.

“Platte County government can reduce the transmission of COVID-19 by making it more convenient for the public to interact with government offices without needing to show up in person at a government building,” said Schieber in the release. “Much of the business world has already made the transition to serving customers without requiring them to drive to a business office. After COVID-19, this effort could delay the need to add government office space for years to come.”

According to the release, the ARPA architect review committee also met in person on Aug. 2. The committee discussed the document that will be used to advertise this project to interested architectural firms and other consultants. The committee gave final approval to the RFQ after its Aug. 25 meeting and recommended the commission approve it as well.

Vanover briefed the commission during their work session on Monday, Aug. 30 on the work of the committee.

The committee will next review the submissions of candidates and conduct interviews, then discuss which firms to recommend to the commission. After the commission selects a firm, the committee will dissolve and the firm will begin direct meetings with the various parts of Platte County government.

“The County Commission decided it was important to have input from the key stakeholders on which firm the county should hire to lead this effort,” Vanover said. “I hope we can continue to work together and take full advantage of this potentially transformational project.”

The ARPA architect review committee is composed of presiding judge Fincham, sheriff Owen, prosecutor Zahnd, recorder Boyer, commissioner Vanover, director of facilities Daniel Erickson, director of information technology Ted Smith and director of administration Dana Babcock. Judge Hansbrough, auditor Kevin Robinson, major Erik Holland, director of public works Bob Heim and assistant prosecutor Mark Gibson also participated in the discussions of the committee.