BENTON -- The Scott County Sheriff's Department has received a grant to help finance its continuing efforts to cut down on methamphetamine production and use in the county.
During Thursday's regular county commission meeting, Lt. Jerry Bledsoe brought paperwork for officials to sign regarding the approval of a MoSMART grant for 2009.
The department received the same grant in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008, according to Bledsoe. It does not require any matching funds and is 100 percent reimbursable.
"It's for a methamphetamine investigator," said Bledsoe. The amount of the grant is not known at this time.
"But it used to pay for everything," Bledsoe said. In the past, the salary, benefits and expenses of the investigator were covered in the grant, which is provided by the Missouri Sheriffs Methamphetamine Relief Team.
Also in Thursday's meeting, commissioners discussed a first-aid training for employees with Joel Evans, county developer and emergency management director.
"We are giving all of our employees the opportunity to have a first-aid training," said Jamie Burger, presiding commissioner.
Evans said that, since he distributed a memo to all employees about a week ago to gauge interest, only one from the courthouse has expressed interest in receiving the instruction. Norman Brant, supervisor at the highway department, has said he wants all of his workers to take advantage of it, Evans added.
Burger suggested Evans set a time and date for the training and follow up with a memo. "Some more might trickle in," he said.
The seminar will be led by a member of the Scott County Rural Fire Department, which is also Red Cross certified, according to Evans.
In other news Thursday:
* The final payment for the jail was made. "I'm very excited about that," said Dennis Ziegenhorn, commissioner.
"That was very aggressive," added Burger. "The guys that did that had some good foresight to get it set up to be paid off in eight years."
The initial cost of the jail was roughly $4.5 million.
* The county has received a check for just over $29,000 from Traveler's Insurance for lightening damage as a result of September storms, reported County Clerk Rita Milam. The earmarks for the funds come from a different company, said Milam, and the funds will be split amongst departments once that information is received.