The Martin County Board Tuesday elected a Chair and Vice Chair for the New Year:
Kathy Smith was chosen as the new chairman and Steve Flohrs as vice chair. All those county officials elected in November were sworn in at the meeting and new Fourth District Commissioner Richard Koons was introduced.
In their first meeting of the new year commissioners unanimously approved a 10-year tax abatement for Great Plains Transportation on Tuesday. The business, located at the Arthur Andrews building on North State Street in Fairmont, is looking at an expansion of 12,000 square feet. The abatement for the county’s share of property taxes is $164,000.
The abatement issue was open to a public hearing and Fairmont economic development coordinator Linsey Preuss was present to address the reasons behind the request.
Commissioners approved law enforcement online updates, a jail nurses services contract and the official designation of the Truman Tribune as the Official Legal Newspaper for 2019. That vote had one dissenting voter-Richard Koons- who stated that paper was not available in his district. The designation is for legal purposes only and the county board must take the low bid regardless of circulation for board proceedings. The county board normally inserts all important notifications in all county newspapers.