ADDRESSING

 A uniform standard for addressing is very important. Addresses provide a common, systematic means by which people, places and events, can be located within a community. A property address aids 911 Emergency Services in providing a quicker response time.

 

BUILDING DEPARTMENT

Bill Placht

Issues permits and inspects new construction of structures within unincorporated Franklin County to establish minimum requirements to safeguard the public safety, health and general welfare per adopted code.

 

COMMUNICATIONS/911

Jeffrey Titter 

Franklin County E911 is a formal department of the Franklin County Commission. There are four Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that take 911 calls within the County. The host PSAP for Franklin County is located at #1 Bruns Lane in Union, Missouri. The remote PSAPs are in Washington, Sullivan, and Pacific. Franklin County 911 has provided 911 call answering equipment, mapping, connection, and infrastructure to these PSAPs for many years. Some training has also been paid for by Franklin County for these Municipal PSAPs. The department’s hierarchy of responsibility is the answering and processing of all 911 calls efficiently and effectively, assigning of calls to the appropriate agencies/units in a timely manner, and the answering of all radio traffic in a timely manner while maintaining sound situational awareness. This department is funded through fees from served agencies, general revenue, and the 911 landline tax. With the decrease in the traditional landline services in the community, the landline tax has decreased over the past 10 years while the expectation from the public and cost of technology to fulfill the needs has increased. In 2018, the State of Missouri passed and signed House Bill 1456 which, among other things, allows for cellular phones to be included in the 911 tariff funding by a vote of the people. The ongoing investment of time in finding sustained operational funding for 911 in this first class County is imperative for citizen safety, responder safety, and economic growth. SERVED AGENCY OVERVIEW The Fire/EMS 911 Operations Board is actively engaged in the continued improvements being made in the 911 Center. The goal is to bring the 911 Center up to the level of service that could be considered “Class 1”. They have expressed concern about the current funding model of the Center and believe under the current funding mechanisms, reaching a level of service which could be considered “Class 1” is not possible. Items that they have identified as being needed are a more robust county wide radio system with redundant connections/links for minimal downtown, field radio equipment coordination and programming advisor, automatic vehicle location system integrated with computer aided dispatch in the vehicles, and adequate staffing comparable to other “Class 1” centers in the area based on call volume and services. These types of items can help improve service by our center to the citizens as well as potentially speeding up the dispatch, response, and care provided for calls of service.

 

EMERGENCY MANGEMENT AGENCY (EMA)

Abe Cook

The Franklin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is responsible for Emergency Management for unincorporated Franklin County and is the second level of assistance for incorporated jurisdictions. We provide support to responding agencies in emergency situations and maintain and operate the Franklin County Emergency Operations Center. We help coordinate emergency planning, response, recovery, mitigation, and prevention activities between all stakeholders throughout the County, Region, and State.

 

Geographic Information System (GIS)

GIS integrates hardware, software, and data and is used to capture, store, analyze and display information or data identified by location.

Data and Maps are stored as layers of information which makes it possible to perform complex analyses. Franklin County uses this software to maintain property information.

GIS can relate unrelated information by using location and is a major tool used in dispatching and emergency services.

 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Tony Buel 

The mission of the Franklin County Department of Health is to protect the general health of all residents and visitors of Franklin County. Our major objective is to improve the health and well being of our residents as well as prevent and manage the spread of communicable disease. Services offered through the Franklin County Department of health require a multidisciplinary team approach to promote, prevent and protect the health of our population. By promoting healthy behaviors such as hand washing, breastfeeding, vaccination programs and protection against STD’s we are able to prevent the spread of many contagious diseases. By doing surveillance of over 110 reportable diseases our staff is able to assist in the control and prevention of an outbreak of infectious disease and/or contamination of food or water supplies. Our environmental health program provides systematic inspection of all food handling establishments. These inspections insure compliance with sanitation standards and practices which ensure compliance with the Franklin County Food Service and Retail Food Services Sanitation Ordinance. In addition, routine inspections of child care establishments and commercial lodging are inspected. All types of environmental complaints for onsite sewage disposal, food, and hazardous waste are addressed. Other services to our county residents include the following vital record printing, health services, immunization clinics, emergency planning and the WIC program.

 

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT 

Jim Grutsch 

The Highway Department is responsible for in excess of 785 miles of road and the associated right-of-ways as well as the 163 bridges and numerous drainage structures throughout Franklin County. Routine and preventative maintenance includes applying gravel to rural roads, asphalt and concrete patching and sealing, roadside ditching, vegetation control, and bridge maintenance and repair. Traffic services provided include street name signing, regulatory signing, and snow and ice control. It is also responsible for 110 trucks and pieces of heavy equipment.

The Highway Department Office is responsible for initiating, monitoring, and completing capital improvement projects related to Franklin County’s transportation network. The projects are funded by a one-half cent sales tax that was approved by voters in 1982.

If you would like to ask a question or report a problem, send us an email.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES

Jackie Tobben

The Human Resource Department, which previously operated under the County Clerk’s Office, became a department under the County Commission starting in 2019. The staff of two manages, maintains and enhances the organization’s human resources by planning, implementing, and evaluating employee relations and human resource policies, programs, and practices. Maintains compensation by evaluating, recommending, and administering benefit programs. The staff analyzes and processes payroll for more than 370 employees on a biweekly bases. They also maintain a database and process payroll for more than 265 Election Service Workers 2 – 4 times a year. The staff manages, enrolls, data inputs, reconciles and authorizes disbursement for all benefit programs. Benefits include self-funded health plan, Teladoc, dental, vision, life, EAP, COBRA, RETIREE, FSA, Aflac, LegalShield, I.U.O.E. Local 148 Union Dues, and charitable contributions to United Way and Backstoppers. Retirement benefits include LAGERS, CERF, and Deferred Compensation plans with Nationwide and CERF. The department works with the County Commissioners in determining the annual health, dental, vision and life insurance for county employees. The staff verifies and authorizes the annual workers’ compensation invoices, as well as manages reports and documents all injuries, coordinates and authorizes treatment plans. They also work closely with third party administrator to ensure treatment and return to work plans, temporary disability payments and case management. The staff is also responsible for preparing and managing the annual workers’ compensation audit. The Human Resource department also works closely with the annual external auditing company by collecting, documenting, and auditing from all departments the annual compensated absence figures. The staff maintains the database, monitors and authorizes the required ACA documents are completed on scheduled deadlines. The staff is responsible for all new hire orientations, federal and state employment compliance, personnel files and retention, FMLA, all benefit and retirement enrollments and changes, terminations and retirement processing, employment verifications, Medicare employment verifications and annual notices, garnishment, child support and Mandatory tax levy and Medical Support orders, numerous Federal and State reporting requirements, vendor/agency data input, support documentation for grants and maintains the County’s budget benefit database. There are many other responsibilities of the Human Resource department too numerous to list.

 

MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT

Tony Henry

 The Maintenance Department maintains buildings and systems elevators, HVAC, electrical, plumbing hardware and painting. It performs or oversees preventive maintenance. This department maintains the grounds, including cutting grass and removing snow. It oversees the daily cleaning not performed by other departments. It oversees all contracted repairs. The Maintenance Department orders supplies and oversees cleaning contractors. It repairs, replaces and maintains equipment.

 

PLANNING AND ZONING

Scottie Eagan

 Planning and Zoning is responsible for regulating a variety of planning activities in unincorporated Franklin County, including land divisions, lot-line adjustments, zoning districts, and floodplain administration. Related to these activities, we handle the process of surveys and subdivision plats, rezoning requests, conditional use permits, zoning enforcement, requests for appeals and variances from zoning regulations, and flood plain development permit requests. When needed, Planning and Zoning has also been helping with County Wide Tourism and Economic Development.

PURCHASING DEPARTMENT

Shakara Bray