Potential Relocation For County Extension Points To Lack Of Communication Among Members

Crawford County commissioners on Tuesday heard concerns from some members of the County Extension Council over a possible relocation.

Secretary Peggy Alexander, member Kim Gibbs and field specialist Gatlin Bunton addressed the commission over plans for a building.

The plans were brought to the commission March 28 by chairwoman Linda Bast.

The trio said the plans were never approved by the county council, which consists of 16 members, including District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast.

They questioned if possibly moving the extension office from its current location in Steelville to the Tutterow building in Cuba would hinder opportunities for future funding. 

Gibbs said that in the last two years of extension council minutes, there has never been any discussion of moving to Cuba.

“Who is paying for this? The commission?” Gibbs asked.

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black said the discussion of moving the extension to Cuba came up in February when the body was discussing the new coroner facility.

The county purchased the former Three Rivers Publishing building, abandoning previous plans to move into the Korte building on Highway 19.

The county also owns the Tutterow building along Highway 19.

Commissioners have talked about moving one of the health department or extension to the Tutterow building.

“No decisions have been made,” Black said.

Gibbs and Alexander said they were “blindsided” by the discussion. 

“This is the first time we’re hearing about this,” Bunton said. “We have a pretty great location.”

District 1 Commissioner Rob Cummings said that no decision has been made one way or another and that any talk “is coming from your people” referring to the council.

Representatives from the extension council said they were under the impression that Bast was told by the commission to come in.

They also said that if the commission discusses issues related to the council that it should be sent to their secretary so that it reaches the body as a whole.

Boast apologized for any confusion.

“You’ll have to forgive us if we don’t know who to call about brainstorming ideas,” he said. 

To the commission, it made sense to communicate with Bast, since she is chairwoman, Boast said.

Boast also said that he knows he talked about a new facility when he met with the council in February. 

“The extension is huge in our county, and if they had a bigger facility, would it help? If we give something better, would more people come?” Boast said, explaining that the ideas for expanding the extension council’s building could be a bigger benefit.

“We may be at fault for not reaching out to the three of you, but we talked to Linda. She is the chair, so I invited her,” Boast said. “We were under the impression that Linda had discussed this with the council at some point, otherwise why have sketches?”

He also told the trio that it was never said that if they get a new building their funding would be cut.

Black urged Alexander and Gibbs to get on the same page with the rest of the council.