Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

ST. JAMES— The board of Meramec Regional Planning Commission, meeting Nov. 10, 2016, appointed Jason Schenefield of Phelps County to be the at-large health care representative on the board.

Shenefield is senior vice president and chief operating officer at Phelps County Regional Medical Center (PCRMC) and has over 20 years of experience in healthcare. Shenefield holds a Master of Business Administration from Capella University with an emphasis in Healthcare Management and a Bachelor of Science from Southern Illinois University in Healthcare Administration. Prior to joining PCRMC, Shenefield was the chief operating officer at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He also worked in hospitals around the Chicago, Ill., area for 12 years and served as a hospital corpsman for five years in the United States Navy. Shenefield is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Also in attendance at the meeting was Amanda Wiggins of Kean and Company, a Rolla auditing firm that had completed the 2015-16 audit of MRPC and its related organizations. Wiggins delivered an unqualified audit opinion. She explained that this is the best opinion issued on an audit like MRPC’s. The audit reviewed MRPC’s financial information as well as financial information on MRB Corp., Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee, and MRPC’s RLF and IRP funds, all considered component units of MRPC. Combined, these five entities had total liabilities and net assets of $2.7 million. The auditing firm also performed a compliance audit of MRPC’s Revolving Loan Fund program, which is a grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA).

The audit did find that one RLF loan file lacked a bank turn-down letter, which is required by the EDA. The letter was secured prior to the completion of the audit, and a corrective action plan was developed to ensure that all loan files include required documentation.

Wiggins complimented MRPC and its staff on its record-keeping and financial management. The MRPC approved the audit and complimented staff on the resulting audit.

In other business, the MRPC Board:
• Approved the reappointment of Tim Lorraine to the Meramec Regional Development Corp. to represent Crawford County;
•  Approved a list of state priorities, as developed and prioritized by the board, to be presented to state legislators serving the Meramec Region. Legislators are invited to attend MRPC’s Dec. 10 meeting to discuss priorities, and then the MRPC board will host an MRPC Day at the Capital on Jan. 24, 2017,
•  Heard a report that the Phelps County Public Housing Agency had also received an unqualified opinion on its audit. For the sixth straight year, the PHA has received no recommendations or findings and is considered a low-risk auditee. The PHA board, comprised mostly of presiding commissioners from the counties served, met prior to the MRPC meeting. MRPC provides staffing, office space and administration for the PHA, which provides HUD subsidized rental and utility assistance to over 700 families monthly in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps and Washington counties; and
•  Began discussing federal priority issues to be included in MRPC’s Federal Priorities report.
Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities.

Maries County Presiding Commissioner Ray Schwartze serves as chairman of MRPC.

A professional staff of 25, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

The next meeting of MRPC is at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 at its office at 4 Industrial Drive, St. James, MO.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion.