According to a news story we printed earlier this week, Solid Waste District T that serves lake area counties is making changes to tighten up its policies and procedures, including a Missouri Sunshine Law policy and designated records custodian.
That is encouraging. And, we believe, long overdue.
Last week, the governing board of the solid waste district discussed the need for the policy with representatives of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
That too, is encouraging.
District T’s board then designated the director, Jim Dickerson, as custodian of the records.
That is not so encouraging. However, the district adopted a policy that mirrors what the Missouri Attorney General’s office recommends to comply with the intent of the state’s Sunshine Law.
That is a little more encouraging, to a point. More to the point, the board’s adopted policy addresses what is a public meeting and what can be discussed behind closed doors, posting of notices, meeting minutes and requests for public records and costs of those items.
We intend to help the District T board meet its obligations in our endeavor to inform readers of how it is using public funds collected through tipping fees at landfills.
We seek to let residents know how District T is bringing services to the residents of Camden, Miller and Laclede counties.
Region T Solid Waste District operates under the umbrella of the Lake of the Ozarks Council of Local Governments.
We believe the policy the District T board adopted is a good step in the right direction.
But the old adage “seeing is believing” seems to ring true in this case.
We’ll let readers know how the progress goes.