The Buchanan County Commission granted a one-year extension to Terra Bioenergy to meet its requirements for the $100,000 the county loaned to the biodiesel company last year.

Terra originally aimed to have its plant up and running by February but had a contractor walk off the job. That delayed the project and forced Terra to raise additional funds. The company now hopes to start testing within the next two weeks.

The county gave Terra a $50,000 forgivable loan if the company met certain employment standards and another $50,000 repayable loan. Terra was supposed to have met those standards by this month or have to pay back the entire sum. But the commissioners granted an extension contingent on Terra securing a $100,000 line of collateral credit, which the biodiesel company did.

The $25 million plant is supposed to employ 25 to 30 people and produce 15 million gallons per year. Terra’s plant will primarily use animal fat to produce biodiesel, which can be used in virtually all diesel engines.

CBIZ to broker property, casualty

insurance provider

The county commissioners chose CBIZ to broker its property and casualty insurance once again, signing the contract Thursday.

CBIZ was among four brokers to submit a bid last month. Presiding Commissioner R.T. Turner said a familiarity and satisfaction with the St. Joseph company factored into the commission’s decision. The company’s fees will not exceed $29,000 annually. The contract is for three years but gives each side an annual, opt-out clause.

CBIZ will have the property and casualty insurance bids back to the commission by the first week of December at the latest.

The county spent $125,216 on building insurance and $241,663 on liability insurance in 2009.

CBIZ also brokered the county’s health and dental insurance last year, but the commissioners chose the Power Group out of Overland Park, Kan., in that capacity for 2010.

County chooses accounting

software

The commissioners selected Clifton Gunderson’s bid of $49,299 last for the new accounting software for the auditor’s office — contingent on a 15-day testing period.

In August, an independent auditor from St. Louis once again stressed that the county needs to update its software. It’s been a reoccurring theme the past two years, and the county would’ve received an unqualified audit if it didn’t comply.

The county budgeted $50,000 for the upgrade this year and received a discount of $4,228 from Clifton Gunderson, which has an office in St. Joseph, for agreeing to a deal by the end of the accounting company’s fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Clifton Gunderson agreed to hold that discount for two weeks until the county completes its trial period with the software.

The commissioners chose Clifton Gunderson’s bid over ProSoft Solution’s bid of $53,567. Prosoft’s bid also didn’t include the St. Louis-based company’s travel and training costs.

“Once you looked at the bids, there really wasn’t much of a decision to make,” Auditor Nancy Nash said. “Every discrepancy fell on the side of the local firm. As far as it went there wasn’t much of a decision to make.”

The decision brings an end to a year-long process and should qualify the county’s audit once the program is up and running.

“We basically stomped the woods to find this within the budget amount. It’s not been easy,” Ms. Nash said. “I felt really good when that bid came in what it did.

“It’s not going to be the Cadillac of all government programs. But it’s going to give us what we need.”

The county commission doesn’t have a financial commitment to Clifton Gunderson if, after the trial, it decides the software isn’t what the auditor’s office needs.

R.J. Cooper can be reached

at rjcooper@npgco.com.