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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

THE MISSOURIAN

WWW.EMISSOURIAN.COM

Highways
Commission
Names Chairs
John W. Briscoe,
New London, is the new
chair of the Missouri
Highways and Transportation Commission
(MHTC), and Michael
T. Waters, Orrick, is
the new vice chair.
The
commission
elected both men at its
monthly meeting this
week in Jefferson City.
Briscoe and Waters succeed Michael
Pace, West Plains, and
Gregg Smith, Clinton,
who have each served
two terms as chair and
two terms as vice chair
since 2016.
Briscoe, a Democrat,
was appointed to the
commission in December 2015. Waters, a Republican, was appointed to the commission
in March 2015. Both
appointments
expire
March 1, 2021.
“Since I’ve been on
the commission, Mike
and Gregg have pro-

vided great leadership
for all of us,” Briscoe
said. “I’d like to thank
them for their service
to the commission and
to the state of Missouri. I have big shoes
to fill, but I’ll do the
very best I can.”
Waters echoed those
sentiments,
saying
that Pace and Smith
“have truly moved MoDOT forward.”
Pace and Smith will
remain on the commission along with Robert G. Brinkmann,
St. Albans, and Terry
L. Ecker, Elmo.
The
six-member
bipartisan
MHTC
governs
the
Missouri Department of
Transportation,
the
agency responsible for
building,
operating
and maintaining the
state highway system
and supporting other
transportation modes
in Missouri.

Top Associate Named
For Month of February

Express Employment Professionals in Union/
Warrenton recently honored Teresa Frazier as its
associate of the month for February.
Frazier was selected from associates working
with various companies in the Franklin and Warren County areas.
She is currently working at M & R Plating,
where she is assigned through Express.
Frazier was honored with a gift card for her attendance, job performance and work ethic.

RETIRING
CONTINUED FROM 1B

everyone and she has
excelled at it.”
Part of Unnerstall’s
exceptionalism has allowed her to be one of
two team members who
have qualified to be in
the Missouri State Farm
Agents’ Team Member
Hall of Fame every year
since its inception in
2005. Every year, 120
team members throughout the state are chosen.
Feighery said while
he is sad to see Unnerstall go, he is so incredibly happy for her to enjoy her retirement.
“She has spent her
life serving others and
it’s wonderful that she’ll
be able to do what she
wants to now,” Feighery
said. “I hope she enjoys

retirement and gets to
do everything she wants
to.”
Retirement
Plans and lists of
what Unnerstall will
do after March 27 have
already been made and
are growing.
Unnerstall said she
has two trips planned
for April and May, and
is working on another in
August. She expressed
how excited she is to
spend more time with
her family and hopes
she will be able to spend
more time outside swimming and working in her
garden.
“After retirement, I
am an open book with
blank pages, and I will
fill them in as I go,” Unnerstall said.

Bank of Washington Makes Donation
The Bank of Washington donated $76,913 to the 2019 Franklin County Area United Way campaign. The donation included nine leadership donors, six community investors, a corporate gift and
special events. Front row, from left, are Lynn Voss, Jolene Kahler, Melissa Unnerstall and Susie
Eichholz. Back row, from left, are Kim Strubberg, United Way executive director; Kori Kliethermes,
Phillip Kleekamp, Kala Inmann, Cathy Weber, Laura Miller, Madeline Slay, Megan Woodcock, L.B.
Eckelkamp and Jay Nowak.  
Missourian Photo.

Ameren Issues Warning
About Utility Scams
Ameren Missouri is
warning customers —
both business and residential — about scammers, who are using
sophisticated tactics to
imitate utility companies.
In fact, utility scams
are near the top of the
list of the Better Business Bureau’s Top 10
scams over the last year.
Ameren
Missouri
has seen an increase in
the number of scam attempts by individuals
posing as a company representative.
These imposters typically use phone, in-person and online tactics.
Posing as electric, water
or natural gas company
employees,
scammers
threaten to disconnect
or shut off service if customers fail to make an
immediate payment —
typically using a prepaid
card or other nontraceable forms of payment.
They also often mask
incoming calls as coming
from the utility company
on caller identification
systems and then give a
different phone number
to make a payment.
“The best way to combat scams is to know the
tactics that scammers
use,” said Maria Gomez, security supervisor,
Ameren. “Never provide
or confirm personal or

financial information or
make a payment to anyone initiating contact
with you — whether by
phone, in-person or email
— claiming to be a utility
company representative.
“If you suspect something isn’t right, trust
your gut and do not comply. Scammers prey on
fear. By educating our
residential and business
customers about common scams, we can turn
the tide on these thieves,
prevent monetary losses
and strengthen the communities we serve.”
As a reminder, Ameren Missouri will never
send a notification to
a customer within one
hour of a service interruption or ask customers
to make payments with a
prepaid debit card or gift
card.
Signs of Scams
Threat to disconnect:
Scammers may aggressively tell you that your
utility bill is past due
and service will be disconnected if a payment
isn’t made. Typically, the
scammer will tell you
that a disconnection will
come within an hour.
Request for immediate payment: Scammers
may instruct you to purchase a prepaid card. The
scammer will ask you to
return a call for immediate bill payment. When

you return the scammer’s call, the scammer
asks you for the number
on the prepaid card. This
allows the scammer to
gain instant access to the
card’s funds.
Fake case number
and/or fake truck identification number: Scammers are known to record
a voice message and use
it to trick customers into
thinking they’ve called
the utility company.
The scammer gives a
fake case number and/or
fake identification number of a company truck
that is in the vicinity of
the customer’s home.
Equipment or repair
bogus fee: Scammers
may call demanding a
separate payment to replace or install a utilityrelated device or meter.
Overpayment trick:
When scammers call
claiming that you’ve
overpaid your utility
bill and need to provide
personal bank account
information or a credit
card number to facilitate
a refund.
Power restoration ripoff: Scammers may call
offering to restore power
quickly or in a preferential order for immediate
payment typically in the
aftermath of a severe
storm causing widespread power outages.

Protect Yourself
Never give your credit
card, debit card, Social
Security, ATM, checking
or savings account numbers to anyone who calls,
sends an email or comes
to your home requesting
this information.
Don’t trust anyone
asking for immediate
payment. If you suspect
that someone is impersonating an Ameren employee, end the conversation and immediately
call Ameren Missouri at
1-800-552-7583.
Sign up to manage
your account online at
Ameren.com where you
can immediately check
the status of your account.
Never purchase a prepaid card to avoid service
disconnection or shutoff.
Legitimate utility companies don’t specify how
customers should make a
bill payment and always
offer a variety of ways to
pay a bill. Ameren customers can make payments online by phone,
electronic check, mail
or at pay in person locations.
For more information, visit Ameren.com/
stop-scams. Customers
should also follow Ameren on social media to receive the latest updates
on scams.

Plan Board Backs Lot Sale
By Joe Barker

Assistant Managing Editor

The Washington Planning and Zoning Commission supported a lot sale to
the Noah’s Arc Foundation
— again.
Just like the board did
last month, it recommended approval of a lot sale in
the Heidmann Industrial
Park. This time, it’s for a
different lot.
The Noah’s Arc Foundation applied for state licenses to cultivate medical
marijuana and operate a
medical marijuana-infusion facility. On both applications, Noah’s Arc listed
its business address as Lot
12 in the industrial park.
On Monday night, the
plan board reviewed a
plan to sell Lot 18 to the
foundation instead. Lot
18 is located off Vossbrink
and Michels drives in the
industrial park and near
Riechers’ Truck Body &
Equipment Co.
The Washington 353
Redevelopment Corporation backed selling Lot 18
in the park to Noah’s Arc
Foundation last week. The
deal would void the prior
transaction involving Lot
12.
Sal Maniaci, community and economic development director, said the
deal keeps Lot 12 in the
city’s inventory for use by
another investor.
Every time a lot is up
for sale, the planning and
zoning commission has to

review the change in the
plans. The city council is
expected to vote on the
sale at its March 16 meeting.
Medical Marijuana
Earlier this year, the
Missouri Department of
Health and Senior Services (DHSS) issued a
license to the Noah’s Arc
Foundation for medical
marijuana-infused products manufacturing.
Marijuana-infused
products are products infused with marijuana or
an extract thereof and
are intended for use or
consumption by a means
other than smoking, according to DHSS. Among
possible products are edibles, ointments and concentrates.
While it got the infusion
permit, Noah’s Arc was denied a license to cultivate

medical marijuana. That
denial prompted Noah’s
Arc to reopen discussions
with the city about industrial park lots.
Maniaci told the plan
board at Monday’s meeting that Noah’s Arc representatives said they are
confident they needed a
smaller facility without
the cultivation component.
If at some point the company received a cultivation
license, Noah’s Arc told the
city it could build its facility up instead of out.
The infusion permit
was listed with the Lot 12
address. Maniaci told The
Missourian the city asked

if the permit transferred
with a new address. He
said the response from Noah’s Arc was as long as it’s
the same industrial park,
and in the same general
area, the permit from the
state should still be valid.
Maniaci said the city is
letting Noah’s Arc handle
the permit.
Based on city zoning,
the Noah’s Arc Foundation
doesn’t require any additional permits in order
to operate. When the city
approved its medical marijuana zoning, it decided to
treat the businesses like
any other manufacturing
company.

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