STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY, Mo. — A dilapidated mobile home that sat for nearly a year on the edge of St. Mary Cemetery Road was finally hauled away Monday, closing out a dispute that consumed Ste. Genevieve County and city officials for roughly 11 months, the Ste. Genevieve Herald reported.
The trailer had been parked inside the county road right-of-way, a problem documented repeatedly in official county and city records through 2026. According to the Herald’s report, Road and Bridge Foreman Scott Schmieder received a call during Monday’s commission meeting that a mover was on site removing the unit.
How the trailer got there
The trailer was not randomly dumped — it was left behind after a move gone wrong, records show. At its Dec. 29, 2025 meeting, the St. Mary Board of Aldermen revoked Dylan Dauster’s permits to move the trailer onto a property, citing property damage and improper notification by the moving company to the city. The aldermen ordered the trailer removed — minutes describe it as “impeding a utility right of way” — and agreed to send Dauster a letter giving him 30 days to comply.
St. Mary Mayor Adam Bequette raised the trailer again with the county Commission on Feb. 19, 2026, telling commissioners he would forward updated information on the unit, which county minutes describe as having been “left there” on the county road right of way.
Months of frustration
The county Commission first took up the issue at its Dec. 11, 2025 meeting, the Herald reported, and the stalemate dragged on for months. By June, the county still had not located a workable solution: minutes of the June 4, 2026 commission meeting show that the Sheriff’s Department had been contacted in an effort to find the owner so the unit could be moved off the right-of-way.
Commissioners also entered closed sessions during 2026 under RSMo 610.021(1), the state statute governing discussions of litigation, though the minutes do not name the trailer. The Herald reported that recent closed sessions involved the county prosecuting attorney’s office discussing possible legal action against the mobile home owner, and quoted Presiding Commissioner Randy Ruzicka as saying he had “been beyond patient” in dealing with the situation.
Even in mid-August, the home was still in place. The Herald reported at the time that the owner intended to bring in a welder to strengthen the trailer’s frame so it could be moved in one piece.
Resolution — with caveats
The Monday removal, reported by the Herald, could not be independently confirmed in county meeting minutes published online as of this writing. The county’s minutes index is available here.
What is clear from public records: a trailer dropped off by a moving company at the end of 2025 triggered action from two layers of local government — the City of St. Mary and Ste. Genevieve County — and took nearly a year to clear off the roadside.