The Ray-Pec Sunrise Optimist Club met Jan. 1 at the IHOP restaurant in Belton. Sheriff
Jeff Weber was the guest speaker. Weber grew up in Belton and has been with the Sheriff’s Department for going on 31 years. He brought the members current on the department to include the purchase and demolition of the former Belton Inn. This site, the gateway to Cass County, will be the North Sheriff and County Annex and bring more services to North Cass County. While other counties around defund their law enforcement, Cass County is continuing to fund and support all of its law enforcement entities. The next phase will be planning for community needs and completing the facility design. Demolition is expected to take nine weeks while no firm timeline has been established for construction. Members had the opportunity to ask questions. Club President Brian Mills thanked Sheriff Weber for his message and time along with presenting a special coin. One of the purposes of Optimism is to inspire respect for law.