COUNTY COMMISSION: Two road projects approved under FLAP program

Two federally-funded road projects have been approved for Dent County under the Federal Lands Access Program.

The projects are the Cooley Bridge replacement on county road 5610 near Bunker and an asphalting project on Tan Vat Hill on county road 6670 near Montauk State Park, First District commissioner Dennis Purcell told the commission Monday. Commissioners signed both agreements.

New crossover pipes are being installed and ditch work is being down in advance of the road project, he said. Work on the FLAP-funded portion of either project is not expect to start this year. MoDOT will administer the projects. The work is contracted out. Completion could be as late as 2022, Purcell said.

“We have plans for the bridge replacement in place from two years ago,” he said. The county signed a contract Monday to beginning soliciting for architect/engineering firms. He hopes to have an engineer in place by November. “It’s mostly an oversight and to solicit bids from contractors,” Purcell said.

Treasurer Denita Williams reported on CART funds. The county received $62,940, up $2,902 from last August. The county is down $24,439 year to date or 5.38 percent. She also asked commissioners to sign the quarterly transfer to the Senior Citizens Fund, $14,000 to the nutrition site and $6,570 to SMTS.

Under commission reports, Purcell said crews would be grading Monday, weather permitting, on county roads 6245, 6670, 5090 and 5080, hauling material to 6250 and 6245 and cutting brush on 5120 and 4220.

County road 5510 is almost 95 percent completed. “The crew did a fantastic job rebuilding that road,” he said. “We hauled 179 dump truck loads of clay material in to build that road up and installed crossover pipes.” The next part will be overlaying on top of the one-inch base over the two-inch clean rock atop the clay.

“That road will stand there for a very long time,” he said. The road is open to light traffic. It’s expected to fully reopen this week.

Second district commissioner Gary Larson said crews would be grading on county roads 3300, 4380, 2550 and 2540, hauling material to 4380 and brush cutting on 3140 and 3150.

Presiding commissioner Darrell Skiles reported he talked with the assessor about the Clearbasin contract for a one-year online assessment software. The cost is $5,000 for the year, plus a one-time website setup fee of $1,500. CARES Act funds will pay the initial cost. The contract will come out of the assessor’s budget going forward. The software allows citizens to go online and fill out their property tax assessments.

Skiles said he will attend a meeting Wednesday in Columbia concerning the Holiday Inn hotel contract cancellation penalty for the County Commissioners Association training meetings set for February and what it will cost. Currently, Columbia has restrictions on gatherings that may not be lifted by February, he said. The CCAM spends about $80,000 per year to the hotel hosting. Training will be offered online instead, he said.

Skiles said he would like to extend best wishes to longtime community volunteer Judy Apperson on her retirement.

County clerk Angie Curley reported the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 7. Absentee voting begins Sept. 22. If voters need to update their address, she asked that they do that as soon as possible. She will attend her annual County Clerk/Election Authorities Conference this week.

No commission meeting next Monday due to the Labor Day holiday.

The commission also signed an addendum to the CARES Act contract with MRPC allowing charges for attorney fees, advertising costs and postage for large mailings. The cost will be shared with other counties working with MRPC on CARES Act requests.

The commission approved three CARES Act Reimbursement requests received from MRPC: from R-II School for $2,365, from R-IV School for $33,831 and from Salem Memorial Hospital for $53,768. The SMDH request is for rapid COVID-19 testing equipment at the hospital.