Presiding Commissioner Steve Black opened the single bid on Sept. 8 submitted for surplus property at 702 South Franklin St., which used to house the Cuba Bakery & Deli.

Brandon Lesesne, the owner of Lesesne Limited Company, submitted a bid of $152,001 for the building in its current state, with the installation of the air conditioning system back in place.

Black mentioned that they intended to sell the building to an undisclosed potential buyer for $225,000. However, they collected $77,000 in insurance money and $18,000 in rent. By accepting the bid from Lesesne, the county would receive more money.

A motion to accept the bid from Lesesne was approved by a 3-0 vote.

Black also opened propane bids from Ozark Gas and Boland Energy for the 2026-27 cold season.

Ozark Gas bid $1.39 per gallon with a discounted service labor rate of $85 if needed. They also added a county employee rate of $1.39 per gallon if they own their tank, or $1.49 if Ozark Gas has to lease a propane tank to them. If employees take up this offer, then they will be billed separately. Boland Energy has offered a bid of $1.25 per gallon.

The commissioners weighed the decision of paying more so they could offer the discounted propane benefit to county employees. Black estimated that if they approve Ozark Gas, it would cost the county approximately $3,500 more. County officials present during the meeting mentioned that many of their employees have their own propane tank and would probably utilize this benefit.

Pfeiffer suggested reaching out to Boland Energy to inquire whether they would also extend an offer of a discounted propane rate to county employees.

The decision was tabled until they could reach out to Boland Energy about extending the offer to the employees.

Sheriff Darin Layman reported that there is a maintenance issue at the Crawford County Jail.

“Apparently, whenever the jail was built, the drainage pipes in the kitchen they used cast iron, and that has all completely deteriorated and it has collapsed on itself,” Layman said. “So we’re having a pretty severe drainage issue.”

They’ve installed PVC to temporarily redirect the drainage to another drain, but they’ll be bringing in someone to provide estimates for fixing the issue.

District 2 Associate Commissioner Jared Boast announced the commencement of construction on the Smith Road bridge, while District 1 Associate Commissioner Mark Pfeiffer mentioned that the construction on the John Coleman Road bridge is currently pending the railroad’s approval of an easement.

Pfeiffer added that the contractors awarded the Whilhite, Arlie Barr and Sig Bass Road low-water crossing projects were contacted, and he hopes to see them completed by the end of October.

In other business, Treasurer Karen Sikes said that the sales tax for August was up over eight percent from last year.