District 1 Associate Commissioner Mark Pfeiffer discussed on July 20 the timeline for repairing the Highway 49 bridge that was severely damaged and closed due to flooding on July 10 within the southern part of Crawford County.

While the commissioners were concerned that repairing the bridge would be a long, drawn-out process, MoDOT started repair work on July 28.

Repairs, which are under MoDOT’s jurisdiction, include work to the bridge’s approach and the support structure at the end of the bridge.

They estimate that it should be completed by mid-to-late August.

Pfeiffer added that the bypass route from Highway 49 to Highway 19, White River Road, to Oren Martin Road to Hobo Road, has seen a large increase in traffic, which has caused excess deterioration of the thoroughfares.

“We are going to do what we can to keep up on it. There might be a point in time to where we have to close that road for a brief time period during the day to maintain it,” Pfeiffer said.

Crawford County Sheriff Darin Layman reported that the sheriff’s office applied for and was awarded the Deputy Sheriff Salary Supplemental Fund grant.

“In years past, we were not allowed to apply for it because we made over the maximum threshold on our salary,” Layman said. “The MoSMART (Missouri Sheriff Methamphetamine Relief Taskforce) board has changed the salary requirements this year, so we fell into the category of the salary range of $35,000-$69,000. So by getting this grant, we were awarded it. Each deputy that is a certified peace officer that’s full-time will receive an additional $3,000 in salary.”

It is not a matching grant, and the money comes from the serving of civil process papers such as subpoenas, writs and summonses from the sheriff’s office, instead of state taxpayers’ dollars.

The grant is supposed to help, especially within smaller counties, the recruitment and retention of sheriff’s office deputies.

In other business, after recent quotes for asphalt resurfacing on Riverside Road, Pfeiffer said that the original application for a Delta Regional Authority (DRA) grant needed to be revised.

On June 9, the commissioners took all necessary actions to approve applying for a grant from the DRA through the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) to acquire funding to improve hard-surfaced roads within the county.

A motion to give Presiding Commissioner Steve Black the authority to perform all duties and administration of the grant if awarded to the county was approved with a 3-0 vote.

During the first application, the commissioners approved a motion for the county to provide $350,000 to cover any additional costs from the project.

They made a new motion for the county to cover $300,000 of extra costs the grant won’t cover with a 3-0 vote.

The county is also responsible for making an in-kind contribution, which is non-cash resources that are provided in support of a project.

A motion for the county to make an in-kind donation at a fair market value of $60,000, consisting of removing roadside vegetation, trimming trees and inspecting, cleaning and replacing culverts, was approved with a 3-0 vote.

Additionally, in the event of an administration change, a motion to shift the authority and duties of the grant to the new presiding commissioner was approved with a 3-0 vote.

Updates to the Crawford County Courthouse exterior were introduced.

Jackie Rodgers, of J Rogers Architecture, discussed plans for renovating the exterior of the courthouse with the commissioners, focusing on both front porches.

Black said that the concrete of the porches is degrading, and the wood is falling off, so some money was budgeted toward fixing some of the issues.

In other business, District 2 Associate Commissioner Jared Boast announced that they had a problem with a road grader on Highway F.

“There’s a theory that it lost the steering line…and lost hydraulic fluid, which then made the steering not work on the apparatus itself,” Boast said.

The driver was able to make a controlled stop into a ditch and was not injured, but the grader did have some damage.