CRAWFORD COUNTY – Emergency Management Director Loren Wilson provided an update on Sept. 15 on the request to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for assistance following the July 10 flooding that caused significant damage in the southern region of Crawford County.

The application has been completed and submitted to SEMA, and the county is awaiting a response. Additionally, the application is also for seeking assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“To make a note too, this declaration was for the public, which is basically road bridge infrastructure, is what it’s for,” Wilson said. “Unfortunately, we did not hit the individual threshold for damage on individual residential homes and stuff.”

Treasurer Karen Sikes questioned that considering all the cattle lost in the flooding, but Wilson explained that is through agriculture.

“They want to see 100 homes, businesses damaged, is what they want to see. That works good in an urban situation, but not a rural situation,” Wilson said.

Wilson gave a reminder that about two weeks before the July flooding, the county had just received the final check for damage caused during the November 2024 flooding.

District 1 Associate Commissioner Pfeiffer added that the bids for the Sig Bass, Arlie Barr and Whilhite Road low-water crossings were awarded. Construction on the Sig Bass Road low-water crossing began on Sept. 14, and construction on Arlie Barr started on Sept. 16.

“We are in the process of lining up a…contractor to assist with Keysville (Road) as we speak. They are potentially available the first of October for us to be able to…start putting Keysville back together,” Pfeiffer said. “This morning they’re out on Yocum Road with a undermine project that we have going on there. They’re going to flood a low water crossing there. They built a kind of a little concrete berm, and then they’re going to flood that with concrete this morning to shore it back up, so they can eventually start the construction process of John Coleman (Road), which we are still delayed with due to the railroad not giving us the easement as of yet.”

District 2 Associate Commissioner Jared Boast said that the Smith Road bridge is about 15 percent complete. The old structure has been removed and a temporary crossing installed.

He also mentioned that he has received multiple emails about when brush is going to be cut on various roads. Unfortunately, one brush cutter is waiting at a repair facility, and the other is down and waiting on parts.

County Clerk Kim Gibbs announced that for the upcoming Nov. 3 election, they have been instructed by the Secretary of State to use the 2022 congressional maps instead of the 2025 maps like during the primary election.

“We’ve already been instructed that there are several lawsuits, but right now, this is what we’re supposed to do,” Gibbs said.

Continuing the discussion from September 8th, Presiding Commissioner Steve Black mentioned that Boland Energy was contacted to inquire about their willingness to offer a proposed price for all county employees, similar to what Ozark Gas had done. They responded by agreeing to provide county employees with a rate of $1.35 per gallon of propane. The initial bid was $1.25 per gallon for county-owned facilities, while Ozark Gas proposed a rate of $1.39 for both county facilities and county employees who owned their own tanks. If county employees needed a leased tank, the rate was $1.49 per gallon. Boast said that with Boland, county employees would need to own their own tank to get the reduced price because they are not allowed to fill somebody else’s tank.

A motion to accept Boland Energy’s propane bid was approved with a 3-0 vote.

AK Britton Construction, LLC was the only bid submitted for remodeling the front of the Crawford County Courthouse. He bid the project for $76 ,000. Black was very concerned about the lack of submitted bids.

“So, since I’ve been on the commission, every construction project that we bid out, there’s been one bid, and it’s been from Kevin Britton. And I don’t know why nobody else is,” Black said.

The commissioners were surprised the bid wasn’t over six figures since the remodeling isn’t just a “face lift,” but is making modifications to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A motion to award the project to AK Britton Construction, LLC was approved by a 3-0 vote.

There was only one bid, submitted by Jason Evans, for $600 per cut, for a total of $1,200 annually, to brush hog the landfill.

In other business, there will not be a commission meeting on Oct. 6.