Danny Brown, Crawford County road consultant and bridge engineer, on Dec. 23, gave commissioners a bridge report with expected completion dates.

Brown explained that the replacement of Butts Road bridge over Courtois Creek is going well and expects a quick completion. Depending on the weather, he expects both the Butts Road bridge and the High Point Road bridge over Brush Creek to be finished in two-and-a-half weeks.

“High Point, setting the beams out...yesterday. We’ll be grouting today,” Brown said. “...Both bridges come together about the same time, and we’re looking good.”

On the Woolsey Road box culvert repair, Brown said everything’s on schedule, and commented on some costly issues with the Sellers Road bridge over Mill Rock Creek. 

“We started on it last week. They dug it out, put in a crossing Wednesday, put in two big tankers in there (to) detour the water....Got the Bridge all busted out, started drilling...,” Brown said. “Forestry, not going to blame anywhere, don’t get me wrong, but the forestry made the design for this bridge. They did the core sample drilling on how deep the bedrock was.”

According to the core sample drilling, the bedrock was located three to three and a half feet below the surface, but those working to replace the bridge found it to be 13-and-a-half feet below the surface. This is a costly mistake for the county, which they hope to rectify by finding additional funding.

“...Just on the South Bend alone, it increases the value probably about another $43,200, just on that one side only,” Brown said.

The bridge design from the Forest Service calls for spiral rebar that goes from the top, down into the shoulders of the bridge. What was ordered was tailored to the original core drilling measurements, and Brown said it can’t be spiced together, so they have to order more with the correct measurements.

“That’s going to jump us about another $42,000 to $43,000, (and) hope the other side will drill out right (so) we can use our spirals on that side,” Brown said. “...If we have to wait and get new spirals, which I’m sure we’re going to have to, that could put us another three weeks deadline on the wait time....With the tariffs and everything, we had a hard time getting the first set.”

Planning for the John Coleman Road bridge replacement over the Huzzah Creek is going “just okay.”

“The railroad is kind of giving us a little hang-up on the right-of-way issue because they got a 60-foot easement there,” Brown said. “...But they’ve been corresponding back pretty good here the last week-and-a-half.”

Associate Commissioner Mark Pfeiffer said that if they can’t find additional funding, District 1 will be on the hook for the extra cost.

“So that’ll be at the beginning, $43,000 straight out of the budget come Jan. 1, basically. So that’s a huge setback right off the bat,” Pfeiffer said.

Brown believed that even though everyone makes mistakes, the core drilling should have gone down at least another three feet from where it stopped just to make sure it was bedrock all the way down. He is looking into other possible sources of funding, but didn’t want to clarify what it was until he had more information.

Discussion on adding a use tax to the ballot continued for a fourth week. Associate Commissioner District 2 Jared Boast presented data on sales tax-able sales, use tax-able sales and what the money would have gone to if the county had a use tax between 2021-24.

Using data provided by the Missouri Department of Revenue public information reports, over all four years of data, Crawford County could have collected $2,156,142.70 from having a use tax. It would then be divided out 20 percent to the county wages and benefits, 20 percent to the courthouse and jail capital improvement (C.I.) and 60 percent to District 1 and 2 road districts.

Capital improvement is additions of a permanent structural change or restoration of some aspect of a property, in this case, the county courthouse and jail, to improve the property’s overall value, adapt it to new uses or prolong a building's usefulness.

That would mean that $661,578.44 would go towards county wages and benefits, $76,189.26 for courthouse and jail C.I. and $114,283.90 per road district.

“...If this tax passes, I need to be very clear, this is not going to fix every road and bridge issue in Crawford County,” Boast said. “...It will definitely be a huge step in the correct direction of getting the roads maintained properly in upgrades where possible.”

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black read a business card that was passed out in Phelps County to help educate the voters on use tax.

“...It levels the playing field for local businesses to compete with online or out-of-state companies who currently don’t collect local taxes,” Black read.

Black commented on citizens’ dislike of paying taxes, but the county doesn’t have the ability to fix road damage without a financial revenue source. The county’s only revenue is funded by tax dollars.

Local citizen Jax Jenson is opposed to having an additional tax and said that it isn’t voluntary to pay.

“I have yet to hear any of you address the fact that this will help the county by inflicting extra harm on citizens who have to pay the tax. You can’t both say that it’s totally voluntary, at the same time, acknowledging that we can’t get the things that we need in the county,” Jenson said.

Pfeiffer said that he doesn’t know the percentage of online or out-of-state sales that are actual needs versus wants.

“What do you think the percentage is of need versus want? Because I’ll have to be honest with you, I know what my online sales are at the house, and they’re not needs. They’re not needs — they’re wants,” Pfeiffer said.

Boast also clarified that if vendors in the county are buying items to resell, then they aren’t paying sales tax, just shipping.

There was discussion over what services the county would be willing to give up if the use tax doesn’t pass.

In other business, the 100 Acre Wood Rally received a 3-0 vote, approving the request to hold their race in Crawford County.