Brad Dicus, a resident of Meramec Township, reported that a private citizen illegally put a locked gate across a thoroughfare, which blocked primary southern access to the woods and the Woodson K. Woods Memorial Conservation area.

“This matter of disagreement is a matter of settled law, actually. First, under RSMO No. 228190, any road used by the public and maintained with public funds for a period of 10 years is conclusively deemed a public road,” Dicus said. “Meramec Farms Road meets this criteria, and has a vital artery for Missouri taxpayers to access state-protected land for decades.”

He also mentioned that under RSMO No. 228110, the road can only be vacated if it’s proven to be useless, which it isn’t because it provides access to state conservation land, and that under RSMO No. 229150, it is a misdemeanor to willfully obstruct a public road by fencing across it.

Associate Commissioner of District 1 Mark Pfeiffer explained that the situation will be dealt with through legal work by filing the appropriate paperwork and having it served.

“No drop of blood, or nobody’s life or piece of equipment is worth a gate, and I will absolutely not put my crew in harm’s way,” Pfeiffer said. “Until this is deescalated...(until) we know it’s safe, I will not send the road crew out.”

Project Engineer Krysta Swartz with Great River Engineering presented the commissioners with plans for the John Coleman Road bridge.

“We’re looking at a 90-foot span, single span that’s going in, and so the bottom of the beams is going to sit approximately where the top of the deck is now,” Swartz said. “So we’re raising it up quite a bit, but opening that span up will allow the required hydraulic capacity to flow through.”

The bridge approach will be concrete, with concrete approach pavement extending from it.

“It’ll have that two-to-one slope, similar to what they’re doing on Sellers (Road) right now,” Swartz said. “And then that slope will terminate into a three-foot toe wall that’ll be armored with a type two rock blanket.”

Currently, the estimated cost of the bridge is approximately $670,000, with the county responsible for about $139,000 after accounting for grant money.

Treasurer Karen Sikes explained that once a year, the money collected for marriage licenses is sent to Russell House, which is a domestic and sexual violence service provider and shelter that serves Phelps, Crawford, Dent and Maries counties. This year, they collected $783.14 for marriage licenses.

“Now I got some good news. Now I’ve been working with Tyler (Technologies), our software company, trying to get some money back that we had been paying, for a service that we are not using to the tune of around $20,000,” Sikes said. “If my calculations are correct, then we’re going to get a credit of $37,931.30, that’s not counting the $20,286.23 that they had on the bill in November.”

Sikes informed the commissioners that they have been paying for the unused service for about four years, and will not pay the November bill until it is fixed.

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black read a Facebook post made by citizen Jax Jenson, who has been very vocal against the use tax. Jenson responded to Black’s questioning.

“You’re a good guy. I like you a lot. I’m sure you do a lot of good around the community,” Jenson said. “It was all about the county government needs more money in order to help these people because you think you can do more with their money than they can.”

Black agreed that there might be some truth to that statement when citizens call about potholes and their culverts, and the revenue generated from the use tax would help with that.

Jenson believes that the tax would cause more harm than good.

“No, I know you’re a thoughtful guy who cares about people. That was, it was just entirely in regards to the use tax,” Jenson said. “All the discussion is always, look at all the good things that the county can do, instead of, look at the harm it might cause to people.”

Black received an email from the Executive Director of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission Bonnie Prigge, to inform the commissioners about the opportunity zones initiative.

“They’re federally designated economically distressed census tracts that attract private investment through capital gains tax incentives. Investors who reinvest their gains in qualified opportunity funds which finance businesses, housing or infrastructure within designated zones can reduce and defer capital gains and eliminate taxes on new appreciation if they hold the investment long enough,” Prigge wrote. “The goal is to channel long-term capital into communities that have the potential for growth but struggle to access traditional financing.

According to Prigge, the north side of Steelville and all of Cuba are able to look into these opportunity zones.

Chairman Curt Faigle of the 100 Acre Wood Rally provided an update on their last race, which utilized some Crawford County roads on March 13, beginning with the Rally Fest held at Hood Park.

There was a total of 67 entries with approximately 1,500 people who showed up at Rally Fest to meet the drivers.

“(Traffic) was backed all the way out onto the highway. I heard people say it took them 40 minutes just to get in, so we’re gonna have to look at that next year or next time we do it,” Faigle said. “But the food trucks all sold out...and it seemed like the thing at Hood Park was really a success.”

Trying to figure out its impact on the community while at racing events, the organization asks people who came to the event about how much they think they spent on things like food and fuel. It was estimated to be bout $2.5 million over the span of three counties, with Crawford County getting about 35 percent of that revenue.

In other business, Sheriff Darin Layman announced that he, along with some other heads of safety entities in Crawford County, took part in an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activation drill. The scenario was a flood, where they were able to identify areas of concern and what to do in that situation.