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Cape county road and bridge board hunts for more moneyTuesday, October 7, 2008For nearly two hours Monday night, members of the Cape Girardeau County road and bridge advisory board combed through a recap of the 2008 road projects with one goal in mind: paving more roads in 2009. The county spent more than $1.9 million to improve about 14 miles of road this year. Another seven miles were ready for grading, but the work would cost $560,000. Only $116,080 remains available in the county paving account funded by Proposition 1. County Treasurer Roger Hudson delivered a spreadsheet showing actual figures from proposition revenue to date, as well as estimates for November and December, which, if they bear out, will put the hard surface fund more than $14,369 in the red. "We have 33 miles of roads ready to be paved," said Larry Payne, the advisory board chairman. He wants to figure out a way to move some of the $1 million sequestered in the county highway department's budget to the paving account. Advisory board members Dale Kester and David Blumenberg pointed out that, if the road projects were completed, the county would find a way to pay the bills. Fellow board member Ken Evans, while agreeing with their frustration, said he didn't want to see the county take on more debt. "It's like saying you know the mule is going blind, and saying 'Let's load up the mule even more!'" he said. He asked Scott Bechtold, the county highway administrator, if proposition money could be extended by having country crews prepare all the roads, instead of hiring contractors. "The profit motive is a wonderful thing," Bechtold said. "You can get more done by giving bonuses. But I can't give my men a bonus when they do a wonderful job. The public would say, 'That's what they get paid for, to bust their rears.' There is a difference." Payne said the key "is trying to figure out how to get money from [the county highway department] into hard surfacing" and that it would take a longer discussion. The board agreed to put it on the next meeting agenda. Payne, Evans and several other board members also made plans to review two chip and seal roads. "It's not the chip and seal that's bad. It's the base," Payne said. The next advisory board meeting is 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at the county administration building, 1 Barton Square in Jackson. 335-6611, extension 127 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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I'm still trying to find where the word BONUS was brought up by the advisory board. The only place I see BONUS mentioned, is in Mr. Bechtolds' statement?
So, couldn't the additional tax for paving---which was voted on by us all---be considered OUR BONUS?
And as for getting things done? Lay off the 60-foot easement. Even MODOT doesn't require that much!
And try working without "Knuckles" McClary, the countys' "hired-gun Palladin"---his actions are doing more to set back your paving program than you care to admit.
But then, that's what it's all about in the end, isn't it? As in, who "produced" the most favorable for the county commission, instead of it's REAL bosses, the county's landowners and/or taxpayers...?
Loading up blind mules and talk of kicking rears...wow, no wonder they accomplish so much in these meetings. Now - did anyone think about HOW MUCH THIS ROAD WORK WOULD COST, prior to beginning the break-neck pace to pave all the county roads? No. There never was a plan in place - it was all "let's go out and start paving roads"...The road way engineering plan was never submitted as required by Missouri State Statutes, and on, and on...You know, if I want to go out and buy something new, or add on to my house, I have to decide what I can afford first. You don't just start, and then say "oh, I guess I can't finish the job". This is ridiculous - but I don't mean to "kick any keesters"...
I am very interested in the information that Mr. Bock maintains some interest/ownership/silent partner status in one of the local quarries where the county purchases their gravel. I remember hearing Gerald Jones discuss his little investigation in one of the infamous "whiskeygate tapes", but is Mr. Jones the right person to investigate this allegation?