Cape County Commission opens road bids; hears request to add Riverside library employees to insurance plan

The Cape Girardeau County Commission accepted bids Monday for an upcoming grading and road improvement project on county roads 365 and 343. Five bids were submitted by businesses from Jackson, Friedheim and Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Commissioners Paul Koeper and Jay Purcell approved a motion to refer the bids, ranging in price from $134,082 to $205,248, to the county's highway engineer for further analysis and recommendation. Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones was not present at the meeting.

Also during Monday's meeting, Nancy Howland, director of Riverside Regional Library, asked the commission to consider including the library's employees in the county employees' health insurance plan. Howland said insurance costs are rising, and joining with the county's coverage may offer a lower rate for library employees.

The commission did not take action on the matter, but asked Howland to create a proposal that included pertinent information about the affected employees and forward it to County Clerk Kara Clark Summers.

Library employees are not on the county's payroll, but the library is a county agency, the county commission appoints the library's board members and the county commission collects taxes for the benefit of the library. In the past, other county agencies without employees on the payroll have been included in the county employees health insurance coverage.