Cape Girardeau County awards highway department bids

The Cape Girardeau County Commission awarded bids on two highway department projects Thursday and agreed to allow private developers to pave a small portion of public road at no expense to the county.

Scott Bechtold, county highway administrator, reviewed the bids submitted last week for both projects and recommended the county award a contract to grade County Road 506 to Tom Beussink Excavating Inc. of Jackson, who provided the lowest bid of six received at $127,210. The grading project will be funded the Prop 1 Hard Surfacing Program.

The county also followed Bechtold's recommendation to purchase a 1,000-gallon heated oil storage tank to use on highway asphalt patching projects from Wm. Nobbe & Co. Inc. of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., for $22,395. A number of bids and equipment configurations were submitted by three companies last Monday. The tank includes a trailer, transfer pump and motor and will be paid for out of the Road and Bridge budget.

Associate Commissioner Paul Koeper said that Hawks Landing Development LLC of Jackson and Enclave Lake Devco LLC of Granite City, Ill., which are building a subdivision along County Road 325 near Gordonville, approached the county for approval to pave 0.4 miles of that road at a cost of approximately $50,000 to create uninterrupted pavement from their development into town. The commission approved the request, which will not incur any county expenses.

The county also selected Koehler Engineering and Land Surveying Inc. of Cape Girardeau for negotiations on a contract to design a replacement bridge over the Old Whitewater Channel on County Road 272 in Randles.

The bridge will cost $325,000 to $350,000 to replace, Commissioner Paul Koeper estimated earlier this month. Federal funds from fuel taxes allocated to the county to replace bridges that lie outside major state road systems, matched with credits the county has earned for funding state-specified projects will pay for the bridge.

If an agreement cannot be reached with Koehler Engineering that is approved by both the county and Missouri Department of Transportation, the county will move to the next most qualified applicant of the eight that submitted their qualifications.

In a road maintenance update, Koeper said County Road 436 is being prepared with gravel for paving next week, weather permitting.

The Cape Girardeau County Juvenile Detention Center submitted attendance totals for April. Boys attended school there a total of 42 days, girls 31 days. Daily totals ranged from zero to eight students.

Agenda appointments to discuss personnel changes in the collector's office and to hear a proposal regarding county elections equipment were postponed until Monday.

salderman@semissourian.com

388-3648

Pertinent address:

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO

Randles, MO