County road and bridge advisory board holds fast to policy

The two decisions made by Cape Girardeau Road and Bridge Advisory Board on Tuesday were simple.

The first refers a request from property owners living along County Road 623 to get a variance on easements to Cape Girardeau County commissioners.

The advisory board affirmed its agreement to stick to the road paving policy adopted by the county commission in 1999 stating that all easements must be 60 feet.

On County Road 623, all but two property owners signed easements, but they cannot get their road paved because the remaining property owners have balked at signing larger easements than their neighbors.

The board also reviewed its options for handling a contract with Blevins Asphalt of Mount Vernon, Mo., for chip-and-seal paving.

Blevins bid $788,124 to pave nearly 12 miles of county roads. The company arrived early to do the work. Two county roads, 363 and 383 were not graded in time by county workers, so Blevins could not pave them. Highway administrator Scott Bechtold asked Blevins to submit a change order to return and finish the paving, but the change orders would have cost the county nearly 75 percent more per road than the original bid. The board agreed to hold off the paving until next year. It is not clear how the outstanding portion of the contract will be resolved.

Bechtold also offered a list of roads for the 2009 hard surfacing program. Board chairman Larry Payne expressed disappointment on learning that slightly more than six miles were listed, when the county has more than 23 miles of roads with signed and recorded easements.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

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