JONES OBJECTS TO FIRM'S HIRING; COMMISSIONER FAVORS IN-COUNTY ENGINEER

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones stood alone against his colleagues during a recent vote on whether to hire an engineering firm from outside Cape Girardeau County to design a local bridge.

The commission hired Smith and Co. engineering of Poplar Bluff to build a bridge on County Road 351. Commissioners Larry Bock and Max Stovall voted to hire the firm; Jones voted against hiring the company.

Jones thinks county jobs should go to county firms and that no local companies were contacted about the bridge work planned for southwest of Millersville.

Jones said Bock, as District 1 commissioner, is responsible for roads and bridges.

Jones said he first learned the other commissioners were considering an out-of-county firm at last week's meeting.

"I was a little upset at first, but I don't have anything against the Smith firm or the other commissioners," Jones said. "My only problem is that no Cape County firms were contacted. Period. It's Cape County money and we should spend it here or at least give them the opportunity to get involved."

Jones said that there are six engineering firms in the county and none of them was contacted.

Representatives of five of the six firms said their firm could not do this type of bridge or would not be interested in the job.

Meanwhile, Bock said he is dissatisfied with the only Cape Girardeau engineering firm capable of designing this type of bridge, Bowen and Lawson Professional Engineers and Surveyors.

The Bowen and Lawson firm is still trying to get bids out on another county bridge it has been working on for more than four years, Bock said.

"When I first talked to Mr. (Rich) Bowen, he said it'd take about two years before we got out for bids," Bock said. "We were not happy with it being four-and-a-half years down the road and not having a bridge yet."

He said Bowen wouldn't give him a straight answer about the reasons for the delay and that several letters have been sent with no response.

Bock said Jones was invited to a meeting when commissioners looked into firms and Jones chose not to attend. He said that Steve Duke of the Missouri Department of Transportation recommended three firms, one in Poplar Bluff, one in Jefferson City and one in Sikeston.

Bock said he favors hiring local labor when possible.

"If we can do that, that's great," Bock said, "but when you're present engineering firm is not providing you with the service you would like, you go somewhere else. It's just a business decision. I try to make the best decision for taxpayers as I can."

Gerald Jones said it's over as far as he's concerned.

"It's done. We voted. It was 2-1, I lost," Jones said. "Hiring Cape people has always been the way we've done business. On this project, it wasn't. I'm not slamming these guys and I don't want a public fight, nobody wins. But that's the way I see it; that's why I was opposed. I was upset at the time but we'll work through it."

Richard Bowen, Stovall and Duke could not be reached for comment.