Road, bridge board mulls ways to revise paving policy

A person who does something right "never hears about it," said John Helderman, midway through Cape Girardeau County's road and bridge board meeting. "But when you do something wrong, you never hear the end of it."

Fellow members of the board chuckled and nodded and resumed discussing how the county's road paving policy can be fixed.

One message clearly delivered by 1st District County Commissioner Paul Koeper, who attends most road and bridge meetings, is that the policy, approved by the commission in 1999, is no sacred cow.

Koeper, fresh off a round of town hall meetings that drew nearly 50 people to a Fruitland meeting but only seven to Delta's city hall, offered a list of potential revisions to the volunteer road and bridge board members but said they did not have to accept any of his ideas.

"You're not going to hurt my feelings one way or the other," he said. "I just wanted to get you something we can work with. I don't want to make it worse."

Brainstorming

The board began brainstorming ways to develop a consistent set of guidelines for paving priorities. Traffic counts won't work, as Shawnee Township representative Bill Hahs pointed out, because roads near cities will automatically get top priority, leaving smaller communities waiting. Apple Creek Township representative Ken Evans reminded the board that the last time traffic counts were used, some tried to boost the numbers by recruiting people to repeatedly drive over the counting device.

Residents who attended Koeper's town hall meetings in February expressed a number of opinions, according to Koeper's report. Some want the county to fix deteriorating chip-and-seal paving before starting new paving; others asked for a cost analysis, bigger culverts or a variable easement. One man was less interested in getting his road paved than bladed.

Koeper's suggestions include halting any new easements until a new policy is approved. He would also require a 60-foot easement, with few exceptions; give priority to roads with completed easement or those that are unsafe; place hot-mix asphalt on high-volume roads and chip-and-seal paving on less-traveled roads. He also suggested requiring contractors to apply rock as part of a paving contract and giving property owners a one-year notice to move fences and other property before preparing a road for paving.

Aiming for fairness

Bridge board chairman Larry Payne called Koeper's suggestions "a damned good start."

Payne said the new policy must be consistent, fair and offer the best value for the taxpayers' dollars.

The board members agreed to thoroughly read Koeper's recommendations and meet again to begin fleshing out the new policy, which Koeper would be responsible for getting the commission to approve.

The road and bridge board meets again at 7 p.m. March 23 at the county administration building to set paving priorities for the summer.

Whitewater Township representative George Miller was not present at Monday's meeting. Koeper said afterward that Miller had submitted a letter of resignation. The remaining two years of Miller's term must be filled by someone from Whitewater. To apply for the seat on the road and bridge advisory board, call Koeper at 207-2516 or e-mail him at pkoeper@capecounty.us.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

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