COMMISSIONERS HANDLE BRIDGE PLANNING

The Cape Girardeau County Commission recently found itself in disagreement when it sought an engineer to design a new bridge on County Road 351 southwest of Millersville.

The commission hired Smith and Co. of Poplar Bluff to do the engineering work, and that prompted the presiding county commissioner, Gerald Jones, to raise questions about giving the job to an out-of-county contractor.

There are six engineering firms in Cape Girardeau County, but five said they couldn't do the job or wouldn't be interested. The sixth has been engaged for four years in work on another bridge in the county and still doesn't have it out for bids. A representative of that company told County Commissioner Larry Bock that if the company took the job it would be two years before the bridge on County Road 351 could be put out for bids.

Dissatisfied with the delay on the bridge already under contract to the county, Bock didn't want that company getting another contract. Bock said he too favors hiring Cape Girardeau County firms, but not when the company is providing unsatisfactory service.

Bock and Commissioner Max Stovall voted to hire the Poplar Bluff firm. Jones voted against it.

The county commission should give county work to local firms, but not when it means hiring a company it is dissatisfied with.

In this case, the commission did the right thing in hiring the Poplar Bluff engineering firm. Taking years to put a bridge out for bids is unacceptable.