BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Commission was notified that an inspection of the County Road 499 bridge over the St. Francis River in the western part of the county would be performed on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The inspection is being done by Horner and Shifrin, Inc., an engineering firm in St. Louis, in conjunction with the Department of Transportation.
The bridge has been closed since the 2011 flood. The bridge is on the Stoddard/Butler County line. The total cost of the inspection is $18,076, with Stoddard County paying $1,807.60. Butler County will share the 20 percent local matching funds required by MoDOT.
Butler County officials believed the bridge could be reopened if the approaches to the bridge were repaired. The structural integrity of the bridge (an old railroad bridge) came into question. The study is to determine if the bridge is structurally sound. Officials can then decide if they want to make the needed repairs to reopen the bridge.
The commission also approved paying $500 for landscaping at the old courthouse and the Stoddard County Trust Building. Donna Deardorff and Dot Pullum have been keeping up the landscape through their own expense, with some contributions.
Commissioner Frank Sifford said the landscapes at both buildings were a big asset and created a favorable impression to the public. He made the motion to provide $500 from the Buiding and Grounds account. Commissioner Carol Jarrell seconded, and it passed by a 3-0 vote with Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis concurring.
Deardorff attended the commission meeting to ask the commission to approve an application by the City of Bloomfield for a Safe Route to School grant administered by MoDOT. She said the grant would be used to construct sidewalks on streets leading to the Bloomfield School campus. She said the grant was the same one used to make sidewalk improvements in the city previously.
'There will be no cost to the county," Deardorff told the commission.
"I'm 100 percent in favor of it," said Sifford joking. "We will approve anything that doesn't cost us anything."
The commission signed the necessary paperwork for the grant application.
Mathis said flu shots to county office holders and employees would take place Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Commission Room. The shots are given by the Stoddard County Public Health Center.
Mathis also announced that Republic Services was having an Open House on Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. He noted that the commission should have someone there to represent the county.
County Clerk Joe Watson reported that 549 people had voted by absentee ballots as of Monday morning. Mathis said he was surprised that the numbers weren't higher. Watson said it had been steady, and he looked for the absentee voters to increase as the election nears.