Bridge bid awarded

MoDOT must approve county's builder choice

CHARLESTON -- Assuming MoDOT approves the choice, Joe's Bridge and Grading of Poplar Bluff will build Mississippi County's next new bridge.

Bids for construction of a new bridge on County Road 522 over the Wolf Hole Lateral were opened during the regular County Commission meeting Thursday.

Commissioners selected the apparent low bidder, Joe's Bridge and Grading, which offered to do the job for $208,099.80.

Also bidding were J.W. Githens of Poplar Bluff at $216,611.90; Robertson Contractors Inc. at $237,395.50; Penzel Construction Co. of Jackson, $224,605.90; and Randy Kinder Excavating of Dexter, $238,782.50.

The bid award is contingent on the Missouri Department of Transportation's concurrence, according to Dennis Cox, an engineer for Smith and Co. of Poplar Bluff.

While the bids came in higher than the $170,000 estimated by the engineers, Cox said he doesn't think MoDOT will make them rebid the project.

Cox also presented commissioners with a map showing another 10 bridges that are eligible for funding through the Off-Systems Bridge Replacement Program for possible future projects.

The Off-Systems Bridge Replacement Program allocates Federal Highway Administration funding through MoDOT to counties based on the total number of bridges and the number of deficient bridges within the county.

"This is not a competitive situation," Cox said. "This is an allocation for the county." The amount allocated each year varies with the federal budget, he said.

Cox recommended looking at bridges near the end of next year to line up a project for 2010.

"We appreciate that map," Commissioner Homer Oliver said. "That's a good deal."

Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg said the county has built four bridges with assistance from the Off-Systems Bridge Replacement Program over the last decade, the largest of which was a three-span bridge at Four Mile Pond.

In other business Thursday:

* Budget amendments for the end of the year were approved.

According to County Clerk Junior DeLay, $50,000 was added to both the revenue and expenditure sides of the law enforcement fund budget. No additional funds needed to be transferred, however, as more revenue from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was received than projected in the budget, according to DeLay.

Due to a salary adjustment for courthouse employees, $6,920 was added to the expenditure side of the general revenue fund budget and $3,240 was added to the expenditure side of the reassessment operating fund budget.

No adjustment was needed for the revenue side of these funds as there were sufficient funds budgeted already, DeLay said.

* The financial audit for the county was reviewed by commissioners.

Unlike the performance audit by the state auditor's office on the entire county, "there were no findings and no recommendations," DeLay said.

The financial audit, which was contracted out by the state auditor's office, focuses on the county clerk's and treasurer's offices, according to DeLay.

* Commissioners discussed having an employee of the county road and bridge department do the excavation on ditch cleanouts funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

The EWP program will pay 75 percent of the cost of removing about two feet of silt caused by spring flooding.

"We'll never get an opportunity like this again," Blumenberg said.

EWP projects in the county would be 7.5 miles of Ditch 10, five miles of Ditch 3 and three miles of Lee Row Ditch, according to Commissioner Martin Lucas.

Lucas said these ditches tie into other ditches being cleaned out by adjacent drainage districts with EWP funds.

Projects must be completed within 219 days of when the bid is awarded, Lucas said.

* A one-year computer maintenance agreement with Joss Inc. was approved for the county's mainframe computer.

The quarterly cost of $5,750 is up from last year's $4,500 due to additional tax assessment and tax billing software, DeLay said.

* County officials elected to take office Jan. 1 will be sworn in at 3 p.m. Dec. 31 in the circuit courtroom at the courthouse, according to DeLay.

* Next week's county commission meeting will be Wednesday instead of Thursday due to the holiday.