CHARLESTON - Mississippi County's rural water district customers are a step closer to finally getting their water.
"We turned the water on in the northern end Monday," said Darren Kincy, an engineer for Green and Associates on the rural water system installation project, during Thursday's County Commission meeting.
Kincy said they are filling the lines, but have not flushed them, chlorinated the water or hooked up any homes yet.
"This job is 64 percent complete," Kincy said. "About 85 to 90 percent of the lines are in."
Those customers that paid $150 will have a water line extended to their property with a meter, according to Kincy, but their home will not be hooked up. If they paid $180, the line will go all the way to the structure.
Asked about recent signups, Kincy reported that "some are signing up and some are canceling," offering as examples of cancellations one person who died and another who went to a nursing home.
He predicted there would be more calls for signups once customers start getting water and word gets out to their neighbors.
In discussions Thursday relating to the county's road and bridge department:
* Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg said he spoke with an experienced worker in the professional paving business about the county's chip-and-seal blacktopping plans and received advice on the process.
First road crews need to remove any loose material from the chat gravel base and spray it with sealing oil.
After letting it set for a few days, crews should then lay down the chip-and-seal quality oil, the rock chips "and then roll it with the pneumatic roller," Blumenberg said, "and we ought to come out with a decent road out there."
Blumenberg said they should also take note of the actual cost for the process.
Commissioners discussed using a section of County Highway 401, Hurley Road, for the test run.
Commissioner Homer Oliver said if the results with the chip-and-seal process are as good as they hope, they may need to reconsider some of the cold mix projects.
The price for cold mix asphalt is still at last year's price, $20.75 per ton, according to Blumenberg, while tack oil has gone up from 92 cents per gallon to $1.02.
Blumenberg also suggested putting more money - maybe around $10,000 - into sealing oil and doing fewer blacktop overlays.
While potato trucks are kind of hard on the roads, really "our problem is lack of traffic and stuff drying out," Oliver agreed.
* Commissioners agreed unpaved roads around the county seem to be in good shape, if somewhat over-graded.
"The gravel roads I've been on are in really, really good shape," said Oliver.
Commissioners did discuss asking motor grader operators to blade off ridges that have built up between the edges of some gravel roads and adjacent ditches to allow the water to drain from the roadway, or at least cut through the ridges to allow drainage.
* Oliver said county road crews need to use washers to help secure signs to wooden posts as the nail heads are about the same size as the holes.
Commissioners also discussed having county road crews use the Johnson grass spraying truck instead of the department's larger pickup truck when out replacing signs. "It's just a gas burner," said Blumenberg of the larger truck.
* Oliver noted a section of Hurley Road that has a low shoulder that needs to be built up.
In other county business:
* An agricultural land mapping contract for the assessor's office to add a soil quality information overlay to the county's Geographic Information System was approved.
"He should have done this to start with," said Lucas, who recalled advising County Assessor Bill Thompson to make the soil quality overlay part of the original package. "Now he's realizing he needs it."
The cost to add the soil quality overlay is $5,250.
* Commissioners approved the purchase of a 2001 used Missouri State Highway Patrol vehicle for $11,750 for the Sheriff's Department as part of the regular patrol vehicle replacement schedule.
"All of the vehicles have less than 50,000," said County Clerk Junior DeLay of the Patrol's used vehicle pool.
Officials will next select two vehicles to rotate out, declare surplus property and sell them.
* The courthouse will not be left open after closing time during this year's Dogwood-Azalea Festival.
Charleston City Hall will be open, however, to provide public restrooms, DeLay said.
Blumenberg also asked if all the county's flags were in good condition.
Streets along the yard-tour route will temporarily be made one-way beginning Thursday, according to officials.
* Oliver reported the trapper hired by the county has already removed about 15 beavers from Ditch 10.
Commissioners also discussed other places the trapping services are needed.