Despite Urging To Wrap Up 2019 Work, Road Crew Slowed By Weather

After taking off January 20 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the Ste. Genevieve County Commission met for about 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday, January 21, to take care of some business.

When road and bridge foreman Scott Schmieder reported to the commission, Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson told him he wanted to be able to “start the spring off with everything finished up from last year.”

Wrapping up all loose ends from 2019 is challenging, though, due to frequent needs to repair roads damaged by heavy rains or to fight snow.

Schmieder said one patch of Carron Road near Bloomsdale received between 1 1/2 and 2 inches of snow January 20, while other areas nearby got no measurable snow to speak of. He called the weather “weird.”

Bodine Road was one of the roads hardest hit by recent rains. Nelson reminded Schmieder to keep close track of work done and money spent on repairing weather damage on it and other roads in the hopes of getting eventual federal reimbursement.

“If it’s flood damage, track it,” Nelson said.

Schmieder said his crew would try to work on Saline Creek Road that day. It had also been postponed due to heavy rains that hit January 10 and January 11, necessitating crews to put their focus on road repair.

Schmieder said four people — including himself — worked on roads during the Monday holiday.

See complete story in the January 29 edition of the Herald.