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County May Add Bay To Road/Bridge Shed For Salt Storage

By MARK EVANS

mevans@stegenherald.com

Ste. Genevieve County Commissioners and road and bridge foreman Scott Schmieder have decided that adding an extra bay to the road and  bridge shed near Weingarten may  be the best way to deal with the salt issue.

In past years the county has bought salt – used for clearing roads during winter storms – ahead of time from a St. Louis area company, who has then stored it on-site for the county until it was needed.

That option is no longer being offered leaving Schmieder and the commissioners seeking means of storing the road salt. It needs to be kept out of the weather.

Schmieder brought up the idea of adding a bay.

Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson said they must look at “the big picture” and said he was “not opposed to your idea.” He said he would need to see prices for the job before committing to the project.

The east side could remain open, rather than totally enclosing the bay. Epoxy would be put over a concrete foundation, to keep the salt from eating it away.

Salt was currently $92 a ton, delivered, Schmieder said.

Meanwhile, the commission approved Schmieder’s request to order nine rubber snow plow edges. The 12-inch edges are $1,770 apiece and the 11-inch variety is $1,620 apiece.

It was agreed that the rubber-edged blades save money in the long run over the cheaper metal blades. The metal blades tear up asphalt – especially chip and sealed paving – leading to frequent repair work.

“To me, you’re money ahead,” Second District Commissioner Randy Ruzicka said of the rubber edges.

Schmieder also reported that the rental tractor, used for pulling the bat wing mower, was down to about 40 hours on it. He said he would get it cleaned up and ready to return soon.

Schmieder said he had ordered a 20-foot section of pipe for St. Mary Cemetery Road.

With the availability of a concrete culvert pipe for Kocher Road pushed from September, to Oct. 19,the contract

BOX COVERED

DURING PAVING

One final headache cropped up for the Ste. Genevieve County Commission regarding the Progress Parkway crosswalk project.

Mike Light of Mike Light Concrete Finishers, who had been awarded the job, called during last Thursday’s commission meeting and said a problem had come up.

Citizens Electric Corporation (CEC)had not gotten a junction box to control a light pole moved by the time he had to pave over it. As Light explained, CEC personnel had said they would move the box before he had to pave over it,but had not been able to do so. With the window for getting the project done, however, Light had to go ahead with his work when they had not moved the box by Thursday.

Later CEC officials said there was no issue.  The box can still be reached by digging under the paving.

Nelson stressed that since the project is being partially funded by a Federal Highway grant, some $131,000 could have been lost if changes were made to the project without official approval, or if the deadline for completion was missed. A change order would have taken a week or longer to go through the channels.

“You did what you had to do,” Nelson told Light.