HERMANN – The Gasconade County Commission Thursday morning split in a vote on who should pay to correct a design flaw at the site of a new bridge recently built on Valentine Ford Road.

The 2-1 vote to hold consulting engineering firm Archer-Elgin responsible for the $15,862 bill to correct a standing water problem marks the first time county administrators differed in a vote since Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, took office. Schulte and Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, agreed the engineering firm should bear the cost of repairing the problem, which all three commissioners agreed amounted to a design flaw on the part of the work done by the engineer who worked on the bridge project.

However, Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, argued that the bill should be paid through the use of the county’s Bridge Replacement Offsystem (BRO) program, a fund that is provided to counties through the Missouri Department of Transportation that helps cover the cost of bridge construction.

The problem arose when an area of ground near the new bridge was not built up to prevent standing water during heavy rains. To remedy the situation, county Road Department workers dumped several truck loads of rock in the area – which was about half the cost of what it would have been had the county contracted out the work.

“My thoughts, it’s Archer,” said Schulte. “They need to eat it. This was their mess up,” he added.

“It was their mistake,” noted Holland.

“It was a mistake; I’m not debating that,” replied Lairmore, who wanted to use BRO funds after MoDOT told Archer-Elgin that the fund could be used to cover the cost to correct the situation.

After Lairmore’s motion to use BRO money failed to receive a second, Schulte moved to send the bill to the engineering firm. Holland seconded the motion.

“I feel Archer-Elgin is responsible,” the presiding commissioner said.

The vote came after the Commission met with Jeff Medows of Archer-Elgin to discuss the matter and, the administrators had hoped, to learn more about the status of the proposed elevator at the courthouse and the planned construction of three storage buildings on county property – projects that would be funded through the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money. The commissioners a day earlier with an Archer-Elgin engineer about those projects. “We talked about the elevator,” Schulte said, noting that the staff engineer “thought the cheapest way would be (to locate the elevator) out here in the Rotunda.”

County officials initially have been proposing an elevator be constructed on the outside of the building at the east-side entrance. However, indications are that an outside lift would be more expensive than one installed inside the building. Schulte said the engineer would develop plans for both a two-floor and a three-floor elevator.

Commissioners have been eager to hear firm estimates for the elevator project — and the construction of two storage buildings at the Road Department site in Drake and one building at the Sheriff’s Department site in Swiss — so they can make plans on considering the more-than-a-dozen applications for a share of the ARPA funds. Those applications have been processed by the Meramec Regional Planning Commission and are awaiting action by the County Commission.

Schulte said he is hoping that Archer-Elgin, which was contracted to work on the projects several months ago at the urging of then-Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, will have some firm cost estimates to consider shortly. “Maybe we’ll get something back in a month or so. We’ve got to get the ball rolling,” Schulte said. “So,” he added, “hurry up and wait. We’re going to sit back and wait for some numbers.”

The county has about $2.3 million remaining of its $2.8-million ARPA allotment. About $600,000 was approved for distribution during the first round of applications last year for a share of the money. The pending applications are requesting a total of $1.4 million. How many applications will be approved — and for how much money — is unclear. As county administrators have pointed out, the cost of installing an elevator and constructing the three storage buildings in large part will determine how many ARPA dollars will be available to those requesting a share.

The county has until the end of next year to commit the use of the ARPA funds and until the end of 2026 to have the money actually spent.