HERMANN — Just how bureaucracy laden is a local-government public works project?

Well, in the case of a bridge replacement on Valentine Ford Road the board holding the various and sundry required documents could well be the most noticeable part of the project after the span itself.

Rob Conaway of Archer-Elgin, Gasconade County’s consulting engineers, on Thursday told prospective bidders on the project that nearly three dozen documents will have to be posted at the work site to satisfy various governmental agency requirements. Thirty-two individual pieces of paper will be available for viewing as the 110-foot-long water crossing is constructed. The crossing is located in the Mt. Sterling area.

Contractors learned that 180 working days have been set aside for construction of the span with a Nov. 30, 2022, absolute deadline penciled in. The 6-month period was settled on in part because the work site is in a flood plain. Conaway suggested to the contracting companies — of which one is scheduled to have its bid approved at tomorrow’s County Commission meeting in Owensville — that they plan to take advantage of a nearby property owner’s offer of staging their equipment and materials on his higher property in case of heavy rains that could put the work site area under water.

Four potential bidders attended Thursday’s pre-bid meeting with Conaway. Archer-Elgin also serves as the consulting engineers for Hermann and Owensville.

The Commission continues to deal with issues involving the Road Department. While there remains a key vacancy — for brush cutter operators — other matters within the agency are requiring more attention from administrators. For instance, there is some discussion about possible retirement of some employees and a move to write checks to cover accumulated sick leave. Historically, paying off sick leave is a matter of concern for county officials, but lower-than-normal staffing of the agency has given commissioners the financial ability cover those costs.

Tomorrow’s monthly meeting with Road Department employees at Drake prior to the Commission’s first-Thursday-of-the-month meeting at Owensville City Hall will allow administrators to further discuss the staffing situation within the agency.

The annual meeting of the Commission, representatives of Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) and MoDOT District Engineer Preston Kramer to discuss the on-going 5-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) is set for Nov. 18. At the gathering, the three agencies, usually with representatives of some of the county’s municipalities in attendance, review the 5-year schedule of local projects and identify a set of priority projects for the next round of state transportation funding.

Similar meetings are held in the Meramec Region’s other seven counties.

After the Commission settles on priority projects, the matter goes back to MRPC where that agency’s Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) reviews all the counties’ proposed priority projects and settles on a master list. That list then goes before the MRPC Board of Directors, which can accept the list as proposed or revise it. From there, it goes to MoDOT where officials settle on a final list of projects.

Work from home option

On a matter involving a work-from-home policy covering county employees, the Commission decided it does not need to act on such as policy as the one presented by the Assessor’s Office. Rather, administrators said, scheduling of employees in the various departments is up to the individual elected officeholder. 

“Don’t they have that ability already?” asked Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville. “It’s not our call,” he added.

Miskel noted that “as long as there is no conflict” with countywide employee policies, each office can adopt its own work-from-home policy for its employees.

The proposal before the administrators was presented a week earlier by Deputy Assessor Julia Baker and was intended to cover office employees affected by COVID-19, either directly or, in the case of a school-age child who might be quarantined.

A third communications company will be invited to make a presentation to county government departments about a new telephone system for the various offices. Two companies already have outlined proposals, said County Clerk Lesa Lietzow.

The phone system in the courthouse is a couple decades old and is limited in its ability to handle and transfer calls between offices. Any new system, which is estimated to cost about $20,000, would be included in next year’s budget.