The water damage on Lower Bottom Road will impact bus routes next month for the Blair Oaks School District.
County officials met with superintendents of Cole County high schools Tuesday at a first-time meet and greet. There, Public Works Director Larry Benz discussed with Blair Oaks Superintendent Jim Jones the road situation.
At its meeting later, the County Commission awarded a $48,700 contract to GREDELL Engineering Resources, Inc., to investigate the geotechnical elements below the approximately 200-by-250-square foot area. The contract includes complete design for repairs, which will be completed by the county if feasible, or contracted out if more substantial.
The slide is occuring only in that area, Benz assured the commission. But additional rainfall will accelerate the failure, he said. Easement landowners have indicated their willingness to work with the county for correction.
Lower Bottom Road was not the only area in the county to be affected by the recent, unusual rainfall, he said. Some roads and shoulders have been washed out in places not been affected since the Great Floods of 1993 and 1995, he said.
Benz will show the county's water effects to representatives from the State Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Friday as part of the state's efforts toward a disaster declaration. Benz said Cole County will meet the minimum damage costs of $286,000 to qualify for aid; however, he was unsure how much damage had been sustained in other counties.
The meet and greet was a chance for county officials to meet local school administrators.
"We have a lot of new leadership coming into our schools," Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said. "We would like them to put faces with who they may be contacting."
Russellville Superintendent Perry Gorrell and Jefferson City Public Schools Superintendent Larry Linthacum have each been in their new positions only 14 days.
"This is great to get to put names to faces, so we can start to build relationships," Linthacum agreed.
Gorrell applauded the commission for hosting such an event, something he had not seen anywhere else during his 23 years in education.
Eugene Schools Superintendent Dawna Burrow, in her third year there, agreed she has enjoyed the sense of community spirit unique to Cole County.
Several contacts were made for the upcoming year, such as Health Director Kristi Campbell coordinating with Calvary Lutheran High School Administrator John Engelbrecht to help with health-related activities his school will be hosting for the community this fall.
Emergency Management Director Bill Farr and Sheriff Greg White both took the opportunity to invite the administrators to be part of their upcoming meetings and projects, such as developing the county's federal hazardous mitigation plan.
In other business, the commission:
• Recognized four Cole County 4-H members who were part of the Missouri shooting team, which recently won the national tournament.
• Observed White bestow commendations on Deputy John Strobel and Sgt. Shawn Gerstner for their swift and effective actions to subdue an armed robbery in May at the downtown Subway restaurant.
• Awarded the $138,784 Bagnell Drive Storm Water Improvement contract to Travis Hodge Hauling.