Commissioners hope to name road advisory board Thursday

~ Officials cut the number of applicants from 39 to 23; old bridge remains in county hands.

With a list of 39 applicants pared to 23, the Cape Girardeau County Commission hopes to finish naming the new Road and Bridge Advisory Board at its Thursday meeting.

The first cut was made Monday morning, based on rankings from each commissioner after reading questionnaires filed by applicants. The next step in the evaluation for at least two commissioners will be private telephone calls rather than calling the remainder for interviews.

"I want to make some phone calls and talk to some of these people," Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said.

"I'd like to make some phone calls myself," Commissioner Jay Purcell said.

When finalized, the advisory board will have 11 members, 10 chosen from townships and one at-large member. The cuts left at least two candidates from each township, with three candidates remaining from the three townships that supplied at least five applicants.

Established by Prop 1

The board was established during the campaign to pass Proposition 1, a half-cent countywide sales tax that takes effect Jan. 1. Advisory board members will review and revise county policies for determining which roads to pave and, in the future, could also make recommendations for improving individual roads.

Commissioner Larry Bock said that when he made his selections, he recommended only one person from each township and wanted to finish work on naming the board on Thursday.

In other business, commissioners discussed but did not vote on who will receive an old steel pony truss bridge removed from County Road 439.

Pitch for bridge

Ted Elliott, owner of Rocky Holler USA near Fruitland, made a pitch to the commission to receive the bridge. Elliott is one of six applicants for the bridge, which is 12 feet wide and 49 feet long.

Rocky Holler USA has an "old-time town" theme, he said, with pony rides, hay rides and fishing. Elliott wants to put the bridge over a fork of Hubbell Creek that runs through his property to enhance the project, he said.

The 88-acre business, which has been closed for improvements, will be open on weekends next year and "we could certainly use the bridge and have it in operation by spring," he said.

Jones told Elliott he would tour the property today.

And Purcell said he has narrowed his choices for receiving the bridge to two applicants -- Elliott and Carl Armstrong, owner of the Armstrong-Ramsey house in south Cape Girardeau.

Anyone receiving the bridge, Purcell said, must have the expertise to use it and the financial ability to put it in place. Armstrong's property includes a home built around a circa-1795 log cabin, and Armstrong estimated he would spend $10,000 putting the bridge in place if he receives it.

Purcell called Armstrong's business a "budding Silver Dollar City" and said when he visited "it was apparent to me they would not only use it and have the expertise, but they would also promote it."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126