The Douglas County Commission signed a contract with Hartman & Company, of Springfield, to begin construction on the Vera Cruz Bridge on Aug. 1.
The contract was signed last Thursday during the commissioners’ regular session at the courthouse.
Under terms of the contract, the project will cost $408,655 and the contractor has 90 working days to complete the project, putting the completion date at approximately the end of November.
The project will be funded totally by FEMA, although Douglas County may provide some in-kind labor, according to Presiding Commissioner Larry Pueppke.
Hartman & Company, will do all the work on the project with no sub-contracting, according to spokesman Larry Henderson.
Great River Associates of Springfield and West Plains will provide engineering services for the project and will take bids and obtain materials for the job.
The Vera Cruz bridge was damaged by flooding more than two years ago and has been declared unsafe by Douglas County since that time.
At the meeting of the County Commission on Monday, the commissioners met with representatives of FEMA to discuss other projects. Dates were also set for commissioners Richard Mitchell and Danny Dry to look at roads with FEMA representatives.
In other discussions on Monday, the commissioners discussed concerns of Verizon charging out-of-county sales tax to Douglas County residents. This matter has been turned over to state representatives and the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Assessor Alicia Miller-Degase brought to the commissioners a county map showing boundaries of the various fire departments of the county, and also turned over the assessed real estate and personal property values for 2011.
The commissioners went into closed session at 10 a.m. and returned to open session at 11 a.m. to meet with FEMA representatives.
