STE. GENEVIEVE — Ste. Genevieve County Commissioner Randy Ruzicka had some good news for the Ste. Genevieve community last night.
In an appearance at the Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen meeting Ruzicka announced that a grant to replace the Fourth Street bridge over the South Gabouri Creek has been approved.
“The FLAP grant that you all agreed to have the county do was granted,” he said. “So we are going to have…replacement on the bridge right here on Fourth Street. We had hoped that that would…happen this year, it will not happen until fiscal year 2025. But at least we’ve got it, it is secured, and…it is a 100 percent grant, so you don’t have to worry about matching funds or anything like that. So there is a solution for something that we have been worrying about for a long time.”
Ruzicka said the grant will cover it all, though he admitted the cost may rise by 2025.
“The only thing that concerns me a little bit is, we had figured a given cost. Well, in another three years, what is it going to cost?”
Ruzicka said Ste. Genevieve is getting the grant thanks to the presence of the national park.
“The reason this is such a good one…is the FLAP stands for Federal Lands Access Program. The reason that we were able to get that is because we have a national park. Because that is the main way in and out.”
The county commissioner’s announcement wasn’t the only bit of news at last night’s meeting.
City Administrator Happy Welch announced that St. Mary City Manager and Clerk David Woods has been hired by Ste. Genevieve to be the city’s new front clerk and administrative assistant. He will start Monday, September 19.
Welch said more engineering is needed before the city can deal with the ponding problem between Le Compte and Washington Streets. The resurfacing of the street will be postponed, but resurfacing of the other streets on the list will proceed as scheduled.
The board heard reports from Fire Chief Kenny Steiger, Community Development Administrator Dave Bova and Welch reported on tourism.
A street closure request was approved for the Spooktacular October 22nd. Third Street will be closed between Market and Merchant Streets.
A second street closure was approved for an annual neighborhood block party on Memorial Drive between Roberts and LaHaye September 24th from Noon to 11 p.m.
A resolution appointing Bill Hart to the Heritage Commission was approved.
A citizen appeared before the board complained about motorists texting and speeding on Fifth Street between Market and Jefferson Streets. Police Chief Eric Bennett said they will begin speed enforcement on the street shortly.
The following measures were approved:
Bill No. 4508 Amending the city’s personnel manual was given final approval.
Bill No. 4509 A budget amendment for the current city budget was given first round approval.
Bill No. 4510 The new city budget, covering fiscal year 2023 was given first round approval.
Alderman Jeff Eydmann did not attend last night’s meeting.
The meeting was shown live on SteGenTV Channel 991 and on the SteGenTV You Tube Channel and is now available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9Qol-Jn6g