November 19, 2021 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All commissioners were present for the meeting.

I spoke to Lisa, the Commission secretary, before the meeting began about Passport Services. She said she has completed the training required for the Commission to restart passport services and they are just waiting on the federal government to give them final approval. Once they get that, the Commission can start processing passports for Camden County again.

The only agenda item was for the Road and Bridge bids.

The bids were unsealed at the meeting. The bidding process was handled by Howe Engineering, but before the bids were opened, the Commission required proof from Howe Engineering that the bids had been advertised by Howe Engineering in the Lake Sun.

According to the gentleman from Howe Engineering, the bids were advertised on November 3 and November 10.

The first round of bids was for the Whistle Bridge near the Tunnel Dam.

Gene Haile Excavating bid $130,930.

Geromini Concrete Paving bid $152,525.

Kenny Carroll Excavating Inc. bid $114,580.

The Commission tabled the bid approval until the bids could be reviewed by Road and Bridge.

The second round of bids was for the Ozark Isle Road slope failure repair.

Geromini Concrete Paving bid $277,951.75.

Widel Incorporated bid $470,325.25.

Gene Haile Excavating bid $347,900.

Leavenworth Excavating and Equipment, Inc. bid $356,274.75.

T&B Trucking and Excavating, LLC bid $212,350. (Apparently this bid was meant for the Whistle Bridge/Tunnel Dam project but was read during the Ozark Isles portion. It was considered afterwards for the proper project: Whistle Bridge)

These bids were also tabled for review by Road and Bridge.

And that was that.

There were quite a few bids and it was interesting that there was such a wide disparity in the bid amounts for the Ozark Isle repair bids.

There was then a discussion about the future of Tunnel Dam itself. According to the Tax Assessor, Show Me Power does not want to re-license its power plant by the Tunnel Dam. According to Commissioner Hasty they want to not renew the license, block the tunnel, and leave the dam in. There has been some talk that they want to remove the dam. The Tax Assessor was concerned that Camden County might be spending money to make repair around a dam that is going to be removed eventually.

The dam is 31 feet deep and has been there since around the time the Lake of the Ozarks was created. Missouri DNR would take over if the power company does not renew their FERC license. The power plant is in a poor state of repair and not worth fixing. There are some protected species that live in that area of the Niangua River. Apparently, Missouri spent approximately $500,000 on the dam last year. Any dam under 35 feet falls under the jurisdiction of Missouri DNR so we might have to wait and see what Tunnel Dam’s ultimate fate will be.