The Daviess County Commissioners met Tuesday morning with a packed agenda dealing with bridges, the Governemnt Center construction, roads, health insurance and pandemic related items. 
      The need to repair or replace the overhead bridge in Montgomery was a major topic of discussion.    The Commissioner heard that reparing the old wooden structure would actually cost about $150,000 more than completely replacing the bridge with a new structure.  But it was the discussion of funding sources and money that bogged down the discussion.   The Commissioners trying to structure the funding of the project similar to the City-County cooperative project that replaced Washington’s 15th Street Bridge.  In that project, funds from a State  grant money was used, with the County and the City splitting the costs not covered by the grant.   With the Montgomery project, they are looking at either a Community Crossing Grant or getting funds from a Federal aid program.  In the short term, Federal aid is cheaper, but after factoring in inflation and the three to five years lead time it would take the Federal supported program to get under way, the two sources are about equal.  A Community Crossing Grant would allow for the project to get underway within the next year.   However, that would still leave Montgomery with an approximately $250,000 share of the expenses.   Montgomery Town Council President Mike Healy that Montgomery is a small community and money is tight.   The Commissioner will continue to investigate funding options for the project.   
     In other business, the Commissioners heard from their representative on the County Government Annex, Mike Schapker.   Shapker reported that some of the exterior stone covering did not make it on the last delivery truck, but should arrive before today and work on the exterior of the building should be wrapped up next week.  As for the interior of the building, Shapker said that the project was having difficulty getting mill work delivered on time, backing up other parts of the project.  Dale Qaulkenbush, the County’s IT Director, said that he has a firm scheduled to install cameras and computers in the meeting room and that the mill work needs to be in place before the installation can take place.  Qualkenbush said he is afraid that if the County misses the scheduled date he is not sure when the installation work will be able to be rescheduled.   Due to the delays, Shapker said the projected August 1, move-in date will likely be delayed for several weeks.   
    County Highway Superintendent Phil Cornelius told the Commissioners that over 50 parcels were in the purchase process for the right-of-way for the 900 E project.  Cornelius also reviewed road work projects throughout the county.  Commissioner President Nathan Gabhart complimented the Highway Department saying in the past five years, using limited resources, the Highway Department had converted 33 miles of gravel road into paved surfaces.   
    The Commissioners also took action on three COVID-19 related issues.  The Commissioners agreed to allocate $10,331 for emergency purchases associated with the pandemic through the CARES Act.   Keelie Streeter, deputy director of the Daviess County Emergency Management Agency said that it was important for the County to secure a supply line for personal protective equipement in the event of another surge of the COVID-19 virus in the fall.   Streeter said it was unlikely that PPE would be supplied by the federal government in the event of a surge this fall and that the County needed to be prepared for future outbreaks.   The Commissioners also approved applying for a $50,000 grant that would be used to set up a free  COVID-19 screening center at the County Health Department.   Details of the screening center are still being worked out due to the lack of space in the Health Department’s current building.   
    The Commissioners also voted to continue with their current carrier of the stop-loss portion of the County’s self-insurance program.