HERMANN — Gasconade County appears to be in a good position to receive more than $800,000 in grant funds to upgrade three roads in the southern portion of the county, according to a key staffer with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC).

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow Thursday morning said all the necessary paperwork has been filed in the county’s effort to obtain a Community Development Bloc Grant (CDBG) to hard surface the three roads — Tappmeyer Road, Old Highway 19 and City Cemetery Road.

A couple weeks earlier, Kelly Sink of MRPC, attending the County Commission’s public hearing on the CDBG application, noted that county officials had made a good case for having the roads hard surfaced. The three county roadways meet the federal government requirements for funding to improve roads in areas of low- to moderate-income residents in low-population areas.

The county is seeking a grant for work totaling $810,599. As the local match, county officials will need to provide $106,726 of its own money and provide $174,663 worth of in-kind services, which includes manpower, use of equipment and other local components.

The project is a result of Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, discovering a grant program aimed at upgrading rural-area highways. He was recognized for his efforts Thursday morning by Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann.

“That was one of those obscure things we didn’t know about and Jerry said, ‘I think we can get this.’ So, good job, Jerry,” Holland said during the Commission’s weekly session.

In other matters during this week’s session, the three administrators accepted a bid from Barry Krause Foundations of Bland for construction of a new concrete slab on Krull Road. The bid of $34,800 was the only offer made to the county for the project, Lietzow noted.

The Commission was quick to approve the bid. “We’ve done a lot of business with him,” Holland said.

Prosecuting Attorney Mary E. Weston displayed to the Commission the 2024 President’s Award she received from the Missouri Prosecuting Attorney’s Association recognizing her work on a variety of projects, including service on the association’s Legislative Committee.

Meanwhile, Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, has been named one of the county’s three representatives to MRPC’s Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC). Schulte replaces Lairmore, who will stepping down from his Commission seat Jan. 1 when Ron Hardecke is sworn into office as the new Southern District associate commissioner.

Schulte joins Owensville City Administrator Randy Blaske and former Owensville Mayor John Kamler as the county’s TAC members. Alternates to that advisory panel are Owensville Mayor Kevin McFadden and Hermann City Administrator Patricia Heaney.

Hardecke also has been appointed to replace Kamler as a member of the Gasconade Valley Enterprize Zone (GVEZ) board, another MRPC panel aimed at promoting economic development within Gasconade, Osage and Maries counties. Hardecke was appointed not as an incoming commissioner but as a representative of other taxing entities. After he formally begins his term Jan. 1, Hardecke is expected to be appointed to other boards and commissions within the region. Also regarding GVEZ, Schulte has been appointed to replace Lairmore as the county’s representative. The presiding commissioner will remain as an at-large representative on the Enhanced Enterprize Zone, another panel that works to promote economic development in the region.