Commissioners vote to close portion of County Road 142 near Souder Church

Ozark County Commissioners met Monday morning and read the final reading of a road closure petition to close a portion of County Road 142 near the Souder Church.

Commissioners said the petitioner, Art Myer, met all of the obligations of public notification and that there was no formal opposition to the closure of the road.

All three commissioners, Gary Collins, Layne Nance and Terry Newton, voted to close the road.

In other business on Monday, Collins said that Norfork Lake is creeping closer to the slab on Smokey Road. “We are keeping an eye on it,” Collins said. The lake has risen drastically over the past couple weeks due to heavy springtime rains.

Collins said he was also happy to see Highway 181 near Hodgson Mill was open again after heavy rains washed away a portion of the highway along Bryant Creek.

“If we get another big rain it’s going to wash it away again,” Collins said.

A section of the road was washed away late last fall when Bryant Creek rose out of its banks after a heavy rainstorm.

Newton reported that an engineer with Great Rivers Engineering would be coming to inspect the county’s handicap ramp on the west side of the courthouse.

The 20-year-old concrete ramp has fallen into a state of disrepair recently, and officials are considering removing the ramp since it doesn’t meet ADA requirements.

“We’ll see what they say about it,” Newton said.

Commissioners announced they plan to open fuel bids for the county and the sheriff’s department on April 17.

Ozark County Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. each Monday on the second floor of the Ozark County Courthouse. The meetings are open to the public.