The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-09-24
ASSERTSSLOAN
BRIDGES Held
IN PARTNERSHIP
Herman Loeffel, Who Built
1t, Says City and County
Split Expense.
BOTH MUST MAINTAIN
SPAN, HE BELIEVES
Says Records Will Show Agree
ment Between Contend
ing Factions.

FOlloWlng the cOunclTS action Mon
day night in deciding to learn where
lies the responsibility for the upkeep
of the North Main street concrete
bridge over Sloan's Creek, Herman
Loeffel, contractor who built the
bridge, last night declared the city and
county agreed to divide the expense of
its maintenance.
This was the agreement entered in
to at the time the bridge was being
financed in the beginning, Loeffel said.
The bridge was constructed several
years ago and at that time, the finan-
ces for its construction had to be rails
ed in three different ways.
The City and County each paid 5000
toward the bridge and the remainder
of the cost was raised by popular SUBJ
scription among the property owners
and residents who were to be bene-
fitted by the presence Of the struc-
ture.
Monday night the property owners
in the section Of town which the bridge
served, filed a petition with the City
Council asking for the repair of the
bridge so that it may be of some use
to them. At present the bridge is
fenced off and is not being used.
Traffic from the additions that have
been opened upon its vicinity has had
to be diverted over the Big Bend read
and across Sloan's Creek by way of
the steel bridge.
This causes haul of considerable
extra distance. The children have been
forced to use the other roundabout
way also in getting to school and resi-
dents of that part of North Cape have
been forced to go that way to get to
their work at the shoe factory.
Loeffei declared that at the COM
pletion of the bridge after it had been
paid for, the agreement between the
county and city was to maintain it
jointly and at equal expense.
Now on the north side, one OF the
approaches is in such condition as to
make the bridge impossible. The
county road commissioners are trying
to evade any responsibility for the
maintenance of the structure.
They point out that the statute de-
clares that they are forced to repair
bridges only when they are on I'M
proved gravel road leading from the
county into the city.
At the council meeting, Dennis Sew
ally and Otto Kochtitzky, county road
men, brought out this point. The men
owning property and living in the sec
ton affected by the broken down
bridge, Monday morning went to
meeting of het road district commits
sioners held in Kochtitzky's office, and
asked them for aid in fixing the
bridge.
Mercer D. Wilson, Thomas M. Will
liams and B. Kraft, of the Beammei
Lumber Co., accompanied by Council
man Arthur Bowman, appeared before
the road commissioners, asking fol
aid. The road commissioners present
were Tom Lewis, Fred Bertling, Ott'
Kochtitzky and County Highway En-
gineer Dennis Scivally.
The meeting was in Kochtitzky's OF
flee. One of the applicants for aid las
night said that the county commls
sioners showed them the law book
and said that was all that they coul'
do. The county can make donation
toward having the bridge repaired
they were told, but it would be purei!
!, a donation.
1t was proposed to the commission
: ers that in order for them to legali
look after the maintenance OF IN
f bridge on North Main street, it woui
o not be a bad idea to simply undertaK
t the graveling of the roadway from Tn
h bridge on around to where it joins tn
: Big Bend road
: The traffic would be heavy on tn
road and the commissioners calculate
h the approximate expense OF putin
it down the gravel. 1t was estimated tns
IS it would cost s400 to put down tn