Bridge 159 plans trouble water for county

Winners of this year's geography bee at Tzouanakis Intermediate School are (front, from left) Hannah Gellman, first place; Taylor Runnells, second place; Nate Staggs, third place; along with finalists (middle, from left) Lucas Eckrich, Levi Lewis, Jason Ummel, (back, from left) Brandon Peterson, Isaac Harms, Caleb Walker and Alina Carrillo. Gellman will now take a statewide test with the possibility of going to national competition later this year.

A meeting to discuss a decaying historic bridge has been set up between county and state officials.

A tour of old Bridge 159 is planned for Thursday, Feb. 15 when the county commissioners, project engineer and representatives from the state and federal highway departments gather at the Reelsville Fire Station at 9:30 a.m.

The old concrete arch bridge, built in 1929, has been replaced by a two-lane structure in a million dollar project that was many years in the making. The old bridge has been left standing to be restored as a pedestrian walkway. However, concerns have arisen about the old bridge's safety and the amount of money needed for a restoration -- $800,000 has been set aside by the state, but the county will have to kick in another $200,000 to $300,000 for its share of the project. That is money county officials say could be used for bridges that carry daily auto traffic.

Commissioners Kristina Warren, Gene Beck and Jim Baird plan to meet at the fire station, carpool to the old bridge site for a tour, and return to the fire station for discussion. That session is open to the public.

Meanwhile during their regular session on Monday, the commissioners also signed a letter of support for the Altra Indiana ethanol plant near Cloverdale, which is now under construction.

New general manager Chuck Moseman said the construction is moving along as fast as possible. Water for the plant will come from wells near the old A&C quarry south of the well field for the City of Brazil along the Big Walnut Creek.

Moseman said the banks funding the plant construction are asking for assurance the water can get from the wells to the plant, so he was asking for county support of water lines that may be installed along county roads.

The commissioners agreed, noting that the final route for the water line must come back to the commissioners for approval.

In other business, the commissioners: