DONIPHAN — Rain has delayed the start of jail construction in Ripley County, but officials hope work will begin soon.
The Ripley County Commission expects to receive progress reports on the project on the second Wednesday of every month, officials said at their Aug. 10 meeting.
Amy Baugus with Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission was present for the jail progress report.
“(Sides Construction) said that they have not been able to start working because we’ve had so much rain,” Presiding Commissioner Jesse Roy said. “They’re hoping to get started within the next two weeks when the rain lets up.”
The next progress report is set to happen during the Sept. 14 commission meeting.
In other business, the county is also addressing a flooding problem after a culvert was installed without county permission in the area of County Road C-9.
Residents who live on the road have raised concerns about water being over the road after the latest rain.
The water over the road is reportedly due to a resident who has put in a culvert to cross the creek on C-9 so they can have two entrances to their property.
However, beavers have built up dams in the culvert causing the Buffalo Creek to flow up over the road making it difficult for other residents on C-9 to get to their homes.
The resident did not get permission from the county to put in the culvert on his property and is in violation of a Missouri statute that states an individual cannot block the flow of water on a county road in any way.
Western District Commissioner Keith Whiteside was tasked with writing a letter to the resident to make them aware that they are violating a state statute and must remedy the situation as soon as possible.
“By keeping that culvert there, it could do serious damage if we had another flood like 2017,” Commissioner Gary Emmons said.