The Lawrence County Commissioners got their update on road repairs from the county engineer along with more complaints from the public about problems driving around the county at their Thursday meeting.

Two weeks ago the commissioners had asked County Engineer David Lynd for a timetable on the work to fix roads, especially after the damage caused by the heavy flooding from July rains.

In a letter dated Aug. 9, Lynd wrote to the commissioners that the following work had been done from July 21 to Aug. 9:

Rebuilding two bridges on Township Road 140 and Township Road 228;

Repairing or doing embankment work to six bridges on County Roads 5 and 44N and Township Roads 77, 191, 236 and 245;

Repairing slides on County Roads 48 and 52;

Cleaning or repairing ditches, berms and pipes along County Roads 5, 6, 7, 15, 23, 29, 30, 56, 119 and 230.

Work is continuing on County Roads 5, 15, 21, 29, 52, 58, 72 and 128, the letter states.

“I appreciate the county engineer communicating,” Commissioner Jason Stephens said.

Lynd also said that there was a meeting scheduled for this week on replacing the bridge on County Road 29 at Lake Vesuvius that was washed out during the floods.

It was that bridge that brought Bianca Sexton from the Necco Center at Pedro to the commission meeting.

The July rains flooded five buildings on the Necco site, she said, but the biggest damage came when the center that takes care of handicapped children lost the use of the Vesuvius bridge.

“We have to travel the back roads that can take 20 to 40 minutes to the center,” Sexton told the commissioners. “This is not just an inconvenience, but because of the type of children we serve. Our concern is that EMS couldn’t reach us in a timely fashion.”

Recently a center employee needed emergency treatment and had to wait 30 minutes before a squad reached her.

“We serve children from other counties, Toledo, Cleveland, Kentucky and West Virginia,” she said.

Sexton was concerned that because of the increased time to get emergency help to the center that employs 130 and 140, children would be sent elsewhere.

“If we lose children, we will have job loss,” she said.

Commissioner Doug Malone reported that there should be a timetable for the bridge replacement within 10 days and that there should be a new bridge by the fall.

In other business the commissioners:

Received the county dog warden’s report for the week of Aug. 9 where 38 dogs were destroyed and four sold with 57 now in custody.

Agreed to support Aid Township Trustees in getting a USDA Rural Development Grant to purchase a utility truck.

Approved a travel request for Tim Porter of the Union-Rome Sewer District to attend a continuing education class in Columbus and Mike Boster of Emergency Management to attend the Southeast Ohio EMA quarterly meeting.