OTTUMWA — Wapello County Supervisors have approved a grant application for two projects in the county

If the county gets approved for the funding, it would go toward a new bridge over the Des Moines River in Chillicothe and paving Rock Bluff Road into Ottumwa.

The deadline for the I-JOBS application was Monday at midnight, so the supervisors held a special meeting Monday morning to approve a resolution for the grant.

The county will be competing with other counties in the state for a limited amount of money.

“I don’t know what our odds are, we’ll just have to see,” said Chairman Steve Siegel. He doesn’t know when they will find out whether the funds were approved.

The Chillicothe bridge construction would be a major project and would cost $5 million, or $7 million if the bridge is built over the railroad tracks. The project involves planning around the railroad lines that run nearby. In the initial agreement with the railroad, they requested that if another railroad crossing is added, that the county get rid of one.

“If it’s approved in its entirety, we’ll be able to get the bridge over the railroad,” Siegel said.

Gravel areas of Rock Bluff Road have had flooding issues in the past, so paving it would help prevent that, and make the trip into Ottumwa easier.

“If we had that paved it would be helpful and take several minutes off that trip,” Siegel said.

Gov. Chet Culver started the I-JOBS program to help improve Iowa’s infrastructure and create jobs in the state.

The supervisors will hold their regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. today in the board room on the third floor of the Wapello County Courthouse. They will discuss a National Little League request for funding from the County Youth fund and a $21,077 grant to Wapello County Public Health for implementing a plan for H1N1 vaccines, among other agenda items.

Pat Shaver can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or by e-mail at p.shaver@ottumwacourier.com.