County to apply for grant to fund share of trail work

Unclear how long county would be committed to provide maintenance on its portion of trail

By Buck Collier, Special Correspondent
Posted 1/18/23

HERMANN — After missing the initial deadline, Gasconade County officials will be applying for a state transportation grant to help fund the initial cost of preparing the Rock Island Line Trail …

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County to apply for grant to fund share of trail work

Unclear how long county would be committed to provide maintenance on its portion of trail

Posted

HERMANN — After missing the initial deadline, Gasconade County officials will be applying for a state transportation grant to help fund the initial cost of preparing the Rock Island Line Trail as it runs through unincorporated portions of the county.

The County Commission last week agreed to have Meramec Regional Planning Commission staff prepare the necessary documents to apply for a Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant. But there are some aspects of the rail-to-trail conversion project that county administrators need to have clarified. For instance, how much work will be needed to upgrade the former rail line to the region’s newest trail that will extend through Gasconade County from Bland to Rosebud. Also, administrators want to know how long the county would be committed to providing maintenance for the trail as it traverses the unincorporated portions of the county.

Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, said during last week’s session he thought the county would have a one-time commitment to funding maintenance and that the county effort would be limited to county highway crossings. But after hearing Owensville City Administrator Randy Blaske, who was attending the Commission session, explain that the city’s agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources calls for a 25-year period of support of the trail as it runs through the municipality, county commissioners said they need to know for sure what would be in the agreement that Gasconade County would sign with the state.

Of particular concern, Lairmore explained, is the extent that renovation would would be needed to the trail. That is, whether the rock bed — or “ballast” as its known — would need to be replaced. He said he doesn’t think the rock bed would need to be replaced, considering that trains would put much more weight on the surface than would trail traffic. Further, he said he questions one estimate he has heard of the cost of trail preparation — upwards of a half-million a mile. The trail will run through about 15 miles of unincorporated county.

As for the TAP grant, county officials will be soliciting letters of support from various organizations for its application. Lairmore said he would contact officials of Gasconade County R-2 School District, local banks and state legislators. Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, said he would contact Hermann Mayor Bruce Cox about submitting a letter of support. Blaske said the city of Owensville, which already has been approved for a $500,000 grant to help prepare its portion of the trail, would offer a letter of support to the county.

The Commission also plans to use almost $117,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to help fund its share of the trail preparations.

In other matters at last week’s session, Sam Voss was given the oath of office for another term as one of three commissioners of Special Road District 4, which is the only Special Road District in the county responsible for several county roads in the Gasconade and Morrison areas in northwest Gasconade County. Voss earlier had received the formal appointment to the district board after failing to file for his seat before the filing deadline last month. State law provides that a county commission can appoint members of a Special Road District.

Tomorrow the Commission is scheduled to meet with Gus Wagner of Phillips 66 Pipeline Company about that company’s plans to install a petroleum line across the county. Administrators have updated the county’s Road Agreement, a document that’s signed by the county and a utility that does work within county right-of-way. One of the specifics that will be discussed is the minimum depth for burying utility lines. Also, county officials say the agreement is necessary to ensure that any damage to county highways is repaired. If a utility company — or its contractors — fail to make repairs, county crews do the work and then bill the utility company for the cost of the repair work.