Butler County commissioners will discuss the future of an industrial park overpass project Friday that has been stalled for more than four years as they try to close funding gaps.
The $4 million project would construct an overpass at the Cravens Road entrance of the industrial park, which has become more heavily used by tractor trailers and employees since the installation of a bypass road in 2012.
The county received a bid of nearly $3.4 million in 2017 for construction of the overpass. Almost $550,000 in additional costs would pay for right-of-way acquisition, grant administration, engineering, construction observation and Union Pacific charges for flagging, signal removal and engineering review, according to county documents.
A meeting at 10 a.m. in the commissioners' chambers is expected to include Robertson Contractors, the low bidder for the project. The bid was awarded pending final funding approval. The project was approximately $500,000 short as of October 2017.
"I think it's a much needed thing for the safety of the people that work in the industrial park," said presiding commissioner Vince Lampe, who took office shortly after an engineering firm was appointed for the project.
About a dozen factories and 3,000 employees would be impacted by the project, officials have said.
In 2015, it was expected to cost about $2.4 million and be completed by 2016.
Delays were caused while a final $100,000 was sought, design changes were made and right of way was negotiated with nearby property owners.
When bids were opened in July 2017, they were approximately $700,000 over budget.
Bob Summers of Horner and Shifrin engineering firm said at the time increased material costs for a crash wall accounted for the majority of the overages. Cost doubled to approximately $1 million for this item over the span of a year, he said.
Commissioners have said the county has no new money to contribute to the project, and have continued to seek other funding sources.
The county has secured $250,000 from the Missouri Department of Transportation and the donation of fill dirt, which helped reach the current deficit, Lampe has said.
The county was previously awarded $1.42 million in a state Community Block Development Grant, just over $106,000 from the Delta Regional Authority and approximately $1 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Riceland would contribute $383,000 for changes they have requested to the design on the company's property, and Union Pacific would pay $162,200 of costs.
The county would provide in-kind work through the hauling of dirt by the county highway department, and provide about $9,500 in cash.