Republic one step closer to federal grant for pedestrian bridge

A walking bridge over U.S Highway 60 is one step closer thanks to the Republic City Council who voted unanimously, 8-0, to apply for a federal grant for the bridge over the busy highway, at the council’s July 9 meeting.
Following a presentation by Public Works Director Andrew Nelson, several concerns were aired about the potential bridge project, the most common being the cost to the city. Although $6.25 million of the $7.8 million project will be footed by a federal grant, the city would still need to pay the remaining $1.56 million.
Nelson and City Administrator David Cameron were confident the money would be there once the current Hines and Oakwood project was complete.
Despite some reservations, the board was all in for applying for the federal grant. The money would also be used to develop trails leading to and from the bridge. Although still undetermined, the bridge would likely be in the vicinity of Hines Street and U.S. Highway 60.
Later in the meeting, the council also unanimously OK’ed the purchase of three new police vehicles. The vehicles requested to purchase by Lieutenant Jamie Burks are two Chevrolet Tahoes from Don Brown Chevrolet at a cost of $36,390 apiece, and one Dodge Charger from Republic Ford for $24,830. The total cost, including the up fitting of safety equipment, is $124,000. In other business during the meeting, the board voted 8-0 to:
- Allow a rezone of 5.75 acres at Old Stone Road from Old Stone PDD to Field Stone PDD.
- Rezone approximately 9.1 acres located at the 7000 block of West Farm Road 174 from agricultural to 12 Stone Planned Development District.
- Approve a preliminary plat for Forest Lake Estates, a residential subdivision consisting of 20.25 acres located at the 500 block of South Forest Lane.
- Authorize the purchase of waterline materials for the OTC project in west Republic at a cost of just over $53,000.
- Accept the appointments of Chance Wistrom, Harold Bengsch and Mike White to the Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board for a term ending in July 2024.