BELLE — Belle Board of Aldermen voted July 14 to approve a change order increasing the city’s financial contribution to the Rock Island Trail project after federal officials determined the city could no longer complete a portion of the work using its own equipment and personnel.

The approved change order authorizes Central Missouri Excavating Contracting to perform grading and preparation work that city officials had originally planned to complete in-house. A quote of $21,857 was provided by the contractor.

City Treasurer Charro Reasor explained that the city initially expected to contribute approximately $32,000 toward the project, with an additional 400 hours of in-kind work performed by city employees using city-owned equipment. However, after Belle sold its grader and no longer had the necessary manpower to complete that work, federal highway officials approved replacing the in-kind labor with contracted services.

“The Highway Department is not giving us any more,” Reasor said. “They took the 400 hours of in-kind work away. We still have to do the signage and stuff like that. But since we no longer have a grader, all of those options were eliminated, and it took months to get this approved.”

As a result, Belle’s projected cash contribution to the project will increase from about $32,000 to approximately $44,000 to ensure funding is in place.

Mayor James (Pudd) Mitchell said the city already has roughly $32,000 available from the sale of property on the edge of Belle to help offset the cost. Reasor added that private donations remain a possibility and said the city should continue seeking outside funding to reduce its local share of the project.

Before the vote, Alderwoman Rebecca Withouse acknowledged the additional expense but said abandoning the project was not a realistic option after the city’s investment of time and resources.

“I believe you did the best you could with what you got, but we have to meet the requirements,” Withouse said. “We’ve gone too far. We’ve spent too much money, too much time. We can’t let that stop us from seeing this dream of a lot of people’s get realized.”

Reasor agreed that the city should continue pursuing outside funding to reduce the city’s share of the project.

“I do think we still continue to look for those donations and other resources available,” she said.

Withouse then made the motion to approve the change order, with Alderman Steve Vogt seconding the motion. The measure passed with a 4-0 vote.

The Rock Island Trail project will convert the former railroad corridor into a multiuse recreational trail connecting communities across central Missouri. Belle’s portion of the project includes 1.1 miles of trail within the city and is funded through a combination of grants, local matching funds and community donations.

To help meet the local funding requirement, the Friends of Rock Island Trail State Park (FoRIT) has established a restricted fund with the city of Belle to accept tax-deductible donations for the project. According to fundraising information released by the organization, Belle must raise a $22,000 local match to support construction of the trail. FoRIT has pledged $2,500 toward the effort, and Richard Huse, a member of the group and former Belle alderman, has donated an additional $2,000, bringing the fundraising total to $4,500. Organizers say every dollar donated to the restricted fund will be used exclusively for development of the Rock Island Trail State Park in and around Belle.