BELLE — Missouri State Parks directors cautioned Belle officials on Nov. 29 to proceed slowly and carefully as they begin the process of completing a $250,000 Federal Highway Administration (FHA) grant to complete the Rock Island Trail through the city limits. 

Ron Bench, Rock Island Trail Development Coordinator for Missouri State Parks, began the discussion after everyone was introduced.

“We thought we would maybe start with going over the grant,” Bench said. “There are a few things that you all need to know what to do on that.”

The FHA grant is part of Missouri State Park’s Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division. It will allow Belle to proceed with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and preliminary design of the city’s section of the trail.

Rebecca Ross, section chief for grants management, said the city has already received the notice to proceed with the project.

“I think the next piece of it is to work on the environmental review,” Ross said.

The board said they were planning to administer the review on their own. Ross said there is an administrative guide for the city contact on the project. Ross asked about the property located near the park and what ownership it was under.

“Is there a plan to have an egress to the park?” she asked.

White said the city is working to obtain property near the park.

“One question we had is just making sure we know what the limits of the project are,” Ross said. “If that is a piece of the project we want to make sure it is included in the environmental review.”

Ross said the environmental review is the next step.

Public Works Director Tony Baretich said they were getting ready to do that.

“That’s what I had spoke to Mr. Meadows about,” White said. “But we was shut down on that.”

Ross said the city can’t directly solicit for an engineer.

“I wasn’t directly soliciting — that’s what concerns me,” White said. “We was all new to this and we’re getting phone calls, getting chewed out on it. We are not going to be held up on that.”

Ross said she wouldn’t say that the city was being chewed out for anything.

“I called her up and explained it to (City Clerk Frankie Horstman),” she said.

White said Belle is a small town.

“We all sit around the same breakfast table and if we are talking about something and somebody runs with it, as far as soliciting, we did not,” White said. “As far as these small towns, if you want this trail to work, it is going to have to be somewhat in-house. You bring somebody to Belle from Kansas City, you’re not going to get the city support that you need. At some point you have to realize it has to come from an in-house area.”

White said he understands it is federal money. Many people are excited but some are not and it is a fine line they are walking.

“We’re not trying to step on anybody’s toes and we have a lot of qualified people local who have a lot of stuff and want a chance to do it,” he continued. “We’re not soliciting to them, we are just telling them ‘hey, the opportunity is here.’”

Baretich said he thought that they needed to provide State Parks with what amount the city felt it would take to complete the work.

“Our cost for our local people isn’t the same cost as some guy out of St. Louis,” Baretich said.

Ross explained that a contractor called her, but since they hadn’t given the notice to proceed yet it was concerning because the city was working ahead and the contactor in question is not the engineer on the project.

“I can’t give him information because he hasn’t been chosen as the engineer,” Ross said.

According to a letter from FHA, the city has six months to complete its environmental review and submit the NEPA determination form.

“We run at a little slower pace in Belle,” White said. “When we got this letter I thought it was telling us to move forward.”

Baretich explained that what the city did something similar to the environmental study when they wrote the grant. 

“This was done by people who are willing to take a little bit off their percentage, off their cut, to see this happen,” Baretich explained. “If this is a job they can go to St. Louis and do and put $300,000 in their pocket, they are willing to walk away with just $100,000 to make this happen.”

Ross said that grant doesn’t say they can’t use local contractors, only that they have to go through the process to select him.

“When you put in here that you will complete the request for qualifications (RFQ) process, that is part of the process,” Ross said. “We don’t want to do this wrong and have to go back.”

White said people are excited, they want it to happen and they want it to be fast.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” White said.

Along with White, Alderman Jeanette Struemph was the only board member present to hear the information.

Adian Dickneite, the Recreational Trails Coordinator, suggested starting at the beginning so the city officials know how to move forward.

“I think sometimes it is a bit confusing because we have a couple different programs at Missouri State Park,” Dickneite said. “Our grants program works on those federal projects, but we are not the people who manage the park. We’re on as the person who manages this particular park or will when it is said and done. Probably the easiest thing to do is to work through Ron.”

Ron Bench is the Rock Island Trail Development Coordinator for Missouri State Parks.

“I will be fumbling most of your communications on the development and handling your project development paperwork,” Bench joked earlier in the meeting.

Dickneite said Bench would be their primary contact, especially with activities taking place on state property.

“If you have questions about the procurement requirements, we can be more helpful with that too because it is on state property,” Dickneite said.

Bench said he realizes Belle is a small town and they are having to deal with federal regulations.

“Those don’t always line up,” Bench said. “Our goal is to try to make this process as good as possible. That’s why you have one point of contact who finds Aidan (Dickneite) who tells me everything that is wrong and I can try to come back and help out with that.”

White said officials were concerned that holidays would interfere with their timeline to go out for bid and get things rolling. They didn’t want to risk lagging behind and losing the grant.

“You guys are fine, you’re rolling, you’re fine,” Dickneite said. “The RFQ isn’t a long process.”

Horstman said the other grants the city received were taken car of by a former employee, Barb Schaller, who was very knowledgeable but has since retired.

Dickneite began explaining next steps.

“The first thing, when you draft up an RFQ you send it over to me, I will review it, make sure it has what it needs to have in there,” Dickneite said. “I will let you know if it has what it needs to have and you can advertise it in the newspaper.”

Dickneite added that once it has been approved the city can send the RFQ to any business as long as it is being advertised in the newspaper for three weeks.

“Afterwards, you score them and go through all that,” she said. “I will walk you through that when you get to the next step.”

Step two is the preliminary design.

“There wasn’t one submitted?” Horstman asked.

The only remaining board member from the group of original grant writers is Struemph. Horstman was trying to understand the full scope of the way the grant is written.

“When you submit the grant you are submitting a scope ofo the work you are wanting to do,” Dickneite said. 

“It’s not plans and specifications,” said Clint Barnett, a trail development specialist. “When you hire the engineer, they will submit plans to you in different phases. Preliminary designs are early stages, not final, sealed complete and done.”

Barnett said not to finalize the plans before the final review so they can adjust for issues. She recommended holding off of 100 percent approval on a plan.

Once the city approves a plan, they have to submit it to State Parks for approval, who in turn submit it to FHA for approval because that is where the money is coming from.

“Once they grant approval, we give you the notice to proceed for final design,” Barnett said. “That’s where the engineering can stamp it and can put the packet completely together for construction bidding.

Step three is right-of-way.

“Any property that needs to be acquired for the project,” Ross clarified. “That happens after that design step. You can start on that now if you want to.”

Right-of-way negotiations can be anything from purchase, to lease, to a crossing agreement.

“That all occurs in that right-of-way phase,” she said. “It goes through an approval process too.”

Barnett said one of the supports they can provide on the design and construction standpoints is, “once you get to the point when you are ready to get those drawings finalized, by then we will have a master set of our specs put together.”

That includes color, materials, fit and finish for buildings and it can pass from State Parks to the city when they are in the final stages of construction. Barentt said he wants the city to be happy with the finished product.

Barnett and Bench will be out for weekly visits toward the final stages of construction as well. Until then, Bench asked if they would like weekly check-in visits. White suggested bi-weekly visits.

Bench said on State Park’s end, they are working to combat miscommunication and information between themselves and farms. 

“We are currently building fence with donation money,” Bench said. “We are trying to communicate we will be the best neighbors we can possibly be. We have answered a lot of questions and that is spreading word of mouth. That goes hand in hand with the Owensville project and the Eldon project. Let folks see progress and build support that way.”

Deputy Regional Director Adam Enboden said Belle is set up well to have a completed trail in the near future because Owensville is also finishing its trail and Bland is looking into grants to finish theirs.

“Owensville being right there — we have another similar situation between Versailes and Eldon,” Enboden began. “Even if money doesn’t just start falling from the sky, the potential that each of you guys have some trail done, finishing that off in between — we could look for some other funding sources too other than just what the governor may approve. Those towns that are, all we lack is that little connection. That’s something we can look at separately, under other funding options, to get those connections made. You guys are set up well because Owensville is already set up well.”

Barnett added that if there are a couple of chunks of trail that individual towns have finished on their own, State Parks will look into getting momentum to finish the sections between the towns.

“The very first section, the first chunk of this to be built was done in a five mile section outside of Pleasant Hill,” Barnett said. “It sat on its own for quite some time before we managed to go back and put in 47.5 miles. It was done to show folks this is what we’re talking about.”

White said they are excited to get started.

“You said start —,” White began.

“And we were buying up shovels,” Baretich finished.

City employees will continue working with State Parks officials throughout the process and visit with Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) about assisting with the grant.

The city of Belle was awarded an 80/20 grant of $175,194 with a $43,799 cash or in-kind match for a total of $218,993 to complete the project. The awarded amount is based on the city’s cost estimation. They have the option to apply for up to $250,000 as needed, pending available funds.