MoDOT offers Ramsey Creek bridge options to Scott City

The Missouri Department of Transportation has given Scott City two options on the Ramsey Creek Bridge project -- take control of the project, or give up the reins to MoDOT.

Scott City Mayor Tim Porch shared MoDOT's recommendations with the Scott City Council Monday night. Porch said that the city can oversee the project, including bidding out contracts, with consultation from MoDOT. The alternative is to let MoDOT oversee the entire process, which could add a year to the bridge completion and possibly cost slightly more.

The bridge project will connect the city to Route AB, bypassing Interstate 55, and open up an alternative route into the city and possible future development.

Porch said a decision is needed by the first of the year.

City administrator Ron Eskew gave the council a brief overview of its possible membership in a Metropolitan Planning Organization that would include Jackson and Cape Girardeau. Membership would make it easier for local municipalities to secure federal transportation funding, Eskew said.

Approval or denial of the MPO status is expecting to come from Gov. Matt Blunt's office in the coming weeks.

An ordinance defining major and minor subdivisions was also discussed with an ordinance likely to come up for vote at the council's next meeting on Dec. 6. The ordinance would exempt some steps of the review process for subdivisions less than five lots that require no utilities or streets to be installed.

In other business:

* The city council unanimously approved an ordinance abandoning a water line easement along an alley previously abandoned by the council along Bridge Street.

* An ordinance passed unanimously defining a structure at 123 Cherry St., owned by Amos and Rhonda Eaton, as a dangerous structure. The city now has the authority to demolish the structure after 30 days if no work is performed on it, and to file a lien for the cost of demolition.

* The city council approved the purchase of a backhoe, dump truck, snow plow and sand spreader for $15,150 to replace aging equipment.

msanders@semissourian.com

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