Agreement drafted for city, county cooperative projects

A draft agreement outlining the joint capital improvement projects is moving forward between Jefferson City and Cole County.

At the Public Works and Planning Committee meeting Thursday, Matt Morasch, city engineer, presented the draft agreement, which outlines the process each entity will follow and who will be responsible for what.

Morasch said he and Public Works Director Roger Schwartze would take the draft agreement to the Cole County Commission for approval and then bring a formal bill to the full City Council.

"We're still discussing the agreement," Morasch said. "We still have to get it through the process."

The agreement lays out proposed costs and responsibilities for the Frog Hollow project, intersection improvements at Dunklin and Lafayette streets, streetscape improvements on Capital Avenue, the Lafayette interchange, and the Stadium Boulevard, Jefferson Street and Highway 54 interchange.

Morasch said the county has tentatively agreed to split the costs of a roundabout at the Dunklin and Lafayette streets interchange, which is estimated to cost a total of $750,000. Each entity would be responsible for 50 percent of the cost, unless otherwise specified.

According to the agreement, the city and the county will be responsible for $5.5 million each to pay for all the projects listed. In the agreement, $4 million is earmarked for projects related to the old Missouri State Penitentiary, though those projects are marked as "to be determined."

Third Ward Councilman and committee chairman Bob Scrivner said he is really encouraged by the cooperation between the city and county on capital projects and said, in the past few years, the two entities have gone from a "strained relationship to a good working relationship."