Preliminary work on gaining riverfront access on the south side of the Missouri River is nearly complete, and Jefferson City officials will hear the public presentation of the results Dec. 21.
The long-discussed Adrian's Island project resurfaced this past summer after Jefferson City resident B.J. DeLong donated $50,000 to pay for preliminary design work on a bridge to access the property.
Adrian's Island is actually a peninsula between the Capitol building and the Missouri River that developed as settling sand and riverbottom accumulated from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' rock dikes built in the 1960s to maintain a 9-foot minimum channel depth.
Since the summer donation, local engineering company Bartlett & West has been doing the preliminary work, which was expected to be completed by the end of November. And while that work is now complete, officials had been trying to find a good time where all involved could meet to go over the results.
Randy Allen, president and CEO of the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, said they have been working with Union Pacific, the city, the county and the state on the project and wanted to make sure everything was in line before the presentation was made. A formal presentation to the City Council will be made at the regular meeting Dec. 21, and Allen noted they also will seek to present it to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Mayor Carrie Tergin said the presentation will show what options have been looked at, the cost, the path and how the access would reach the property. Tergin said she wanted the presentation to be held at a regular council meeting to allow people to attend if interested or watch on JCTV.
Tergin said the council likely will talk about funding for the project as well. It's estimated a bridge to the property could cost about $2.4 million, Tergin said, and there will need to be discussions on how to fund that fully if it's decided to move forward.
But any potential funding gap may not be too large.
Jefferson City already has about $473,000 in sales tax funds dedicated to a "riverfront park." The Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department has about $226,000 in riverfront-related trail money. And there is the Deborah Cooper Foundation for Riverfront Development, which was formed in the 1980s and has about $140,000 in it.
Those funds combined would be able to cover roughly $840,000 of the cost. Then there's the rest of DeLong's contribution.
DeLong has made clear the $50,000 she already donated is not all she has available for the project. She has declined to specify the amount, but has said she believes between money she has set aside for Adrian's Island and interest she has received from other possible benefactors, along with the funds already identified, the cost for access could be covered.
And once the bridge is built, the property would only be developed passively, meaning the area largely would be trails and a park-like setting. Parks Director Bill Lockwood has said he believes Adrian's Island could be developed and maintained almost entirely on volunteer labor, after the access is put in.
Tergin said Bob Gilbert, with Bartlett & West, will go through goals for riverfront access in his presentation to the council. Those goals include: exploring bridge options for access, as opposed to the tunnel option previously explored in 2006; developing a long ramp down to grade; staying out of the floodway; creating passive recreational opportunities; and connecting to the river.
The Dec. 21 City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at City Hall.