Cole County received more money from Missouri Department of Conservation maintenance and repair projects than any other Missouri county, for the three state business years that ended July 1, 2016, department records show.
The department paid around $3 million for those Cole County projects - nearly 10 percent of the more than $32.55 million it spent in all 114 counties during that period.
And 14 of those projects, paying more than $2.5 million, were done at the department's general headquarters complex, 2901 W. Truman Blvd.
"It was built in 1967, and it was in need of a lot of upkeep," Deputy Director Aaron Jeffries told the News Tribune. "Many of those projects were related to replacing driveways and HVAC systems. That was stuff that was 30-plus years old."
Another major chunk of the Cole County work - $376,680 - was spent at the Runge Conservation Nature Center, on Missouri 179 just south of the general headquarters complex.
"The nature center is over 20 years old," Jeffries noted, "and the 1990s museum style of displays just isn't that attractive (today) as the more hands-on stuff. (Now) we've got a little tree house, and there's more hands-on activities for the kids. It's really an impressive sight."
Exhibit planning and design was the largest part of the Runge Nature Center work - $158,618.
A detailed report of the work done in Mid-Missouri shows door replacement, a new boiler, a new chiller for the aquarium and new windows in the viewing area were among the other projects at the center.
The department provided the News Tribune with a list of the Mid-Missouri projects after it published a map in its 2017-18 "Conservation Briefing" booklet, showing total funds spent on capital improvements projects in each of Missouri's 115 counties for the three business years that began July 1, 2013.
"We produce that (report) every two years for legislators, partners" and others, including media, Jeffries said. "In my eyes, it's really a good briefing book of the Department of Conservation, (showing) really just some of the services we offer - not all the services that are out there."
Jeffries said the booklet "highlights some of our big partnerships" with county and city governments, where even the people who use the facilities may not realize "some of the partnerships that we have (like) the Noren Access across the river, or Binder Lake, or Jefferson City's McKay Park."
Conservation does the fisheries management at both McKay and Binder lakes, and "helped build the infrastructure and the boat ramp and the docks that you see," Jeffries said.
There are similar arrangements throughout the state.
The booklet shows "where we are in the landscape of Missouri - where we have staff, where we have offices, where we have shooting ranges," Jeffries said.
"A lot of people don't know that we have over 70 public shooting ranges here in Missouri," he said. "Folks in Jefferson City may realize we have the Runge Nature Center - but they don't know that we have a dozen other similar facilities scattered across the state."
Many Mid-Missourians may know about the fish hatchery at Bennett Springs, near Lebanon, but might not be aware that "we have nine hatcheries that produce upwards of 12 million fish a year" throughout the state, Jeffries added.
At the largest of those, Shepherd of the Hills in Branson, Jeffries said renovations are planned to the Visitor's Center over the next couple of years.
"That facility might get 200,000 visitors a year - (and) it wasn't set up to be a visitor's center," he said. "So we want to make it more appealing to the public than what we have down there right now."
All projects are the result of the four-member Conservation Commission's annual decisions about priorities, based on projects submitted by department staff - and can be changed by disasters such as the recent flooding "or we had a levee blown out - or we had a tree fall into a building," Jeffries said. "The capital improvements (budget) will range from $15 million to $20 million per year, depending on the construction season and the weather."
The commission "told us they want 75 percent of our capital improvements budget to go toward maintenance and upkeep," he added. "The days of building a lot of new stuff are really over, and have been - and our focus has been to maintain what we have now, and keep it in good condition for citizens."
There's a wide range of costs. The smallest charge in the Mid-Missouri report was $16 for "maintenance and repair" at the department's Eugene Tower site in Miller County, just south of the Cole County line.
"We've all got to replace batteries in our smoke detectors every year," Jeffries quipped, adding, in general, the work each year "could be as simple as re-graveling a parking lot at Smokey Waters Conservation Area (north of Osage City), or it could be a complex as a major wetlands renovation at Eagle Bluffs in Boone County (overlooking the Missouri River near McBaine) - or a major renovation at the Rocky Fork Shooting Range" north of Columbia.
The most expensive project in the Mid-Missouri report for the 2014-16 business years was $732,456 for corridor replacements at the Conservation Department's headquarters complex, replacing the 50-year-old corridors connecting the separate buildings that make up the complex, including new wiring, windows and adding "energy efficiencies," Jeffries said.
"And recognize that, when you renovate a building, there are new (building and disability) standards that you have to bring that building up to," he noted, which can increase the cost of a project.
All the work - and the reports - are paid for using the department's sales tax and licensing revenues - along with some federal reimbursements for things like hatchery projects, Jeffries said. "We receive absolutely no general revenue."
And, always, he said: "The department is here to serve the citizens, because they're the ones who made us."
Area Conservation projects
Select Mid-Missouri area Conservation projects made between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2016:
COLE COUNTY TOTAL: $2,957,186
Binder Lake, $3,407
Conservation Commission headquarters, 14 projects, $2,502,932
Honey Creek Access, $1,852
Marion Access, $6,859
Mari-Osa Access, $4,987
McKay Park Lake, $279
Moreau 50 Access, $205
Runge Conservation Nature Center, seven projects, $376,860
Scrivner Road CA, $14,418
St. Thomas Ferry Access, $2,242
Stringtown Bridge Access, $1,746
COLE/OSAGE COUNTIES: $26,743
Smokey Waters CA, $26,743
CALLAWAY COUNTY TOTAL: $261,224
Capitol View Access, $355
Jefferson City Airport Hangar, $6,342 (includes fire alarm renovation, $6,061)
Little Dixie Lake CA, $38,006
Mokane Access, $6,059
BOONE COUNTY TOTAL: $484,457
Eagle Bluffs CA, $105,878
Hartsburg Access, $5,394
Rocky Fork Lakes CA, $264,542 (includes shooting range upgrade, $235,247)
MARIES COUNTY TOTAL: $7,012
Bell Chute Access, $1,332
Paydown Access, $1,264
Spring Creek Gap CA, $3,761
MILLER COUNTY TOTAL: $73,075
Bagnell Dam Access, $7,661
Boeckman Bridge Access Boundary Survey, $12,760
OsageTavern Access, $5,162
Saline Valley CA, $45,236
COLE/MONITEAU TOTAL: $4,267
Marion Bottoms CA, $3,110
Roger & Viola Smith Wildlife Area, $1,157
MONITEAU COUNTY TOTAL: $6,037
Bleich Streambank Stabilization, $4,591
Plowboy Bend CA, $984
MORGAN COUNTY TOTAL: $9,755
Coffman Beach Access, $1,716
Gravois Mills Access, $767
Hite Prairie CA, $1,178
Proctor Towersite, $1,796
OSAGE COUNTY TOTAL: $88,885
Ben Branch Lake CA, $51,331
Bonnots Mill Access, $200
Dr. Bernard Bruns Access, $8,824
Chamois Access, $824
Painted Rock CA, $15,188
Rich Fountain Shop, $10,384
Maintenance and repair unless otherwise noted; CA = Conservation Area