Hwy. 92 sidewalk project advances

Platte City Mayor Frank Offutt was sworn in for his sixth term as mayor at a brief meeting of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday evening. Offutt, along with returning aldermen — Brad Fryrear, Tony Paolillo and Debbie Kirkpatrick — took the oath of office and announced the Board would elect a new president at its May meeting. Paolillo is the current president of the Board. With housekeeping out of the way, the Board approved a cost-sharing agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for construction of a long-awaited sidewalk along Highway 92 from Hampton Drive to the Platte County R-3 campus and Platte Valley Plaza. In 2013, the Missouri Department of Transportation awarded the city a nearly $250,000 grant for a portion of this sidewalk. The Phase I project will cover 100 percent of project design and construction of a sidewalk from the campus to Bello Mondo Drive. Later in the year, the City received an additional $100,000 from MoDOT as part of a cost-sharing agreement, funding half of Phase II, which would extend the sidewalk further west to Hampton Drive. Under this agreement, the City is responsible for half the costs of the project. Earlier this month, the City was awarded an additional $20,000 from MoDOT in area engineer’s funds for Phase II. Under the agreement, MoDOT and Platte City will share construction costs up to a total construction cost of $242,468. The City will be responsible for any and all construction costs above that total, and for 100 percent of engineering and right of way costs. The total project is estimated to cost $491,700, with MoDOT providing $370,466 in grant funding.