A Jefferson Memorial Community Foundation grant for $19,505 will allow Festus to install a new trail in West City Park.
Festus City Council members voted 7-0 Monday night to approve a grant agreement with the foundation for the West City Park Trail South Project. The city received official notification of the grant Nov. 2 from the foundation.
City Administrator Happy Welch said the trail will be 8/10 of a mile long and be placed on the park’s southern end, near the baseball fields. The land is designated as wetlands and a trail is one of its few allowable uses, he said.
“It can’t be developed,” Welch said.
He said he intends for the city to apply for another foundation grant to extend the trail farther.
“This is Phase I,” Welch said. “We’d like to do a north end in the future.”
He said it is too soon to know when work on the project will begin or when to expect the trail to open.
“People will enjoy being out there,” Ward 2 Councilman Brian Wehner said.
Ward 1 Councilman Paul Schaffer did not attend the meeting.
(ICYMI: In case you missed it in the Leader)