The city of Eureka is making progress on the projects it promised after voters approved a 1/2-cent sales tax for public safety just less than four years ago, Mayor Sean Flower said.
Voters approved Proposition E in April 2018.
City officials said revenue from the sales tax would be used to build a new police facility, replace the crumbling Allenton Bridge and fund short- and long-term flood prevention and mitigation efforts.
Officials estimated the sales tax would generate $15.9 million over 20 years.
City Administrator Craig Sabo said so far, the sales tax has generated $4.8 million and about $2.4 million of that has already been spent.
The city has expanded its plans for a new police facility, and officials plan to construct a municipal center to house the Police Station, City Hall and municipal court.
Allenton Bridge
Flower said he hopes to have the design of the bridge approved in April.
The plans must be approved by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).
“The engineering itself to get a design that would satisfy both railroads is very challenging,” he said.
Sabo said the city may schedule public hearings to answer questions about the bridge project during Board of Aldermen meetings on March 1 or March 15.
Flower said the city is required to hold the meetings because of a $2 million grant disbursed through the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to cover 50 percent of the design and construction cost for the new bridge.
Flower said he hopes construction will start this fall, with work completed in 2023.
One thing he is excited about is having the bridge be flat.
“You’re not going to feel like you’re bottoming out your car when you get over there,” he said. “It’ll be a much better transportation solution overall.”
Flower said the old bridge will be torn down.
The Allenton bridge was built in 1928, and Eureka inherited the bridge in the early 1970s.
MoDOT gave the bridge a sufficiency rating of 2 out of 100 after its last inspection in November 2015.
Flood walls
Flower said the city is still working on permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create flood walls in two creeks. The city applied for the permits in February 2020.
“The key permit we still need from the Corps of Engineers relates to the structure that would shut Flat Creek and Forby Creek in the event of a river flood,” he said.
The Forby Creek wall will sit about a half mile from the Meramec River, and the Flat Creek wall will be about a mile and a half from the river.
Flower said water will be able to flow through the creeks and wall, which will have a pipe that can be closed when a flood event is expected.
He said he hopes to submit final flood wall designs in the first quarter of this year.
“We’ve been at it for quite a while, a couple years, so I’m pretty optimistic we’re going to have significant progress on it here in the next quarter,” he said.
Municipal center
Flower said city officials are still looking for a location for the new municipal center, but the project is on hold until the sale of the city’s water and sewer system to Missouri American Water is finalized.
Proposition S, which asked voters whether the city should sell both systems, garnered 2,289 yes votes (67 percent) to 1,127 no votes (33 percent) in August 2020.
Flower said he wants the utility sale to be resolved before planning the municipal center so the city will have a better understanding of cash flow and what kind of office space is needed by city employees.
The city will receive $28 million from Missouri American Water for the transaction. An appraisal valued the water system at $18 million and the sewer system at $10 million.
He said he believes the sale will close in April or May.
Flower said the only location he has shared publicly is the empty lot next to the current City Hall. He said he has looked at other locations but did not want to disclose the sites.
In May 2021, Flower announced the building will be named the Michael A. Wiegand Justice Center, after current Eureka Police Chief Michael Wiegand.