County receives Riverboat grant to continue Belva Deer Trail work

          The Keokuk County Board of Supervisors kicked off the holiday season early after receiving an $82,436 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation for the next phase of the Belva Deer Trail Project during their regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 21.

            County Engineer Andrew McGuire applied for the grant on the behalf of the county after requesting support from the Board on September 26. In order to begin phase two of the trail project- restoring the trail, making it handicap accessible and addressing several erosion/drainage issues- the county still needed the $82,436. Since the trail was graded in 2010, the Board has insisted that no local taxpayers dollars were to go into this project, and high construction costs have delayed the project. This was the second time a grant was requested for the project.

            “We are glad to get to this point through the grant matching the necessary amount needed to finish this project,” the Board of Supervisors said. “Once we complete phase two, we will be able to open the trail again to the public and later pave the surface. We hope the public will come out in support now that we have reached this point again.”

            The next step in the process will be to have the Department of Transportation give clearance to begin the project once again, then the county will begin to take bids. According to McGuire, a consultant will be hired for the project, which will be included in the $637,180 budget. County employees will have little to no involvement in the construction process, with the winning bid working on the trail hopefully by the summer or fall next year.

            “To be able to put a project like this together and say we haven’t tap into the local property tax to do so, that’s a huge accomplishment,” McGuire said. “Now that we have this grant from the Riverboat Foundation, we feel very comfortable with proceeding at this point.”

            Phase three funds to pave the trail are still being raised, as the county has hit roughly 50% of their goal. The county plans to raise the rest of the funds through various grants to continue avoiding use of road funds. Already, the trail has received grants from the Keokuk County Endowment Fund ($5,000) Keokuk County Conservation Board ($40,000), and the Regional Planning Affiliation ($509,744).