Gears have finally gotten moving on a potential interconnecting trail project in Navasota.
It was mentioned during a recent episode of Grilling Stafford, but there was a formal presentation of it by intern Abigail Ledbetter to the City Council on Monday. She talked about their look into the comprehensive plan, which showed that a lot of Navasota neighborhoods want a connected sidewalk system.
“We really just tried to connect all the existing ones, as well as just add more in the areas that just did not have as many sidewalks. That was 50,000 feet we added, which would double the current amount of sidewalks we currently have in the city,” said Ledbetter.
She added they wanted to keep the look consistent, from the lighting to the size of the sidewalk itself. In addition to connecting neighborhoods, they connected the cities parks in the plan.
The project would cost a lot of money, with an engineering study totaling $65,000 alone. But, she says there are a few avenues for funding it.
“I know we have already looked into some grants. The Rural Initiative by Laura Jane Musser Fund, we have already applied for the first portion, which is $5,000 for engineering fees, and there is also another potential $25,000 for implementation fees within that,” said Ledbetter.
City Manager Brad Stafford added that there are the various options for funding, but they will gum up the works as far as getting the project completed in a timely manner.
There’s also still a lot of important decisions to be made beyond the funding, too.
“It would slow down the process tremendously because you are dependent on state, federal, and private dollars for construction,” said Stafford. “Now, that does not include maintenance. So, that is what we have to take into account as the city, later. What type of material do we use, what is feasible, and can we maintain it?”
This was all just preliminary discussion, as no decisions were made by council on the project.
The item was tabled, and will be brought back on future agendas.