For anyone interested in the pedestrian bridge between Mesa Street and the Mancos Public Library, there will be a community meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Mancos Town Hall where anyone can give their input on a variety of subjects. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The bridge started out as a collaborative project, with the Mancos school, the Mancos public library and the town of Mancos all pitching in $1,500 for the flood plain study for the Colorado Department of Transportation. The town has moved forward with the project, receiving $119,228 from a grant through the transportation department and the Federal Highway Administration. That money is required to go toward construction of the bridge.
Since the town received that grant, officials have allotted $30,000 for the bridge, Montezuma County has given $15,000 and the Ballantine Foundation has given $3,000.
That money will probably go towards the aesthetics surrounding the bridge, said Mancos Town Administrator Tom Yennerell.
The town has hired Loris and Associates, of Lafayette, Colo., to be the engineers overseeing the project. They have been able to hire subcontractors in the area. They will use Paul Wilbert, landscape architect, SME Environmental Consulting and Trautner Geotech, all from Durango. Maness and Associates, a surveying company, is from Cortez.
Scott Bollinger, project manager with Loris and Associates, will be at the meeting to answer any questions and give input as to the extent of their involvement. Paul Wilbert of Paul Wilbert Landscaping will be present at the meeting as well.
If we didnt have all the hurdles that come with federal funding, wed be done by now, Yennerell said. Thats not a bad thing. ... It just takes longer.
The total budgeted cost of the bridge is $149,035, but that could change with all the studies that have yet to be done.