Platte County commissioners on July 7 approved a professional-services contract with Veenstra and Kim to design a trail bridge on the Route 152 trail, a federally funded project to extend a trail segment into McHenry Park.

County Administrator Wes Minder said the county earlier received approximately $4,200,000 in federal funds to complete the Route 152 trail within Platte County, extending the trail from Amity near Wetherby Lake to McHenry Park at Hampton Road. He said his office completed plans for an earlier section and will complete the remaining plans but needs a local firm to design the trail bridge and complete floodplain modeling and no-rise certificates.

Minder said Veenstra and Kim (the presenter spelled the firm's name that way in the record) previously worked on bridges on the Line Creek and Shoal Creek trails and that the county selected the firm using the MoDOT on-call list and a request for qualifications submitted by three firms. He estimated the overall federal process could place project completion around 2028.

The commission moved, seconded and approved the professional-services contract (2025CO100) on a 3-0 vote.

Why it matters: the contract advances design work required for a federally funded trail project; the consultant will prepare engineering drawings, floodplain modeling and required federal documentation (no-rise certificates) that the county must submit to advance construction funding and permitting processes.