Republic council authorizes BUILD grant applications and exploratory talks with Springfield utilities on supplemental water
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Summary
Council approved a resolution to submit up to three BUILD (federal) grant applications for transportation projects and authorized staff to negotiate an exploratory intergovernmental agreement with City Utilities of Springfield to study potential supplemental water connections, with consultant Olsen engaged for technical work; both resolutions passed unanimously.
The Republic City Council voted to pursue federal funding and to authorize exploratory intergovernmental talks to assess supplemental water connections with City Utilities of Springfield.
Karen Haines, Community Development Director, told the council the federal BUILD discretionary program allows municipalities to submit up to three applications. She identified three candidate projects: (1) a route‑widening project along the State Highway corridor from I‑44 to Hale Street (including intersection improvements), (2) intersection improvements at Hines and State Highway ZZ (with right‑of‑way, engineering and utility work; staff said no local match is required for that application), and (3) an update to the master transportation plan (the city budgeted $100,000 in the 2026 CIP; additional grant funds would allow use of consultants).
Haines said the BUILD applications would leverage cost‑share dollars with MoDOT and noted one corridor segment includes a city/MoDOT cost share of just over $1,200,000 in Greene County. She emphasized that any awarded grant would be returned to council for separate approval and would not obligate the city until council acted.
Separately, the council approved Resolution 26‑R‑05 authorizing the city administrator to negotiate terms with City Utilities of Springfield for due diligence on potential supplemental water connections. City staff (Mr. Harris) said the negotiation is exploratory: Olsen (engineering consultant) would coordinate with the city’s water master plan and model to evaluate connections and that confidential data‑sharing requires an agreement; any final agreement would return to council for approval.
Both resolutions were approved by voice/roll call during the meeting.
Next steps for both items include returning to council for acceptance of any awarded BUILD grants and for approval of any negotiated intergovernmental agreement regarding water connections.
