County agrees to draft expedited letter supporting Independence BUILD grant

City officials from Independence asked the Buchanan County Board to provide a short letter of support for a federal BUILD grant application to fund the First Street West project. The proposed scope includes replacing water and sewer lines, fixing stormwater problems, repairing streets and installing sidewalks from the bridge through the western portion of Independence.

An Independence official described the area as the town's roughest commercial corridor and said the improvements would help draw business back. "It's a great project because storm water problems have been horrible up there and we've had a lot of sewer and water line breaks up there," the speaker said, outlining the project's central public-safety and economic objectives. Commissioners agreed to provide four-to-six sentence letters of support and asked county staff to finalize language quickly; the packet showed letters of support must be returned by Feb. 10.