Slater officials said they would support Glasgow's efforts to get additional government assistance to provide alternative transportation when the Missouri River bridge at Glasgow closes this summer.

At the Slater City Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 5, Councilman Ron Monnig reported on a meeting he attended in Glasgow on the subject of the bridge project, which is slated to start this summer and will require the bridge be closed for at least a year.

At the meeting, Missouri Department of Transportation officials said the bid awarded was more than was budgeted for the project, leaving no state money available to contract with a ferry company to provide transportation across the river while the bridge is closed, Monnig said.

The cost of providing ferry service would be at least $1.4 million, according to MoDOT. The contract for the bridge improvements was $14.4 million, Monnig said.

MoDOT officials reportedly suggested the remaining option was to approach the state's U.S. senators, Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill, to ask them for an earmarked appropriation to help with the project.

Monnig said there was talk at the meeting of starting a petition drive to send the message to state and federal legislators. He said he recommended that citizens write directly to their representatives, state and federal, and ask for help.

"With all the taxes we pay, we should get something back," Monnig said.

Slater Mayor Stephen Allegri pledged to write a letter the following day.

In other business, the council continued the process of improving electrical infrastructure in the city, approving an upgrade to a transformer at Big Bend Retreat, 620 N. Emmerson St.

The current pole-mounted transformer is old and includes a lot of unsightly wires, according to Assistant City Administrator Gene Griffith, but the new transformer will be a pad-mounted system.

"This takes it all underground," he said. "This cleans it up. It'll look nice."

The new transformer will cost $4,445, Griffith said.

Contact Eric Crump at marshalleditor@socket.net