County requests 80% soft‑match credit for Greenbridge project; commissioners approve request

Highway Administrator Miranda told Christian County commissioners she is requesting an 80% soft‑match credit from the Missouri Department of Transportation for the Greenbridge project and asked the commission to approve the formal request to MoDOT.

Miranda said the county originally planned to use ARPA funds on the bridge but transferred those funds to local funds before construction began. She said the county is asking MoDOT to grant up to an 80% soft‑match credit on eligible county expenditures; the soft match can be used for future matches, to pay for MoDOT inspections, or sold to other counties that need matching funds.

"What you have in front of you is a letter to MoDOT that officially requests 80% reimbursement for all the costs that we spent on Greenbridge," Miranda said. "We originally have this set for last week... This reflects all of the funds that Christian County has paid." (Highway Administrator Miranda)

Miranda told commissioners the county's soft‑match credit request totals just over $3 million and that, if the county received the full 80%, it could generate soft match credit larger than the county might need in the short term; commissioners discussed selling part of the credit or using it to finance smaller infrastructure projects such as box culverts and low‑water crossings.

After discussion the commission voted to approve the request to submit the soft‑match claim to MoDOT; the motion passed by the commissioners present.