Is the old Vicksburg Bridge for sale?

“What if we just decided to sale the bridge,” District 1 Supervisor John Arnold posed to his fellow Warren County members during Monday morning’s work session.

“Who’s going to buy it? The railroad,” asked District 2 Supervisor William Banks.

“The railroad or an investor and they can charge whatever they want to,” Arnold said.

The conversation came up as County Administrator John Smith and board attorney Blake Teller gave the supervisors an update on where things stood in the possibility of opening the bridge year-round to pedestrians and cyclists. The local group Friends of the Vicksburg Bridge approached the supervisors requesting a resolution from the board to have the Vicksburg Bridge Commission open the 88-year-old structure for year-round use.

At issue is the bridge is also used by the Kansas City Railroad through a lease agreement with Warren County.

Teller said a recent meeting determined “a detailed plan of action” should be prepared and he has been in contact with Buddy Dees, an advocate for opening the bridge year-round to pedestrians and cyclists, to work on the action plan before the resolution could be presented to the board. Teller said KCR officials will also be involved in the action plan.

Teller has also been looking into liability insurance costs and responsibilities. The proposal would include where that cost would come from, likely from the bridge income and operations.

“We’ve called to see if the bridge were open on a daily basis what the cost impact might be to our insurance,” Teller said. “From what I understand, it’s not that much of an increase.”

Arnold proposed that maybe an investor might be interested in purchasing the bridge and the county could avoid the whole liability issue.

“All they have to do is come forward,” said Board President Richard George. “If there’s an investor, all they have to do is make an offer.”

“So we would consider selling it,” asked Arnold.

“I would,” Banks said. “If they want to offer us the money.”

George said an investor “won’t be stupid” about his investment and would also require some form of liability insurance, as well as collect the lease fees from KCR.

“If they make an offer, they’d get consideration,” George said.

George added that the railroad may decide to step in and take some kind of legal action to stop the possibility of the bridge opening year-round to pedestrians and cyclists.

“Then we’ll have to make a decision on what we need to do,” George said. “If you’re going to tussle with somebody, you have to decide who is going to pay for it.”

Teller said the Friends of the Old Vicksburg Bridge have indicated to him they are willing to take the risk and “fund any litigation.”