Katy Trail Bridge near Boonville
Bridge giveaway should raise concerns
Nixon praises legal support of signers of original agreement creating Katy Trail
Nixon sues to stop giveaway of MKT bridge
Audio
Nixon announces legal action to save the MKT bridge
Nixon explains why the MKT bridge lawsuit is necessary
Bridge Giveaway Should Raise Concerns
By Jay Nixon, Missouri Attorney General
Think back to a time in Missouri when a governor, major philanthropists, civic leaders, state officials and landowners put aside political differences and personal gain and worked together for the good of the state.
Twenty years ago Gov. John Ashcroft and philanthropists Ted and Pat Jones led the effort to rail bank - put aside abandoned railroad lines-- for the creation of what is now the 225-mile Katy Trail State Park.
As a young senator, I stood in admiration of the leadership, creativity and selflessness of these state leaders, as well have property owners along the trail, who joined together to make this dream a reality. Today the Katy Trail is a state treasure attracting more than 300,000 hikers and bicyclists from across the world each year and serving as an economic engine that creates jobs for rural Missouri.
So imagine my surprise when I learned that the director of the Department of Natural Resources wants to give up the state's property interest in a portion of the trail to a large private corporation, creating a gap in the rail corridor that could jeopardize the future of the Katy Trail. The decision to give away the state's interest in the historic Boonville bridge - the longest lift span bridge in the world when it opened - to Union Pacific does just that.
It is a short-sighted gift to a corporation - given by an unelected bureaucrat, not by our elected representatives - which comes at the expense of Missouri taxpayers and those who use and enjoy the Katy Trail. It also comes at the expense of the citizens of Boonville, who have been raising money to develop the bridge as a tourist attraction and who prepared a study showing that the bridge could be put into use as part of the trail for only about $1 million.
As Attorney General, I have gone to court to prevent the release or surrender of the state's property interest in the bridge. Dale Whitman, a dean emeritus at the University of Missouri law school and a nationally recognized expert in property law, has said the state possesses a property interest in the bridge. It would be no more valid for DNR Director Doyle Childers to give away the state's interest in the Boonville bridge to a private corporation than it would be for him to give away portions of Trail of Tears State Park to private interests.
Mrs. Jones, whose gift of $2.2 million was instrumental to the trail, recently stated, "Rail banking the complete rail corridor, including the Boonville bridge, was an important factor which led to our decision to give money for the Katy Trail." What kind of message does this giveaway send to a new generation of philanthropists considering the greater good of future generations of Missourians, including the retired founder and CEO of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Jack Taylor, who has pledged $200,000 to save the bridge?
A bigger question remains: why would the Governor and DNR allow the destruction of a historic bridge and give away what is considered a $10 million asset to Union Pacific? And what happened to that time, not very long ago, when the leadership of this state placed the common good and the general welfare above the needs of corporate special interests?
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Nixon praises legal support of signers of original agreement creating Katy Trail in suit over Boonville bridge
Attorney General Jay Nixon says a brief filed on Tuesday (Sept. 5) by the two signers of the original agreement creating the Katy Trail demonstrates how those most knowledgeable about the agreement between the state and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad oppose a plan to give away the state's interest in the MKT bridge at Boonville.
Three former directors of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources — including Frederick Brunner, who signed the 1987 agreement on behalf of the state — filed the friend-of-the-court brief in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. They were joined by Raye Reynolds, the former vice president of property management for the MKT Railroad who negotiated and signed the 1987 agreement on behalf of the railroad, and by Pat Jones, who, with her husband, Edward (Ted) Jones, was the major private donor for the creation and development of the Katy Trail.
Brunner and former director G. Tracy Mehan III were appointed by Gov. John Ashcroft; former director Steven Mahfood was appointed by Gov. Mel Carnahan. September 6, 2006
Read entire September 6, 2006 news release
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Nixon sues to stop giveaway of state interest in MKT bridge; says viability of Katy Trail too important to risk
Attorney General Nixon speaks about his lawsuit to stop the giveaway of the lift bridge at Boonville to reporters and Katy Trail users and supporters along the trail in historic downtown St. Charles.
Attorney General Jay Nixon today filed a lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and its director to stop the proposed relinquishment of the state's interest in the old MKT bridge at Boonville to the Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific intends to dismantle the historic lift bridge over the Missouri River and reuse part of it as another bridge over the Osage River and salvage the remaining steel.
In 1987, the state of Missouri, under the auspices of the federal Rails to Trails Act, acquired a property interest in the bridge and the rest of the MKT right-of-way in an agreement that resulted in the creation of the 225-mile long Katy Trail State Park. Nixon says the MDNR and department director Doyle Childers do not have the authority to cede the state's interest in the bridge to benefit a private company, and for no compensation.
"This is a giveaway by the state to a private business that stands to receive at least $10 million in benefit from the proposal," Nixon said today at a news conference held alongside a spur of the Katy Trail in Columbia. "This is an unusual step for me to sue a state agency, but I have a constitutional duty to protect the assets of the state and the interests of the citizens of Missouri." May 26, 2005
Read entire May 26, 2005 news release
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