"When I was here in June, the Council seemed ready to move forward with the sidewalk project on Greensburg street to the schools, but the question was raised as to how much right of way the Kentucky DOT had. The state has maintained they had 30 feet from the center line on both sides of the road; but no one in Columbia city government had produced a legal document confirming this.

"If you will go to deed book 45, page 636, you will see that Marvin and H.M. Walker who owned the property that is now described as 1000 Greensburg Street, deed a 30-foot right of way from the center line of what was then Central Avenue to the State Highway Commission. That right of way is still in place today. In fact, that area of Columbia was part of the "Dixie" addition, divided and sold in 1926. Soon after, the state started planning the new Highway 61 to Greensburg.

"So that should solve the right of way issue. The next question is where do you go from here.

"Last week, Barry and I met with Conley Moren at the regional office of the Kentucky DOT in Somerset. He gave us a very clear outline of steps to be taken.

"An application to use state right of way, along with preliminary construction plans need to be submitted to his office. Mayor Hardwick has the application form. Mr. Moren suggested the plans Greg Eastham developed in 2007-2010 would be a starting point. Also, the Deets to all property along the project need to be included (I could do this) he stated it was not necessary to have funding in place to initiate the application process.

"But we certainly need to start exploring funding sources. The mayor has stated previously that sidewalk grants are available. So perhaps he can begin there.

"Our committee has some experience to grant writers, and with the councils approval we would like to work through the city clerks office on grant submissions we can source. The time is now."