Two members of Mexico BassMasters, Inc., a bass fishing club based in nearby Columbia, pitched a plan to the Fayette city council to help restore a handicapped access ramp at D.C. Rogers Lake. 

Sid Stephens, the group’s president, and Logan Hermanson addressed the Board of Aldermen at its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 26 about an opportunity to provide funding to repair the handicapped access ramp.

“We’ve done different projects throughout the state, and right now we’re coming to you guys because we do fish D.C. Rogers [Lake] quite a bit,” Stephens told the council. “We have an opportunity to try and secure some funding for some improvements.”

The ramp is damaged and almost entirely unusable for its intended purpose. It extends parallel to the dam from a nearby parking area to allow handicapped persons access to the lake. But the cement at the end of the ramp has separated and split into several pieces.

Stephens said his club has voted, and the ramp at D.C. Rogers Lake is one of three projects approved for this year. He said that if the city council gave approval to the group to move forward, it would apply for a grant to help pay for repairs. 

“This is just a proposal right now toward that grant,” Stephens explained. “Once we get approval from you guys, hopefully, we’ll go from there.”

Recently, the Mexico BassMasters helped fund habitat restoration at Binder Lake near Jefferson City. “We try and do community lakes that people from all over use. You guys get people here from all over,” Stephens said.

To make the ramp accessible, a new sidewalk needs to be constructed, a new pad needs to be laid over the pier, and handicapped-accessible parking must be installed, according to Hermanson, who submitted plans to the council. He presented a few different ways to tackle the problem.

“We can draw all the up, and we can come back and look at these two or three options again and decide what’s best for the community,” Hermanson explained to the council. “I’m all about accessibility.”

Council members showed general warmth toward the idea. Southwest Ward Alderwoman Bekki Galloway said that the proposal is consistent with a goal held by the parks commission.

Danny Dougherty, the city’s public works director, said he liked the idea. “I think it’s great. We could use all the help we can get.”

The council granted unanimous approval to allow Mexico BassMasters, Inc. to further explore the project and seek funding.

In other action regarding D.C. Rogers Lake, the council gave unanimous consent to allow a kayak and canoe training session to take place at the lake for a day in late June. Tim Haller from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked the council to conduct open water training for employees of Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. 

Some of the training will occur at the indoor pool at Central Methodist University. “We need a natural body of water to do the paddling and the obstacle course to increase paddling skills,” Haller told the council.

The training will occur on either June 22 or 23 for about 25 participants.