(Spirit Lake)– Another segment of a rail to trail project between Spirit Lake and Lake Park is set for paving. The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors today (Tues.) awarded a bid to pave the third phase of what’s known as the “Tatonka Ska Trace” trail. Erin Reed, Director of the Dickinson County Trails Board, told the supervisors this will extend the new trail further west out of Spirit Lake…
“It will start at Hudson Avenue where the new trail just ended and go 1.1 miles west to 219th Avenue, and also we’ve already approved a contract with Beck Excavating, they’ll be doing the 1.6 miles from 219th Avenue all the way to Highway 86. So we will have the trail from Spirit Lake all the way to Highway 86 completed this fall. And this is a good number for us. Not quite $150,000 less than the engineer’s estimate.”
Reed says the project will be paid for through a $202,000 state grant; a $184,000 federal grant and by funding from Imagine Iowa Great Lakes. She says they’re also applying for some gap funding from the Wellmark program.
The supervisors also approved a resolution to move ahead with applying for grants to help fund a trail on the east side of Highway 86 from the West Okoboji Trail North Harbor tunnel to the Tatonka Ska Trace trail…a distance of a little more than a mile. Supervisor Chairman Bill Leupold expressed concern over one component of the resolution…
“I became concerned as I read this, especially it says Dickinson county will be responsible for the maintenance funding of the trails administered by the Dickinson County Trail Board for not less than 20 years from the date of completion of the trail.”
Reed said this agreement is similar to others the county has signed for previous trails projects in order to be eligible for grant funding. She added the Trails Board has established an endowment fund to help fund future maintenance. The supervisors voted unanimously to adopt the resolution to include wording stating that they’ll support the grant applications for the project adding the county will be responsible for maintaining the trail, as it sees fit, for a period not less than 20 years once the trail is completed.
