(Estherville)– The River Recreation Enhancement Project in Estherville took a huge step forward at Monday’s Estherville City Council meeting. Council members awarded a bid of a little more than $1.1 million for the project, submitted by Beck Excavating of Spirit Lake. City Administrator Penny Clayton says the work will be extensive…
“This project is the low head dam mitigation, the construction of the new rock arch rapids that keeps the water high enough to protect our infrastructure, adding the handicap accessible fishing platform, the short trail extension on the west side of the river, some parking lot improvements, the reconstruction of the School Creek Access. So the way it is now, where it’s heading upstream, we’ll actually be taking that out, shifting it downstream, which is the appropriate method of construction. And then the construction of a brand new access at what has been called Midway, it’s just to the west of the old Riverview Golf Course.”
Clayton says the bulk of the project will be financed through grants…
“So $650,000 in the Federal Recreational Trails Grant; $210,000 from the DNR for the low head dam mitigation; $330,760 from the DNR for the Water Trails Development so that’s about $1,190,000. The remaining expense will be covered by local option sales tax, so there’s been some set aside by Excel and the Park and Recreation Board. The other expenses generally include engineering contingencies and then any wetland mitigation we will need to do at the Midway Access because there is a .25 of an acre wetland that will need to be mitigated.”
With one member absent, the council voted unanimously Monday to award the bid.
