MONROE - With a $45,000 DNR grant now secured, the Monroe Trailhead Committee set out this week to begin nailing down the remaining funds and planning a bidding strategy for the Badger State trailhead facility to be built this fall along 14th Avenue near Twining Park on Monroe's north side.
The committee now has more than $90,000 of its $123,000 goal for the project, but committee members say they have no concerns about raising the remainder, whether from cash or in-kind donations of labor or materials. They are even looking to break their goal, to add signage on the trail and in the city.
"We have a lot of generous people who enjoy biking in the community," said committee member Marshall (Bub) Zwygart, Monroe. "We really haven't gone out to chase people (for donations.)"
Zwygart said the committee will know how much more money it ultimately needs to raise once the bids for construction come back in.
The Monroe Common Council voted unanimously Jan. 17 to accept the grant, awarded in September, and then took an additional step by approving the use of city labor and equipment to help the citizens' committee prepare the site.
The grant amount was the maximum awarded through the Department of Natural Resources' Recreational Trails Program (RTP).
An application for a second grant through a DNR stewardship program did not get approved last year because of changing criteria to qualify.
But committee members said they were determined to go ahead with the project with or without grants.
The facility could prove to tap a potential market of bikers for the community.
According to committee members, about 200,000 people used the Badger State Trail, or parts of it, in 2011, and a 2010 University of Madison study on the value of bicycling to tourism and health in Wisconsin estimated the economic impact of bicycle recreation and tourism in Wisconsin to be $9.24 million.
Committee members and other avid supporters of the project are hoping to pull some of that tourism money into Monroe businesses.
Local organizations, like the Morning Optimists Club and Monroe Women's Club, and private citizens are contributing to the project. Colony Brands has set up a matching funds donation of $30,000, and the City's Visitors and Promotion Board, funded by a separate tax on hotel and motel stays, committed $7,500 in 2010.
The city's offer to assist with site preparation is a turn-around from its stance last fall. In September 2011, the city's Finance and Taxation Committee gave the Monroe Trailhead Committee approval to accept the grant, but stopped short of offering any funding. Charles Koch, Finance and Taxation Committee chairman, encouraged the trailhead project to continue, but said his concern at the time was on the 2012 budget, which the city was just beginning to prepare.
"Using tax dollars to maintain (the trailhead facility) is enough," he added.
The facility is to be built with decorative blocks and plans includes two spacious restrooms, a water bubbler, an outdoor seating area with picnic tables and bike racks. A kiosk area will provide trail-users with directions and information about Monroe's businesses, manufacturers, employers and other community amenities. The trailhead will provide parking for about 50 vehicles, snowmobiles and ATVs. The committee has removed one aspect of its previous plan for the facility - no longer will it feature an outdoor fireplace.
Monroe is the only community on the recreational trail without a trailhead or signage. It is normally up to communities along a recreational trail to put in trailheads.
Friends of the Badger State Trail can accept donations specified for the Monroe Trailhead at its website, www.friendsofbadgerstatetrail.org. Monetary donations can also be sent to or dropped off at the Century 21 office on 17th Avenue or at City Hall.
Donors offering in-kind contributions, including excavation, electrical, plumbing, masonry or concrete and carpentry, can contact Zwygart at Century 21, 910 17th Ave., Monroe, or call (608) 329-2200.
The committee now has more than $90,000 of its $123,000 goal for the project, but committee members say they have no concerns about raising the remainder, whether from cash or in-kind donations of labor or materials. They are even looking to break their goal, to add signage on the trail and in the city.
"We have a lot of generous people who enjoy biking in the community," said committee member Marshall (Bub) Zwygart, Monroe. "We really haven't gone out to chase people (for donations.)"
Zwygart said the committee will know how much more money it ultimately needs to raise once the bids for construction come back in.
The Monroe Common Council voted unanimously Jan. 17 to accept the grant, awarded in September, and then took an additional step by approving the use of city labor and equipment to help the citizens' committee prepare the site.
The grant amount was the maximum awarded through the Department of Natural Resources' Recreational Trails Program (RTP).
An application for a second grant through a DNR stewardship program did not get approved last year because of changing criteria to qualify.
But committee members said they were determined to go ahead with the project with or without grants.
The facility could prove to tap a potential market of bikers for the community.
According to committee members, about 200,000 people used the Badger State Trail, or parts of it, in 2011, and a 2010 University of Madison study on the value of bicycling to tourism and health in Wisconsin estimated the economic impact of bicycle recreation and tourism in Wisconsin to be $9.24 million.
Committee members and other avid supporters of the project are hoping to pull some of that tourism money into Monroe businesses.
Local organizations, like the Morning Optimists Club and Monroe Women's Club, and private citizens are contributing to the project. Colony Brands has set up a matching funds donation of $30,000, and the City's Visitors and Promotion Board, funded by a separate tax on hotel and motel stays, committed $7,500 in 2010.
The city's offer to assist with site preparation is a turn-around from its stance last fall. In September 2011, the city's Finance and Taxation Committee gave the Monroe Trailhead Committee approval to accept the grant, but stopped short of offering any funding. Charles Koch, Finance and Taxation Committee chairman, encouraged the trailhead project to continue, but said his concern at the time was on the 2012 budget, which the city was just beginning to prepare.
"Using tax dollars to maintain (the trailhead facility) is enough," he added.
The facility is to be built with decorative blocks and plans includes two spacious restrooms, a water bubbler, an outdoor seating area with picnic tables and bike racks. A kiosk area will provide trail-users with directions and information about Monroe's businesses, manufacturers, employers and other community amenities. The trailhead will provide parking for about 50 vehicles, snowmobiles and ATVs. The committee has removed one aspect of its previous plan for the facility - no longer will it feature an outdoor fireplace.
Monroe is the only community on the recreational trail without a trailhead or signage. It is normally up to communities along a recreational trail to put in trailheads.
Friends of the Badger State Trail can accept donations specified for the Monroe Trailhead at its website, www.friendsofbadgerstatetrail.org. Monetary donations can also be sent to or dropped off at the Century 21 office on 17th Avenue or at City Hall.
Donors offering in-kind contributions, including excavation, electrical, plumbing, masonry or concrete and carpentry, can contact Zwygart at Century 21, 910 17th Ave., Monroe, or call (608) 329-2200.