MONROE - A Badger State Trail trailhead near Twining Park, once a dream, is beginning to take shape.
Mayor Ron Marsh and Park Supervisor Paul Klinzing presented plans for the trailhead Wednesday night at the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners meeting.
Their plans call for a two-story building erected on city property and more parking spaces where the trail meets 14th Avenue.
"What we are not asking the Park Department to do at this time is to put funds into it," Marsh said.
The plans need to be solidified by May 1, in order to be submitted to a Department of Natural Resources matching grant program. Matching the DNR grant could be fulfilled with "in kind" services or labor.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be funds," Marsh said.
Klinzing said the application is very competitive, and award of funding is based on a points system.
Klinzing and Marsh explained some of the features to be included in the project that will ensure extra points for the grant application.
The top level of the trailhead facility, about 1,000 square feet, will be multi-seasonal and multi-use, and handicapped accessible. The building will be made as "green" as possible, and would utilize an A-frame shape with glass on the southern exposure for solar heat. The large windows also would be overlooking the park, a feature Marsh said would make the building an ideal place to hold functions year-round.
Automatic faucet shutoffs, installed in the restrooms, as well as automatic light switches and temperature controls would eliminate the need to staff the facility.
Marsh suggested concession machines could become a revenue producer for the Parks Department with the right contracts.
The lower level would be ra storage garage for the Parks Department.
While the present parking lot at the park would accommodate trailers for ATVs and snowmobiles, creation of another parking lot across the street for cars of bicyclists is being considered. The area is state property, but Klinzing said it is not particularly well-kempt. Marsh suggested the possibility of leasing the land for the parking lot.
A smaller lot would be located near the building.
In addition to the Twining Park end, Marsh said a shelter at the south end of the trail is being included in the plans. That site would hold a smaller "bus-stop style" shelter, enough for bikers and hikers to get out of the wind and rain, and would contain directions to the Welcome Center and other information.
Marsh and Klinzing had no figures on the cost for the project; however, Marsh estimated a cost of $150 per square foot for the upper level of the building, where the bathrooms are located.
While the grant needs to be submitted by May 1, its outcome won't be known until July. But, if funds in the program run low, the DNR may ask for the grant to be reduced. Marsh said the grant is being written with that scenario in mind, with the project "in pieces" which can be "broken off" and would not affect the other portions.
If funded, the project could be completed, and "open and running" by 2009, Marsh said.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a request from Klinzing to attend a two-day certified pool operator's course in Appleton at a cost of $275.
Mayor Ron Marsh and Park Supervisor Paul Klinzing presented plans for the trailhead Wednesday night at the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners meeting.
Their plans call for a two-story building erected on city property and more parking spaces where the trail meets 14th Avenue.
"What we are not asking the Park Department to do at this time is to put funds into it," Marsh said.
The plans need to be solidified by May 1, in order to be submitted to a Department of Natural Resources matching grant program. Matching the DNR grant could be fulfilled with "in kind" services or labor.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be funds," Marsh said.
Klinzing said the application is very competitive, and award of funding is based on a points system.
Klinzing and Marsh explained some of the features to be included in the project that will ensure extra points for the grant application.
The top level of the trailhead facility, about 1,000 square feet, will be multi-seasonal and multi-use, and handicapped accessible. The building will be made as "green" as possible, and would utilize an A-frame shape with glass on the southern exposure for solar heat. The large windows also would be overlooking the park, a feature Marsh said would make the building an ideal place to hold functions year-round.
Automatic faucet shutoffs, installed in the restrooms, as well as automatic light switches and temperature controls would eliminate the need to staff the facility.
Marsh suggested concession machines could become a revenue producer for the Parks Department with the right contracts.
The lower level would be ra storage garage for the Parks Department.
While the present parking lot at the park would accommodate trailers for ATVs and snowmobiles, creation of another parking lot across the street for cars of bicyclists is being considered. The area is state property, but Klinzing said it is not particularly well-kempt. Marsh suggested the possibility of leasing the land for the parking lot.
A smaller lot would be located near the building.
In addition to the Twining Park end, Marsh said a shelter at the south end of the trail is being included in the plans. That site would hold a smaller "bus-stop style" shelter, enough for bikers and hikers to get out of the wind and rain, and would contain directions to the Welcome Center and other information.
Marsh and Klinzing had no figures on the cost for the project; however, Marsh estimated a cost of $150 per square foot for the upper level of the building, where the bathrooms are located.
While the grant needs to be submitted by May 1, its outcome won't be known until July. But, if funds in the program run low, the DNR may ask for the grant to be reduced. Marsh said the grant is being written with that scenario in mind, with the project "in pieces" which can be "broken off" and would not affect the other portions.
If funded, the project could be completed, and "open and running" by 2009, Marsh said.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a request from Klinzing to attend a two-day certified pool operator's course in Appleton at a cost of $275.