MONROE - The city formalized its partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Tuesday to build and maintain a trail head facility on the Badger State Trail at 14th Avenue.
The Common Council voted unanimously to accept an agreement outlining the shared responsibilities for what the city hopes will be more than just a stopover for travelers on the trail. Monroe was the remaining community on the recreational trail without a trailhead or signage.
The project, estimated at $160,000, is being funded by two Department of Natural Resources grants totaling $80,000, and $60,000 in donations. Some of the remaining $20,000 will be whittled away by "in-kind contributions" from the city in site preparation work, according to Parks Director Paul Klinzing.
"We'll be excavating the parking area and maybe for the building, but we haven't settled on that yet," Klinzing said.
The parking area is expected to hold up to 50 vehicles and can be used as overflow parking for Twining Park events.
Bub Zwygart, a member of the volunteer citizen committee raising funds and designing the building, said bids for constructing the building will go out in mid-March, with a goal of completion by the end of summer.
According to the agreement with DNR, the city will be responsible for utilities and general, daily maintenance of the facility and signage related to the trail. Klinzing said a few hundred dollars will cover the electrical and water costs, about as much as a typical park shelter. He included that expense into the 2013 budget.
The DNR will accept ownership of the trailhead facility, which will be built on DNR property, once completed and will provide all future major maintenance and insurance of the building and signage.
The facility is to be built with decorative blocks and include two restrooms, a water bubbler and a seating area with picnic tables.
A kiosk area will provide trail users with directions and information about Monroe as well as information provided by the DNR and Friends of the Badger State Trail.
The final phase of the facility comes after more than a year since its inception. The Monroe Common Council voted unanimously Jan. 17, 2012, to accept $45,000 grant from the DNR's Recreational Trails Program, awarded the previous September, and then took an additional step by approving the use of city labor and equipment to help the citizens' committee in preparing the site. The second DNR grant, for $35,000, was awarded to the city in December.
According to members of the citizens committee, about 200,000 people used the Badger State Trail in 2011, and a 2010 University of Wisconsin-Madison study estimates the economic impact of bicycle recreation and tourism in Wisconsin to be $9.2 million.
The city is 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 contributed to the project. Colony Brands set up a matching funds donation of $30,000, and the City's Visitors and Promotion Board committed $7,500 in 2010.
The Common Council voted unanimously to accept an agreement outlining the shared responsibilities for what the city hopes will be more than just a stopover for travelers on the trail. Monroe was the remaining community on the recreational trail without a trailhead or signage.
The project, estimated at $160,000, is being funded by two Department of Natural Resources grants totaling $80,000, and $60,000 in donations. Some of the remaining $20,000 will be whittled away by "in-kind contributions" from the city in site preparation work, according to Parks Director Paul Klinzing.
"We'll be excavating the parking area and maybe for the building, but we haven't settled on that yet," Klinzing said.
The parking area is expected to hold up to 50 vehicles and can be used as overflow parking for Twining Park events.
Bub Zwygart, a member of the volunteer citizen committee raising funds and designing the building, said bids for constructing the building will go out in mid-March, with a goal of completion by the end of summer.
According to the agreement with DNR, the city will be responsible for utilities and general, daily maintenance of the facility and signage related to the trail. Klinzing said a few hundred dollars will cover the electrical and water costs, about as much as a typical park shelter. He included that expense into the 2013 budget.
The DNR will accept ownership of the trailhead facility, which will be built on DNR property, once completed and will provide all future major maintenance and insurance of the building and signage.
The facility is to be built with decorative blocks and include two restrooms, a water bubbler and a seating area with picnic tables.
A kiosk area will provide trail users with directions and information about Monroe as well as information provided by the DNR and Friends of the Badger State Trail.
The final phase of the facility comes after more than a year since its inception. The Monroe Common Council voted unanimously Jan. 17, 2012, to accept $45,000 grant from the DNR's Recreational Trails Program, awarded the previous September, and then took an additional step by approving the use of city labor and equipment to help the citizens' committee in preparing the site. The second DNR grant, for $35,000, was awarded to the city in December.
According to members of the citizens committee, about 200,000 people used the Badger State Trail in 2011, and a 2010 University of Wisconsin-Madison study estimates the economic impact of bicycle recreation and tourism in Wisconsin to be $9.2 million.
The city is 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 contributed to the project. Colony Brands set up a matching funds donation of $30,000, and the City's Visitors and Promotion Board committed $7,500 in 2010.