County, city receive funds to establish trail

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Nobles County Commissioners on Tuesday received an update on the proposed construction of a recreational trail extending from Whiskey Ditch at Oxford Street west to Crailsheim Drive and south to the Olson Park campground.

Public Works Director Stephen Schnieder said that both the county and the City of Worthington applied for federal enhancement funding, and both entities were approved for funding in 2012. The county will receive $400,000, while the City of Worthington will receive $342,200 to put toward the trail, which will cost an estimated $1.2 million.

“The reason for the split application was the limited amount of grant dollars that we could apply for,” Schnieder told board members.

The money, which comes from the Federal Highway Transportation fund, will combine with 20 percent matching funds coming from other sources, including County State Aid construction dollars, said Schnieder.

“I think it’s a real benefit — the whole trail system, not only to the city, but to the whole county,” said Commissioner Marv Zylstra in support of the trail plans. “There’s a lot of people getting more into fitness, (and) it’s kind of a nice design.”

“Eight years ago I fought tooth and nail to stop a proposed trail along County (State Aid Highway) 35 because it went nowhere —it went to the Rock County line,” said Commissioner Diane Thier. “This goes to somewhere — it goes to the lake, it goes to the park. I’m in favor of this also.”

Schnieder said the next step will be to meet with the Worthington City Council to make sure they are in agreement with the trail proposal. If the city approves, Schnieder said he will begin to work on the design process, including talking with affected landowners, addressing wetland concerns and planning some public meetings about the proposed trail.

In other action, the board:

l Elected David Benson as chair of the Nobles County Board of Commissioners and Marv Zylstra as vice chair.

l Discussed the $172,737 unallotment in state funds for Nobles County. The county will have a better idea of the budget impact in the next four to six weeks.

l Approved the designation of $1.5 million in the public works fund for county road improvements to pave Nobles County 61 (the landfill road); and $1.2 million in environmental services for use in funding landfill abatements and improvements.

l Accepted the city’s counter-offer of $205,605.83, to purchase the county’s share in the spec building in Worthington’s bioscience park.

l Approved the replacement and relocation of the duct work in the Adrian Branch of the Nobles County Library. In addition, the county approved the replacement of the furnace and air conditioning system in the building, at a cost not to exceed $7,725.

l Discussed the possibility of meeting with bond counsel to consider bonding for some road projects within the county. Commissioner Benson said that with the low fuel prices and the favorable interest rates, it may be beneficial to the county to seek bonds to pay for the work.

l Approved the contract renewal with attorneys Andrew Titus and Terry Vajgrt to handle CHIPS (Child in need of Protective Services) cases for the county.

l Approved a plan requiring all position vacancies to be brought before the county board for consideration in light of tight budgets on the county, state and federal levels.

l Approved the reappointment of Mike McCarvel to the Heron Lake Watershed District board of directors.

l Learned that Nobles County Family Services will work with The Achievement Center on a 12-month transition process.

l Approved several annual contracts between Nobles County Family Services and various other agencies.

l Approved the Daily Globe as the county’s official newspaper for 2009, and the Nobles County Web site (www.co.nobles.mn.us) as the official publication for transportation projects.

Tags: news, noblescountycommissioners, recreationaltrail, publicworks, worthington