Part of Grand Chute's comprehensive plan is to enhance our parks and recreational trails. One of the planned trails connects Cedar Meadows subdivision to Arrowhead Park. Most of the trail will follow Nature's Lane. The majority of the trail will be stone with planking over wetland areas.
The trail is creating controversy amongst some Cedar Meadows residents who oppose the trial's proximity to their property and those that are looking forward to the Arrowhead Park access that the trail would provide. The final vote will take place at tomorrow evening's town board meeting.
One of the reason's I like town government is it allows participation by residents at a grass roots level. It's nice for me, as a supervisor to get public input. And there's been no shortage of public input by Cedar Meadows subdivision residents! I commend those on both sides of the issue for taking the time to phone, email and conduct petition drives.
While debate went on, the Town Board authorized solicitation of bids for trail construction from 11 companies. Nine responded under the town's guidelines, and the low bidder is Grade-Tech Pavers, Inc. of Ixonia, WI. Their bid was $73,728.50. Other factors affect the final trail cost and are noted below:
Trail Cost
$73,728
($10,000) paid by subdivision developer
($10,000) DNR matching grant
$53,728
Add about $20,000 for engineering, design and project management* figure is approximate
$73,728 total
(36,864) matching grant by DNR
$36,864 Approximate amount Nature's Lane trail will cost.
If approved, this will come out of the Capital Improvement fund, and is much lower than preliminary estimates of $90,000.
Sweat equity funds can also be matched by the DNR.
Construction of the trail is endorsed by the Grand Chute Parks Commission and Fox Cities Greenways.
Tomorrow evening's Town Board meeting starts at 7pm.
