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2008 a busy year for Mitchell County Conservation
by Warren Haacke, Press News Reporter
Milt Owen, Mitchell County Conservation Board Director, reported recently to the Mitchell County Board of Supervisors that his organization had an extremely active and productive fiscal 2007-08 year.
"Our first priority was to continue construction of the Wapsi Great Western Line Trail and get Cedar Bridge Park up and fully operational," said Owen. "Of course, the June floods changed things dramatically, but our staff worked long and hard and we were able to see many of our goals to completion in spite of the weather and water. Even though we had three parks closed for almost all of June we were filled to capacity for the 4th of July and the remainder of the season was very busy as usual."
"Mary Jo Burkgren, our Deputy Director and Naturalist, was able to follow through with plans to asphalt over four miles of the Wapsi Trail," said Owen. "We also received lots of favorable support to continue with efforts to connect with Minnesota's Shooting Star trail at Taopi. We just recently completed acquisition of two more land parcels and are working on a third parcel."
Owen continued, "In the area of Environmental Education, (Mary Jo is transitioning into that position as Naturalist), Mary Jo has plans to offer more family programs and trips. Lots of plans are in the works. People need to get on our education foundation newsletter mailing list for scheduled events."
"We added 49 acres of public wildlife habitat for public hunting and completed about 400 feet of stream bank stabilization work on Turtle Creek north of St Ansgar," Owen added.
Owen continued, "Our workers are just completing installation of new playground on Cedar Bridge Park-it'll be ready for spring. We're also working to get the camping cabin completed by spring. It might even be ready for late winter opening. This winter, if the snow cooperates, we'll have plenty of cross country skis and other outdoor events. We're also planning to get electricity installed at Pioneer Park at Brownville. That should be operational by mid-summer."
Below are the month by month activities of the Conservation Board:
January 2008
1. Presented a request to Board of Supervisors to convert Cedar Bridge Park loan ($100,000) and other real estate loans ($200,000) to tax exempt status to reduce interest rate - bond issue.
2. Board approved new 25-year easement on one-half mile of existing trail in Section 11, Jenkins Township - $1,500 annual rental payment with right-of-first refusal to purchase if land is sold.
3. Approved proposed 2008-09 budget.
February 2008
1. Approved three "Options to Purchase Offer" for land for the Wapsi Trail.
2. Approved final design specifications for cold storage building. Set date for advertising and receipt of bids.
3. Worked with County Treasurer to invest $30,000 of Mitchell Mill Dam revenue in long-term investments for better interest rates.
March 2008
1. Accepted low bid of $32,115 from Cloverleaf Construction for new cold storage building.
2. Received $16,000 donation for Wapsi Trail from Horizon Energy.
3. Accepted low bid of $11,310 from Hanke Construction for wetland dike construction on Otranto Wildlife Area.
April 2008
1. Lift chains replaced on Number 1 tainter gate at Mitchell Mill Dam.
2. Accepted bond issue rate of 4.25 percent from First Citizen's National Bank.
May 2008
1. Discussed Horizon Energy request for an easement to cross Wapsi Trail north of Bailey.
June 2008
1. Appraisal and archaeological survey completed for three proposed trail segments around mcIntire.
2. Approved low bid of $292,939.52 from Heartland Asphalt for Phase 2 asphalting of the Wapsi Trail.
Land acquisitions:
1. 22-acre addition to Nelson Paradise Wildlife Area. .10-acre addition to Burr Oak Wetland Area.
2. 17-acre Dale Wildlife Area.
All acquisitions were purchased with funds from the North American, Wetlands Conservation Act administered through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Story created Dec 02, 2008 - 10:38:15 CST.
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