Grantsburg Revitalization Operation (GRO)

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, March 7, 2018, Grantsburg Library Community Room

Meeting called to order by Nicki Peterson, 11: 30am

Attending: Wade Vitalis, Joni Burgin, Larry Ebersold, Pam Davies, Caylin Muehlberg, Ben Binversie, Nicki Peterson, Kristina Kelley-Johnson, Halle Pardun, Kelly Gerber, Gordy Lewis, Jerry Dorff, (Chris Bartlett asked in to consult)

Wood River Cleanup

Pam and Jerry will coordinate with the Wood River Cleanup crew to determine a spring/early summer clean up time. Last fall there were a couple places that were getting clogged up, one being near the Rod & Gun club. Gordy will reach out to the National Guard to see if they need to do some training and could help clean up the area. Pam and Jerry estimate clean up will be a 2 day job and they will need some younger people with chainsaw skills.

Trail Kiosk

Trail kiosks designs are moving along. Nicki hired someone to help project manage the design panels and to work with Linda Shober, graphic designer, to finalize the panels. The big piece is making sure the legends are accurate and to gather pictures and write copy for the captions. Jason Burkman can finish construction of the structure at any time. The second kiosk to be located at Memory Lake Park should be placed in a location that makes sense in long range planning for any development that will occur at the park as part of the potential Community Development Block Grant as well as anything Saige is incorporating into her plan. We’d like to have this kiosk in place before Watercross.

Olson Drive Project

Olson Drive Trail – $22,500 of the grant received from Grantsburg Telcom will go toward the limestone and other materials needed for the trail. Chris Bartlett with the Village of Grantsburg Public Works is estimating the time it will take to construct so that we can fundraise for the labor aspect. We will also reach out to other private companies to get bids. Pam said the route of the trail will be along Olson Drive (will not tuck into the woods) so that it’s a safe, public route. There is one area that may need a boardwalk and bridge and that the trail will be 6’ wide so that it can accommodate wheel chairs, etc. The trail will intersect with the snowmobile trail in areas but that is not of concern maintenance wise. Pam will make a presentation to the Village Board at Monday, March 12th’s meeting. Kristina and Ben will look into private company quotes. People were referring to the Gandy Dancer trail as one to be similar to, and Chris believes it was developed by DNR or the State and is maintained by “kids”.

Fitness Trail

Joni presented two concepts for the Fitness Trail location – one on school grounds by the district office and the other by the swimming pool. There was concern about the trail being outside the windows of a couple classrooms and could create a distraction to students. By moving to the swimming pool we would need Village’s approval and work out a maintenance plan. Also, there are plans for an expanded playground (being organized by the Girl Scouts) and a splash pad so plans would need to allow for those developments. Nicki will meet with the schools recreation committee to discuss on March 12 and Pam will present the idea to the Village also on March 12. Joni will have their developer include the fitness trail in the proposal to go out for bid so that we can at least get an idea on what the costs would be. We would be looking at either limestone or asphalt. Additional fundraising and sponsorships would be needed. Nicki is making a presentation to the Grantsburg Rotary on March 15 about the progress of GRO’s projects. She will also mention that we’ll be doing fundraising for our trail development. Gordy mentioned there is $5,100 leftover from the fundraising they did for the school sign that could possibly be reallocated if they chose to. Once we know costs we’ll have a better idea on how much we need to raise. Nicki applied for the Polk Burnett Operation Round Up Grant. A presentation can be made to solicit other businesses for sponsorship.

Downtown Committee meeting

Nicki will set meeting time for Downtown Committee to meet.

Community Center Enhancement

Cathy McCabe spoke to the Village board about enhancing the entrance to the community center from the east. A picnic table, some shrubs and a garbage receptacle were discussed. Private funding would purchase these elements. If people like the garbage bins, they could be ones that are also used downtown to create a cohesive look.

Airport

Caylin reported: The Friends of the Airport met and are planning several fundraisers over the next 9 months to raise their 5% match to the federal grant. In June there will be a golf outing, in September there will be a fly-in (Sept 23?), on October 13 there will be another event tied to another event at Crex Meadows. The Village is looking to separate some land from the airport in order to create a campground (minimal amentities).

GTC Grant

Grantsburg Telcom would like to organize a time to do a check presentation for our $37,000 grant reward. Nicki asked Mark Anderson if it would be easiest to attend a board meeting of theirs with whoever could attend from GRO. She will let everyone know his response.

Holiday Lights Committee

Kelly and Pam will organize a holiday lighting committee to coordinate contests and lighting for downtown, businesses and Memory Lake. Will contact the Lion’s Club to coordinate with their efforts.

HWY 70

Discussion was held around safety along highway 70. There have been two near accidents involving school buses and cars driving too fast. We talked about looking into Safe School Zone signage, reducing the speed limit to 35 and creating a crosswalk at the stoplights. Some of these elements could be included in a TAP grant (transportation alternative program) which includes a safe routes to school component. As retail expands along Hwy 70 it will be important to develop sidewalks. Larry to ask Patty to include on the agenda for the next Village Board meeting to reduce the speed limit which will then create an action plan. GRO and the Village (Public Safety Committee) can work together to accomplish these plans (not that we are creating more work for the Village staff).