by Dennis Dalman
Thanks to a grant from the Department of Natural Resources, a paved bicycle trail and a park shelter will be constructed at Sauk River Regional Park.
At its June 14 meeting, the Sartell City Council unanimously approved the plans and authorized advertising for bids for the new amenities.
Sauk River Regional Park is located off of CR 120 across from Epic Center (Walmart area) in south Sartell.
For years, Sartell city councils have gone back and forth, sometimes a bit contentiously, on exactly which amenities that park should include. The council on June 14, however, seemed to be in full agreement about the trail and shelter, as well as some security lighting and the possible addition of security cameras in the future.
The plans were presented to the council by April Ryan, a city engineer. The paved trail, she said, will be from 800 to 900 feet long. It will start at the park’s parking lot and extend all the way through the wooded area to the Sauk River swimming beach, where the shelter will be built.
The shelter will consist of any open-sided structure with a permanent roof overhead and picnic tables underneath the canopy roof. The shelter structure will sit on a poured concrete slab.
The $425,000 in DNR money will cover the cost – $80,000 for the trail, $207,000 for the shelter as well as security lighting and signage improvements. The grant also contains money ($135,000) for some mountain-bike trails, work on which has already begun.
Construction of those projects is expected to begin this fall with completion anticipated in the spring of 2022.
