BAXTER — A question before the Baxter City Council is if the city could take advantage of a grant opportunity for its Mississippi Overlook Park or if the current timing means waiting to see if future grant dollars may be present.

The park’s 60 acres and the 820 acres next to it are city-owned property in southwest Baxter available to the public, but getting to the park overlooking the river and its shoreline facilities means walking a half-mile or a mile distance after parking on a dead-end residential street.

A grant opportunity was presented to the city that could create an access road and parking lot much closer to park facilities, extend water and sanitary sewer and add a trail system for the Mississippi Overlook Park and the additional acres in southwest Baxter. A trail system, with Sylvan Township and Baxter each taking parts to connect it, is expected to have a price tag of about $10 million. That trail system could also take on a larger role as a Camp Ripley Veterans State Trail gains traction.

The grants, which could be available for the trail project from Paris Road in Baxter to Sylvan Township, add up to about $10 million. The Baxter/Sylvan Township application could be the only one for the funds this year. With a grant award announced this summer, construction could begin in 2025.

For a city that has long embraced trails, the opportunity for grant dollars arrived at a time when Baxter City Council members pointed to a considerable workload for staff time and project list already stretching over several years.

Todd Holman, who is Mississippi Headwaters Program director/Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape coordinator and previously a longtime Baxter Council member, has been in talks with city staff and recently presented the options to the council. Holman said the stars aligned with Baxter’s land use plan identifying south Baxter as a potential corridor for a future east/west trail, and new federal money available to build trails and recreational facilities that gain from Camp Ripley’s Sentinel Landscape designation.

“That’s why I’m here,” Holman said.

Sylvan Township is interested in building a trailhead by County Highway 36 and Camp Jim Road intersection east to Baxter. Holman said Baxter’s plan would be to build a trail at Paris Road and Jasperwood Drive with trail parking and go west to County Highway 36. Holman said the grants can be used for anything that enables recreational facilities to develop.

Holman said the project can also be broken up and scaled into phases.

“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” Holman said. “The opportunity is the funds are there now. They are appropriated annually. We don’t know if they will be there next year. … No one applied for it last year and I think we could be the only applicant for it this year.”

With this project and the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape designation there is the option to include more than one federal grant, which Holman said hardly ever happens so there is no asking for city or state bonding. Holman told council members during an earlier workshop session he understood the capacity question as city staff has a loaded agenda four years out with projects.

Items such as the

Highway 371 overpass

and planning for connecting city streets for that $58 million project, which is likely three to four years away, and the cost overruns with the recent

Whiskey Creek project

were mentioned by the council.

In a public works report to the city in January, it was noted there could be significant costs to the city for upfront construction and administration with the trail as well as longterm costs for maintenance. Baxter would be asked to serve as the fiscal agent.

The trail system, with a secured corridor, could be a way to link Baxter and Sylvan Township and beyond now or in the future. The township is in support of the joint community trail grant project. In its resolution, Sylvan Township stated it placed a priority on development of township recreation opportunities and economies related to recreation.

The council had several options to consider from Option A to Option D, with the ability to combine elements between them.

• Option A creates an access road to Mississippi Overlook Park off Paris Road and parking lot closer to the Mississippi River at the park. It also has a paved trail connecting to the Paris Road and Jasperwood intersection, which connects with the Paul Bunyan State Trail.  
• Option B runs a trail segment near the Mississippi Overlook Park access road on Paris Road, includes a trail bridge and continues west toward Island Lake. 
• Option C includes a parking lot to the east of Island Lake and continues west with a bituminous trail and a north access road. The trail and road go around Island Lake on the north side and turn north to connect with Mapleton Road. 
• Option D includes a bituminous trail to the west of Baxter and it turns south as it connects in Sylvan Township. 

Trevor Walter, Baxter public works director and city engineer, said if the council were to lean to Option A, he would add a caveat to that plan. Walter said Sylvan Township’s application jointly with this includes land acquisition to secure the trail corridor.

“So you are securing the land for the rest of the corridor in the future to connect this entrance of the Veterans Trail with what Sylvan Township is planning to do on their trail segments,” Walter said.

So if the council wanted to only do Option A, Walter recommended the two spots of land acquisition pieces in Option B be included in the application. Walter said the application would likely be looked at more favorably if it can show the trail can be connected in the future between the two government agencies. There are no time requirements for when the trail had to be completed, but Walter said the land would be secured and then that could go for future grants to complete the trail segments between Sylvan Township and Baxter. Securing the land now means there is a route for the trail to be built. Walter said this grant is one of the few that allows for land acquisition.

“They’re one of the few grant opportunities that allow access to public property to be built,” Walter said, noting the option to use money to construct a road.

Brad Chapulis, city administrator, said there is an active group working on the Veterans State Trail that is in communication with the city. Josh Doty, community development director, said the group is continuing discussions with state representatives to secure funding and was looking to the city for support that land could be used for the trail.

“These opportunities come along and I wrestle with them,” Mayor Darrel Olson said. “And I think, you know, there’s some good deals. And do we jump on them, or do we bypass it, and then wish we had jumped on it?”

Olson noted the Highway 371 overpass coming in the years ahead and the detours for the two-year project and all the things that go with it.

Council member Jeff Phillips said the mayor brought up a good point about grabbing opportunity. Phillips said the road access was important but he wasn’t convinced about the trail and probably wasn’t for any option unless someone said they really should do Option A.

“I’m not sure what the trail gets the residents of Baxter,” Phillips said.

Council member Zach Tabatt said he wasn’t pushing that option but “of all the options, that would be the most beneficial.”

Chapulis said Oakwood Road was never meant to be the permanent entrance to Mississippi Overlook Park, it’s always been at Paris Road but it was never the right time to make it happen.

“And in that context, that’s where our general support is trying to make that park more accessible to the general public than what is currently there,” Chapulis said, noting it would also be Americans with Disabilities Act accessible. “All those things are our goals of our comprehensive plan.”

Doty said at some point the city could be forced to do something for parking.

“So yes, it’s about the trail, but it’s also about a road and a parking lot,” Doty said.

Phillips asked if the land acquisition piece from Option B could be moved in as well and was told it could be.

Olson asked staff to bring it back to the council for consideration. Chapulis said they would prepare documents based on Option A.

Where did the public land come from that could be used for the trail? The 880-acre area includes 50-foot-high rolling hills of high quality natural land that features high biodiversity forests and wetlands, 1 mile of frontage along Pike Creek, and ownership entirely surrounding Island Lake. The city of Baxter received the land through a combination of a land donation and various acquisitions through grant funding from the U.S. Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program and the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund, among others.

The city has

studied the park and used consultants to develop a master plan

for the land with the idea of silent sports, educational opportunities, camping, greater park accessibility and potential soccer fields. Another part of the master plans was a future Camp Ripley Veterans State Trail, which is a legislatively authorized state trail.

The Veterans Trail’s master plan envisions a multi-use trail system, which can mean motorized and non-motorized in different areas, that would link the Soo Line Trail south of Little Falls to Crow Wing State Park and the Paul Bunyan State Trail. The Veterans trail would link the Central Lakes, Lake Wobegon, Soo Line, Paul Bunyan, Heartland and Mi-Gi-Zi trails into one continuous recreational route, as stated in the

executive summary of the trail alignment and development

.

“These links also provide an opportunity to connect local trail systems in Central Minnesota as well as the communities of Baxter, Brainerd, Pillager, Randall, Little Falls and Fort Ripley. For purposes of this plan, the trail has been divided into six primary planning segments. The segments are Crow Wing State Park to the City of Pillager, the west side of Camp Ripley from Pillager to Randall, the south side of Camp Ripley from Randall to MN 371 and south to Little Falls, MN 371 to the Crow Wing State Park, the Little Falls Area, and from Little Falls to the Soo Line Regional Trail. … Trail cross-section examples were developed to illustrate a multi-use paved trail, gravel surfaced ATV trail and a natural surface equestrian track. Buffer areas between side-by-side multi-use trail alignments will likely be needed to ensure safety and a pleasant experience for all users.”

Council members are expected to consider the grant at their Tuesday, Feb. 20, meeting.

Renee Richardson, managing editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at @DispatchBizBuzz.