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New Ottertail bike path costs $33,000 over budget [UPDATED]
Published 10:11am Friday, January 27, 2012 Updated 12:12pm Friday, January 27, 2012A bike path through the city of Ottertail once seemed like a “done deal,” according to many people. Not any more.
The cost, even after receiving an Espeland Family Foundation donation of $142,737, could approach $320,000, and estimated $33,000 over budget.
Several new requirements have come to light in recent weeks. They include grading of each approach along the path that would follow Highway 108 to Highway 78 and would end at County Highway 1, on the north side of town.
New Americans with Disabilities Act regulations also are in place, with the need for a 10-foot-wide path and additional signs. That’s the case even though communities such as Perham have bike paths that are only eight feet wide.
The city council is not in a panic situation, however.
Council member Terry Wagenman suggests that, after snowbirds return to Ottertail, a community meeting be held in order to get public input. The city has until October 2013 to complete the project and still receive some state funding assistance.
The Espeland Family Foundation’s donation for the bike path has some stipulations. A total of $40,000 is designated for future upkeep of the path and $36,000 is designated for a skidsteer with a blower and sweeper to help in the maintenance of the path. The rest of the foundation’s donation, $66,737, is to go to the city to help fund the building of the bike path.
