Tale of two trails headed for construction in the county;
Promise made, promise kept. The Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners approved $30,000 each for the non-motorized trail from Rogers City to Hoeft State Park and the Presque Isle Township safety trail. Mary Ann Heidemann, County Development Commission director, appeared before the board February 12 to make presentations and to urge the commissioners to ?stand by your commitment.? Heidemann went over the history of each project, when it started, the setbacks and successes, and where it stands today.
Attending the meeting were Pete and Karen Pettalia from Presque Isle Township and Rogers City assistant city manager John Bruning. The Rogers City project is slated for construction this fall, while the Presque Isle trail is about ready to be bid.
PETE PETTALIA said if the county hadn?t come through with the promised portion of the grant share, the project may have fallen through. ?We had to raise close to $90,000, and if you pull a third of our promise away, that only puts us that much further behind,? he said. ?If they would have pulled that, we would have lost all of the promised money…then the state would have dropped their portion, so we would have lost it all.?
The four groups supporting the project are the PI Road Commission (the grant applicant), Lafarge Corporation , the county and Presque Isle Township. The township has said it would come up with $27,000, $15,000 of which, was to be tapped from the Recreation fund. The other $12,000 is going to brought in from local fundraisers, such as benefit dinners and auctions.
THE $30,000 from the county now means township officials don?t have to worry about conducting spaghetti dinners for the next 10 years. ?I?ve written this grant five different times,? said Karen Pettalia. ?So far it?s been six years into this project. We?ve been given the funds by the state and to have them take it away would have meant going back to square one.? Pettalia shouted ?Yes!? and danced in place in front of her chair when the vote was counted to approve the funding. Pettalia will be able to use her feet for walking or riding a bike on the trail, which will extend from Grand Lake Road to Whiskey Point. ?There?s a lot of support because the community feels safety issues are so important,? said Heidemann. ?The trail goes…by several resorts. It?s a highly traveled road by car.?
FOR THE Rogers City trail, the city had pledged $5,000, the county $30,000, with the rest coming from the MDOT regional service center in Alpena. The first application for the trail was submitted in 1999. At that time it was proposed to go from Seagull Point to 40 Mile Point Park.
?Well, that was just too much money, and the Department of Transportation threw it back and said ?you gotta cut some off of it. We don?t fund projects that large. Make it smaller,? ? said Heidemann. The project was resubmitted the following year with the end point being changed to Hoeft State Park. It was funded in the year 2000. The trail was designed last year by Beckett and Raeder of Ann Arbor.
?IT WAS originally scheduled to go to construction last year but due to environmental review issues of endangered species, construction last year was delayed,? said Heidemann. Now, Cordes Excavating is prepared to begin construction as soon as the company?s schedule and the weather permits. The Rogers City trail, from Forest Avenue to Shore Road, along the beach to the state park, was highlighted in a recent statewide press release of upcoming projects for MDOT. ?We were the only trail project that was highlighted,? said Heidemann.
IN OTHER county news: ? The water well inspection fee will remain at $30. Of the four counties that represent District Health Department No. 4, Presque Isle has, by far, t
? The board has agreed to have only two members represent the county on the District 4 board if Montmorency, Cheboygan and Alpena reduce their representation to two as well. If the other counties don?t agree, Presque Isle will stay at three reps.
? Letters of recognition will be given to former commissioners Carl Altman, Gary Nowak, and Wayne Vermilya. They?ll be invited to a future meeting.
? Repairs were made to frozen pipes at the keeper?s residence at 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. The problem was traced back to a furnace that stopped operating because of drywall dust.
The cost is more than $700. The county will try to recoup the damages from the contractor. The next commission meeting is February 28 at 9:30 a.m.