County Applies For $1.3M Grant To Study Bike Trail Growth

Commissioner David Thiesse voiced several questions during the discussion, ranging from the feasibility of such a trail system and where the trails may be located, to if eminent domain may be required and whether the county eventually will pay for a new trail’s upkeep once it is built.

Discussion among commissioners and with Eric Ambroson of Planning and Development District III noted that such questions will be answered by the study.

Thiesse joined the remaining commissioners Geoffrey Gray-Lobe, Richard Hammond and Chairperson Betty Smith and voted in favor of the resolution.

The resolution authorizes the county and the Southeastern Council of Governments (SECOG) to submit an application for a grant funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The grant is entitled “FY 2023 National Infrastructure Investments” and will be used for planning trail connectivity within and between Clay and Yankton counties.

“This came to our attention basically last week,” Gray-Lobe said of the grant at the Feb. 28 meeting. “It’s a major federal grant opportunity. I think it’s something that we should make sure we’re looking at with a longer time frame for next year.

“It’s broadly applicable; there is a lot of different transportation, construction and planning things that we can do with grant funds like these,” he said. “There most likely will be a lot of funds available next year. This is funded primarily through the bilateral infrastructure law at the federal level. Eric (Ambroson) noticed it because there have been discussion about bike and pedestrian trails in our transportation plan and in Yankton County’s transportation plan.”

Further trail development in Clay County also aligns with recent discussions held by the Clay County Park board, Gray-Lobe said. The board’s recent strategic planning touches on the development of more trails and the better connectivity of trails between population centers.

“This funding is available, it was an incredibly short time frame (to plan for the application),” he said, but assistance from the National Park Service, SECOG and Planning and Development District III worked quickly to complete the resolution authorizing the application.

“I think we had 14 letters of support from places like USD and the Yankton County Commission, so we would be passing this resolution today and the deadline is like 11:59 tonight to submit this,” Gray-Lobe said. “There are a lot of benefits for our county. We need to pass the resolution so we can submit it, but really we would be partners in the resolution with Yankton County.”

The goal of the grant is to fund comprehensive, long-term planning for pedestrian and bike riders and intermodal trails throughout all of Yankton and Clay counties, he said.

“That’s not saying trails are everywhere in Yankton and Clay counties, but planning for the most efficient, sensible, practical … where are the corridors where trails can be built,” Gray-Lobe said, “where is there going to be resistance that can’t be surmounted, where is there excitement?

“The idea would be to connect some of the smaller population centers, like, for example, Meckling, thinking about those and not just thinking about Vermillion and Yankton,” he said, “and reaching out to some of the great resources we have surrounding those population centers.”

Potential trail destinations may include Spirit Mound, Alabama Bend and other interesting public lands that are administered by different agencies, Gray-Lobe said.

“I think some of the goals on the federal level are to increase non-motorized transit options and to do economic development,” he said. “Something like this could be a tourism draw, it could increase the property values of homes that are near any of these trail systems. The ask is for $1.3 million and that’s based on about 65 miles of corridors to be explored at about $20,000 per mile of funding to be available for that.”

Gray-Lobe noted that the application is not for a matching grant.

“If we got it, this would be 100% federal funds paying for these things,” he said. Locally, the county would offer such things as meeting space for individuals involved in planning and public input sessions.

“We wouldn’t have to put any money into this planning process,” Gray-Lobe said. “I’m very excited about it; I’m very impressed by all of the work that went into putting it (the application) together so rapidly. I think that since there were so many professionals willing to put in their time, even just the 14 groups that wrote us letters of support in just a two-day turnaround, I think it really looks like something that is broadly beneficial and has a lot of buy-in from a lot of our partners.”

“After the planning stage is over, I think the idea is that we would be the lead, but there would be many partners doing the work,” Smith said. “The National Park Service is really excited about this. State Game Fish and Parks is really excited about this and this dovetails into a lot of partners in this area.”

She noted that the Vermillion Chamber and Development Company wrote a very enthusiastic letter and have plans to make an outdoor recreation map of the area as an economic development strategy.

“We have so many amazing resources amongst our two counties, so they were very, very excited about the economic development possibilities of a regional trail system,” Smith said. “I see these recreational trails grants constantly go by and because we don’t have a plan, we can’t apply for them. Once a plan is in place, it puts us in a position to, along with our partners, apply for recreational trail money that’s available every year. Some of it actually goes unspent.”

The grant, Gray-Lobe said, would help develop a plan that would serve as the framework for many years in the future as the trails are gradually developed.

During the discussion that followed, Thiesse asked for more specific goals to be identified in the application process.

“We’re going to make a trail from basically Clay County Park to Yankton?” he asked. “Is that the long-term goal?”

“Right now, we’re just resolving to submit the application,” Gray-Lobe said. “We don’t know if we’ll get it; if we’ve got that, that would be in August or September and that would begin a process where we would explore questions like that. Does it make sense to have a trail from Clay County Park to Yankton? Does it make sense to have a trail from North Alabama Bend to Vermillion or something like that?”

Mockler said his problem with the resolution is its goal is to create trails that would require local tax dollars to develop.

“We can sit here and say we’re not spending any money, but unless some private investor gave us the money, we are spending tax dollar money,” he said. “And it’s a little more than a million dollars for a feasibility study? And is eminent domain going to be able to be used to make these trails possible?”

“That really is more of a political question and we know the way that would go out front,” Smith said. “I think that’s the feasibility question, right, that they’re looking at. What’s the likelihood of success of various connecting strategies?”

Mockler expressed concern about the necessity, in some instances, for trails to cross private land to meet the desired destinations and noted the county’s master transportation plan, which had just been approved by the commission moments earlier, indicated that recommended changes that he said would require local, public funding.

The newly approved Clay County Master Transportation Plan states:

“There is great potential for trails and on-street bike routes to connect communities in Clay County. In particular, it is recommended to add paved shoulders to go with a Bike Route designation for the County Paved – Priority Routes, connecting all the major cities and towns in Clay County. To complete this as part of the Major Roads Plan, 4- to 8-foot paved shoulders would be constructed over time.

A conceptual but comprehensive Trails Master Plan has also been created as a vision for active transportation in Clay County, with great economic and health benefits for a fully realized countywide trails system. This network of trails would benefit Clay County for generations through increased physical activity options, quality of life, tourism, economic development, connectivity, and resiliency. The County will need to consider funding mechanisms and phasing sequences to start and complete these projects. A separate Clay County Trails Implementation plan or study is recommended.”

The planning that the $1.3 million federal grant would make possible “would take a much, much deeper dive into what’s possible and into what’s feasible,” Smith said. “We all know that, unless you’ve got a willing participant, you’re not going to be able to go across private land, but that’s the kind of thing that these folks (the plan’s developers) will look at.”

“You’re talking a lot about the planning that is going to go into this project, but obviously, we don’t know anything at this point,” Ambroson, who joined the meeting via Zoom, said. “That’s why if we’re awarded the funds, a group is going to be put together to develop a RFP (Request For Proposal) for a professional firm to come in and explore all of these strategies or all of these alternatives.

“That’s the point where you’re going to have a lot of your questions answered about crossing private property, sharing right of way and new trail construction,” he said. “What we’re sending in is a proposal that’s really kind of like throwing out a net and casting it wide. Once we reel it in, we’ll know more about what we have.”

Ambroson suggested the commission not worry about what’s going where or who is going to be affected.

“We’ll get those questions answered through the planning process,” he said.

“How can we not worry about where this is going to go in the future?” Thiesse asked. “If we’re going to make Timber Road wider for a path, whose responsibility does that become? Does that become Rod’s (Rod Polley, county highway superintendent) issue after it’s in? Do we pay for that widening?”

“Again, that’s another question for the consultant that would eventually come up with this plan,” Ambroson said. “For sure, when we write the RFP, we’ll definitely want to have a responsive firm that knows how to handle all of these issues like maintenance and land ownership and those kinds of things.

“Let’s worry about it, that’s for sure,” he said, “but the planning process will be the time to get all of those issues on the table.”

Mockler called the proposed spending of $1 million a waste of money.

“You’re going to get some answers to questions that we’re asking now after we spend $1 million,” he said.

“We don’t spend $1 million,” Hammond said.

“Do you pay taxes? Anyone who pays taxes is paying for this and we can’t even get funded to finish the road that was promised to be finished two years ago,” Mockler said, “and now we’re going to spend an extra million dollars. We call it government money from Washington, but it’s a waste of funds.”