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Luverne Loop is 'regionally significant'

Lead Summary
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By
Lori Sorenson

The Luverne Loop received a prestigious designation this week as a “regionally significant” trail for 2016.
In a statement released Monday, the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission announced the Luverne project made the list of 14 parks and trails to achieve regional designation.
“Achieving regional designation shows that the long-term vision for our trail meets a very high standard for natural-resource-based outdoor recreation and is part of a regional system across Greater Minnesota,” said Holly Sammons, Luverne Economic Development Authority director.
Successful applicants for regional designation undergo a stringent review process to make sure projects provide “high quality recreational experience of lasting value to all Minnesotans.”
Renee Mattson, executive director of the Regional Parks and Trails Commission, said Luverne’s Loop project is great for the community, but it’s also good for Greater Minnesota.
“It’s a really cool loop … It’s definitely a worthy project,” Mattson said.
“It connects a community with a state park, and it’s a particularly beautiful piece of trail. It’s well laid out as an economic development piece for other people coming into a community and spending dollars. That’s important.”
Trails of regional significance in Greater Minnesota must be located in a regionally desirable setting and serve as a destination for users from multiple area communities.
They must provide high-quality recreational opportunities to potentially draw tourists and generate an economic impact from outside the local area.
Trails of regional significance in Greater Minnesota must also address other criteria in their aggregate, including adequate length, connections, and scarcity of trail resources.
While it’s an honor to make the list, Sammons said the regional designation puts Luverne’s project in line for grant support.
“It means we are eligible to apply for Legacy funding in the future and gives us another pot of money to potentially fund our projects,” she said.
For a project that’s only one phase into its multi-phase development, this is good news, said Sammons, who has taken the lead on planning and funding for Luverne’s Loop project.
She said Phase 1 is done, and funding has been secured for Phase II, but the city could apply for funds for trailhead development at Redbird Field for 2017-18.
For example, plans call for parking, restrooms, walking path, picnic shelter, community maps, signage, landscaping, a bike fix-it station and other amenities.
“The trailhead will be for arrival and departure for residents and visitors and to connect trail users with other points of interest in the community,” Sammons said.
 
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A big step toward achieving the “regionally significant” trail designation was completing Loop’s master plan back in November of 2015. Following is the story published Dec. 3, 2015 about the plan:
 
Master plan for Luverne Loop spells out five-year,
four-phase plan for local trail
Document includes possible trailhead designs and improvement of blighted areas
 
By Lori Sorenson
There's a master plan in place for developing the Luverne Loop trail, and it's online and available in print for public perusal.
"This plan helps us identify what needs to be done and prioritize how we do it," said Holly Sammons, Luverne Economic Development Authority director.
Sammons credits local bicycling enthusiast Preston Vermeer for his vision of a path that would loop around and through Luverne.
But Sammons has used her professional connections and key resources to connect Vermeer's vision with the expertise and funds to make it happen.
"This isn't just a jaunt around Luverne," Sammons told Luverne City Council members Nov. 17 when she presented her 142-page plan.
"This will help us set ourselves up for success 30 years down the road."
The 7.1-mile, asphalt Luverne Loop trail for non-motorized uses will incorporate the 6-mile Blue Mounds Trail for 13 miles of continuous path that will make Luverne a biking destination.
“Thirteen miles is apparently the magic number for biking,” Sammons said.
The Loop, estimated to cost $2 million once complete, will be developed in four phases over a five-year time period.
Phase 1 is 1.5 miles that is scheduled to start next year. It includes Veterans Memorial Pond west across Highway 75 through Tonto Park to the top of the existing berm west of the city. The trail then will turn south along the west side of the school ball fields to Dodge Street.
Phase 2 is a 1.6-mile segment that will run south of Dodge Street to Hatting then turn east past the ice arena to Highway 75.
Phase 3 will cross Highway 75, travel north along the highway and then turn east at Hatting and north on Freeman. It will then head east to the Rock River, then north to the planned trailhead at Redbird Field.
Phase 4 will extend north from the Redbird Field trailhead across Main St., with crossing improvements. It will then join the existing Blue Mound Trail.
In order to be a “trail of regional significance,” it must be 10 feet wide, Sammons said, so the plan calls for eventually widening existing sidewalks and the city portion of the Blue Mound Trail.
The exact course of the completed Loop will be determined in later phases, but Sammons said a preferred route would bring the southeast part of the trail through conservation ground owned by Warren Baker.
It would bring bikers and hikers through pristine wooded areas of the Rock River. "Our goal is to get people to the Rock River," Sammons said.
"This route has a phenomenal view, and it's peaceful and quiet. … Some people who have lived in Luverne all their life have probably never been to this spot. It's a hidden gem."
She said the land is enrolled in Reinvest in Minnesota, a conservation program that may prohibit easements for the trail.
The Loop master plan includes basic information about the trail and its proposed routes, but it also includes ideas for improving blighted areas and developing potential trailheads along the route.
For example, shelter structures, benches, playground equipment, garbage receptacles and other details are sketched out in the master plan, which also shows how planting more trees and parking areas could improve public access and enjoyment of the trail.
Also specific ideas for the Redbird Field trail head and parking and fishing piers at the Creamery Pond are included in the plan.
Although a good share of the plan includes indefinite proposals and ideas, Sammons said the document will be a useful tool going forward.
"We finally have it all in one place so people can know what we're doing and why," she said.
She added that the plan has been in the works for nearly two years and that many local professionals and citizens have been involved in developing it. They are listed in the acknowledgement pages at the start of the document.
Mayor Pat Baustian commended Sammons on her efforts. "This is a wonderful plan and you've put an immense amount of work into it," he said. "Kudos to you and to the committee."
Sammons said the fact Luverne's Loop now has an approved master plan (which identifies key characteristics and community advantages) makes it more eligible for state and federal grant funding.
 
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Of course the Loop wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of local government officials and willing taxpayers back up state and federal funding sources. This story from June 2015 details the city of Luverne’s five-year spending commitment to the Loop.
 
By Lori Sorenson
The city will spend nearly $2 million on the Luverne Loop hiking and biking path in the next five years.
That’s according to discussion at the June 21 meeting to review the five-year capital improvement plan.
Work on Phase 1 of the Luverne Loop bike and hiking path in 2016 is estimated to cost $692,378.
That includes $100,000 for Creamery Pond site preparation, $20,000 for signs to direct people to the trail, $447,378 for work on the trail itself and $65,000 for a trailhead shelter (including electrical wiring).
The location of a trailhead shelter has not been determined, but there has been some discussion about locating it near Redbird Field in order to take advantage of the new parking lot there and the Blue Mound Avenue connection to the existing bike path.
“A lot of work has gone into the trail, and I think it’s a very worthwhile investment, but it takes a lot of money,” Call said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Some of the 2016 trail costs will be offset by a $150,000 local trail connection grant.
In 2017 a $400,000 state grant is expected to offset trail costs for Phase II work, which is estimated to cost $775,000.
Parking at the Creamery Pond for $60,000, wayfinding signs for $20,000 and trail construction at $695,000 are included in the 2017 estimates.
•Loop expenses for 2018 are estimated at $125,000. This includes $40,000 for sidewalks and $25,000 for a fishing pier at the Creamery Pond, $20,000 for wayfinding signs and $40,000 for trailhead parking, possibly near Redbird Field.
A $10,000 DNR grant is expected to offset the costs of the fishing pier in 2018.
•Loop expenses in 2019 are estimated at $225,000. This includes $50,000 for a Creamery Pond shelter, $60,000 for playground equipment along the trail, $25,000 for wayfinding signs and $90,000 for a trailhead sidewalk, possibly at Redbird Field.
•Loop expenses in 2020 are estimated at $190,000. This includes $65,000 for Creamery Pond landscaping (possibly a berm), $25,000 for wayfinding signs and $100,000 for a restroom at the trailhead near Redbird Field.
A Luverne Loop Capital Project Fund has been set up to pay for capital costs associated with the trail.
At the June 21 capital budget meeting Call reminded council members that a five-year plan is just — a plan. Some line items may “float” from one year to the next, while others may be added or deleted from the plan.

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