Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved supporting applications for grant funding toward the first phase of construction of the shared user trail planned on the abandoned Union Pacific Railroad line from Albert Lea to Hartland.

The first grant application, for $2.5 million, is through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. If awarded, the funds would go toward the construction of the portion of the trail from Fountain Street in Albert Lea to Manchester, excluding the Minnesota Highway 13 crossing.

The engineer’s estimate for that span of the trail is $7.3 million.

County Engineer Phil Wacholz said in his background information on the project that all right-of-way has been acquired for the project, which is typically a hurdle to similar projects.

Construction will include culvert replacements, grading, aggregate base, pavement, slope restoration and other pertinent items.

The grant would require an $833,000 match, which could include expenditures made from local sources prior to the grant award.

The second application, for projects up to $400,000, would be through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Regional Trail Grant and would go toward rehabilitating three railroad bridges in the rural portion of the trail. If awarded, the county would receive $300,000, and the county would be required to have a $100,000 match.

The third grant is one the city of Albert Lea is applying for to replace the bridge near Shoff Park with a new pedestrian bridge. The grant is through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Local Trail Program Grant and could be used for projects up to $400,000. It would also require a 25% match.

Second District Commissioner Dawn Kaasa brought up a concern about all of the match funding needed if the grants were awarded.

Wacholz said presently the county has $650,000 set aside for the project, and the county is setting aside $110,000 each year toward trail construction and $40,000 for trail maintenance.

Freeborn County and the city of Albert Lea have been working toward the development of the trail for the last several years and in 2023 approved a joint trail action plan that discusses the development of the property. The plan breaks the trail up into possible development segments that could be completed, as well as possible costs.

Trail enthusiasts and city and county officials say the trail would benefit people walking, and biking and improve access to schools, parks and even the rural areas.

When complete, the trail would run 15 miles from Albert Lea to Manchester and then north to Hartland, where eventual plans call for extending it to New Richland, Waseca and even Waterville, where the Sakatah Singing Hills State Bike Trail is located.

In other action, the commissioners:

• Approved the county’s registration ordinance for cannabis businesses.
• Recognized Sara Barnes with the Rose Olmsted Advocacy Award.
• Amended the Third Judicial District’s veterans court contract with the state to allow for a reduction in the state allocation toward the program. Probation Director Lyndon Stinson said there had been some overlap in funds from state and federal grants, and the district will return the unused funds. The grants fund the program in its entirety.
• Approved sending three team members of the veterans court to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals conference in May in Kissimmee, Florida. The cost, estimated at $6,500, will be covered by state funds.
• Approved a railroad crossing agreement with Union Pacific for Margaretha Avenue improvements in Albert Lea. The project includes railroad signal upgrades, roadway and sidewalk improvements and railroad crossing improvements.

MnDOT will use federal railroad safety funds for the new signals that will be installed.

• Approved an expansion of the conditional use permit for Peterson Excavating and Demolition to add a 5,000-square-foot hoop building to the property for storage of black dirt.
• Approved an expansion of a conditional use permit for David Malakowsky for the addition of a 30,000-bushel storage bin and an air system from an existing dryer to the storage bins on property in Freeborn Township.
• Approved the resignation of Alexa Jacobson, a public health home and community registered nurse. The board also voted to refill the position.
• Voted to fill an open public health community health worker position, after the individual who had been working in the role accepted a new position as a family home visitor.
• Accepted the resignation and retirement of Elaine Wulff at the end of March.
• Approved the Minnesota Deferred Compensation Plan.
• Approved a policy for phased retirement with the county.