County seeks grant for Rush Lake park upgrades

Posted 2/14/01

County seeks grant for Rush Lake park upgrades

By MaryHelen Swanson

County officials are hoping itís not going to be three strikes and youíre out as they apply for a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Outdoor Recreation Grant for improvements at the Dennis Frandsen County Park located at the north end of West Rush Lake.

According to Parks Director Laird Mork, the county has applied and has been turned down for the grant for the past two years.

The county is seeking a 50-50 matching grant to come up with the $25,000 needed to complete the estimated cost of $150,000 for planned improvements. Frandsen has agreed to cover $50,000 of the cost and the state will provide $75,000.

The park itself covers over one mile of lake front and the land, with a value of $450,000, was donated to the county as a park in 1994 by Dennis Frandsen.

Planned improvements include a hard surfaced parking area and pathway to the fishing pier that was installed last year.

Other improvements include a picnic shelter, rest rooms, benches, signage, landscaping and trail bridges.

Mork reminded the commissioners as they addressed this item at their Feb. 7 meeting, that a hearing was held in 1999 seeking public input to the improvements at the park.
At that time area residents spoke to parking issues and closing times and asked if a gate was going to be installed. Laird noted that there are no gates on any county parks.

At that meeting, the public also suggested installation of a short dock for boats, eliminating parking on the island and the addition of a frisbee playing area.
There are currently no plans for any work on the island, Mork noted.

The commissioners agreed to resubmit the grant application.

In other park related business, the county board approved a woodland management program at the Fish lake Park which includes harvesting aspen trees to improve habitat. The county would be compensated for the trees at approximately $20/cord times 150 cords or about $3,000.

In other business, the commissioners:

ď Accepted the county planning commissionís recommendation to approve a conditional use permit (CUP) for Christopher Larson to operate an auto sales lot on his property in Rushseba Township at 960 S. Bremer Ave. Larson had received approval from the Rushseba Town Board, but should have obtained the CUP also prior to beginning business. The auto sales operation is allowed in the Rural Village Center-zoned district, but a CUP is required. The commissionersí approval included the following conditions: hours of operation 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Mon.-Sat., not more than two employees, not more than 60 cars at any one time, cars be operable when housed on-site, county sign regulations be adhered to, that the business be limited to the present structure and lot, with no further expansion and that all loading and unloading be restricted to 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

ď Learned via a letter from Ed Brown, Traffic Studies Supervisor for Mn/DOT, Metropolitan Division, that as soon as the weather is improved a traffic study will be conducted in the city of Wyoming per a request to reduce the speed limit on County Road 30.