Joe Hanner, Guthrie County Conservation director, speaks at re-opening of newly-resurfaced RRVT at Panora

PANORA, Iowa, August 19, 2007 – The five-mile section of the Raccoon River Valley Trail from just north of Linden into the heart of Panora was officially re-opened Saturday, August 18, with a brand new concrete surface. A crowd of more than 30 people turned out for the ribbon-cutting, and 20 or more of them then celebrated with a bike ride to Linden and back led by the local bike club, the Raccoon Valley Riders.

“Getting this trail resurfaced is an important step for our lifestyle and our economy in Guthrie County,” said Joe Hanner, director of the Guthrie County Conservation Board, told the crowd. “What’s made it possible is great partnerships.”

The $407,977 resurfacing project was completed earlier this week by the paving company Knife River Midwest LLC, of Decorah in northeast Iowa, and then Hanner and his conservation board staff re-installed benches and signage before the Saturday re-opening. The work had required the trail to be closed since early July.

Of that amount, $175,000 came from a State of Iowa Recreational Trails Grant administered by the Iowa Department of Transportation, and Hanner said it finally was secured after several years of unsuccessful applications. State officials have been reluctant to award grants for trail maintenance or resurfacing, because there is still so much demand for development of new trails around the state.

“What finally made the difference, I think, was the local partnerships we were able to form,” he said. “First, the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors came up with a special appropriation of $100,000 for this project, and that was a huge step by them, an amazing step.”

The conservation board then tapped the “REAP” funds all conservation boards receive from the state, a reserve fund and its affiliated Prairie Woodland Conservation Foundation for about $125,000 in funding. Panora’s local Raccoon River Valley Trail Committee successfully solicited more than $40,000 in donations from individuals and businesses in Guthrie County, and the Guthrie County Community Foundation also awarded a substantial grant for the project. In addition, many Guthrie Countians joined with the officers and board of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association in talking to state officials about the need for the resurfacing project. Their message was that on a per capita basis, Guthrie County has probably made a bigger commitment to the maintenance and resurfacing of their portion of the RRVT than any other counties in the state have made on their own trails.

“I’m sure that the local support we had was a big factor in us finally getting the state trails grant,” Hanner said. “It showed there was lots of local interest and support, and that means a lot when the DOT is making its decisions on trail funding.”

When it came time Saturday for the ceremonial cutting of a red ribbon strung across the trail in Panora, Hanner handed a scissors to Jeff Bump, a member of the Guthrie County Conservation Board, to do the honors. Others invited forward to take part were Karen Hawley of the Prairie Woodland Conservation Foundation; Orville Terry of Panora’s local RRVT Committee; Guthrie County Engineer Kris Katzman, who did all the engineering on the resurfacing, and Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper, secretary of the RRVT Association. Hanner also thanked Panora Mayor Steve Baker for the City of Panora support of the project.

The ceremony was held adjacent to the trailside P.J.’s Drive-In restaurant, which is owned by Paul Wendl, a major trail supporter since its opening in 1989. Wendl provided free ice cream to all present.

Hanner closed the ceremony reminding everybody that as big an accomplishment as the resurfacing of the five miles of the RRVT south of Panora has been, fundraising is just now starting to resurface the five miles going north from Panora to Yale. That section is now the oldest section of asphalt on the whole trail and is in poor condition.

He noted that Panora-to-Yale section of trail will be an important one, as it will connect to the new “North Loop” of the RRVT. That will run east from Herndon, which is located north of Yale on the current RRVT, on through the communities of Jamaica and Dawson enroute to Perry. It will then go southeast through Minburn and Dallas Center before reconnecting with the RRVT on the northwest corner of Waukee. The right-of-way that will become the “North Loop” is being purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and negotiations are expected to be completed this late summer or early fall. Mike Wallace, director of the Conservation Board in Dallas County, where most of that loop will be located, said work on it will begin as soon as the purchase is finalized. It could take two years to complete the hard-surfacing of that loop, depending on funding.

“So, we’re not done,” Hanner said. “That’s the reality of trail projects. You never, ever get totally done with trail projects.”

Article Published: 08-19-2007