SLINGER, WISC (with excerpts from conleynet.com and gmtoday.com) – Officials in the Village of Slinger are expected to seek bids sometime in January for construction and other work related to the expansion of the Ice Age Trail in Slinger’s Community Park, following a new route design. As part of the trail expansion and community integration concept proposed by Vandewalle & Associates, the high school has also been invited to build amenities such as benches and shelters that will be placed adjacent to the expanded trail. The Slinger/Allenton Rotary Club has stepped forward with a donation of $10,700 for the high school’s effort.
Village Administrator Margaret Wilber said that residents who voiced opinions at a Dec. 17 public information meeting gave “positive feedback for the changes made in the route design,” although there is more work to be done to ensure trail users do not encroach on neighboring private property.” Wilber also said that it was hoped some of the work would begin as early as January or February with the construction of the boardwalk through the wetlands area.
Slinger School District Superintendent Daren Sievers said earlier that “It’s pretty exciting for our students to be able to be inolved in a village project like this. Over by the middle school, the trail will be connecting right through the center of town to the downtown community park and downtown businesses.”
Earlier this year the village accepted both Stewardship and Recreational Trails grants from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as partial funding for the project, which will have an estimated total cost of about $600,000. The Village will cover 50% of the total cost as its share.
