Sartell Officials Regroup As Park Bridge Project Falls Through

SARTELL -- Sartell officials are regrouping after plans to build a pedestrian bridge in Sauk River Regional Park fell through.

Earlier this year the council voted to look into building a bridge to help access 14 acres of additional park space, however bids came back higher than projected.

The engineers estimate on that project was roughly $850,000 and the low bid came in at $1.1-million. So the council made a decision to reject the bid and now we are going back to DNR staff and working with our local legislatures on what's reasonable.

The city has two grants, roughly $451,000 through the Legacy funds and $500,000 from state bonding money, for improvements at Sauk River Regional Park.

City Administrator Mary Degiovanni says as one deadline approaches they will continue to have discussions with the DNR on how to best utilize those funds.

We won't just let the deadline pass. It will be a decision we make with DNR staff on what we are going to propose before the mid-summer deadline, or if we work with local legislatures to say we really like this park as is, maybe there is a better use for those funds.

Degionvanni says they want to prioritize the funds and don't want to spend it for the sake of spending it.

Besides the bridge, she says other ideas have been presented the council, which never gained any momentum.

The two grants must be used by this summer and by 2022. Sauk River Regional Park is located behind Sam's Club.