By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Town Board is considering appointing a management committee for the Ferry Pit recreational area.
The Colfax Town Board and the Town of Colfax Plan Commission held a joint meeting May 8 and discussed the need for a committee to manage the development of the recreation area and to help finalize the reclamation.
The Dunn County Board at the April 17 meeting authorized the sale of the Ferry Pit north of Colfax to Landmark Conservancy. The conservancy has the intention of deeding the 146-acre parcel to the Town of Colfax to be developed as a recreational area.
What is known as the Ferry Pit is located on the Red Cedar River on the northwest side of the Village of Colfax and is across state Highway 170 from Felland Park in the Town of Colfax.
The Town of Colfax expressed an interest in developing the parcel as a recreational area in 2017.
Dunn County previously used the parcel as an asphalt plant and a gravel pit.
The Colfax Town Board and the Town of Colfax Plan Commission are proposing to turn the 146-acre parcel into a park that will provide canoe/kayak/tube landing opportunities on the Red Cedar River; provide additional access to fishing the river and ponds on the property; provide an area for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter; provide an area for bird watching; provide an area for hiking and dog walking; and provide more outdoor nature educational opportunities for high school biology students and others.
Landmark Conservancy has submitted grant applications to purchase the property, and fund raising will need to be completed to match the grants, said Town of Colfax resident Kathy Stahl at the joint meeting of the town board and plan commission on May 8.
The Dunn County Highway Department has already completed a certain amount of cleanup and reclamation at the Ferry Pit, she said.
“The highway department has taken a hit on it,” Stahl noted.
According to the resolution approved by the Dunn County Board, Landmark Conservancy will have the property appraised and will make an offer to purchase for one-half of the appraised value, estimated at $146,000.
When the county’s 2019 budget was approved, revenue from the sale of the Ferry Pit property was estimated at $360,000.
John Sworski, Dunn County Director of Public Works, has agreed to make up the difference between the actual sale price and the budgeted revenue with money from the county’s highway fund.
Stahl and her husband, Lee Boland, have been working on seeding in certain areas on the property, and one day while they working, a neighbor of the property said he was concerned that once the area was opened to the public, it would “become a raceway.”
Part of a management committee’s responsibilities would be determining how to police the property, Stahl said.
Colfax Town Board member Gary Bjork wondered about the fund-raising efforts for $75,000.
Bjork said he had considered proposing the Town of Colfax borrow $75,000 to help “get it going.”
Stahl said she had plans to approach a variety of foundations with proposals to try to raise funds.
Dean Logslett, chair of the Colfax Town Board, said he was under the impression the county was finished with the reclamation work at the Ferry Pit.
Logslett also proposed not connecting the loops of road on the Ferry Pit property “so there won’t be a racetrack.”
Dan Prestebak, Dunn County conservationist, has been overseeing the reclamation and would like assurances that the Town of Colfax believes the site is adequately reclaimed, Stahl said.
“The county just took $200,000 out of their budget (for the Ferry Pit), so I don’t want to make them come back and do more work,” Logslett said.
“I thought what the county did for reclamation was fine,” he said.
If the town board were to appoint a management committee, the committee would then be able to apply for grants to help with developing the recreational area, Stahl said.
A neighbor of the property said he would be willing to help work on the trails, she noted.
Logslett agreed the township should have a steering committee to help the project move forward.
Logslett suggested Stahl and Boland bring a list of names to the next Colfax Town Board meeting and he would put the formation of a committee on the town board’s agenda.
The Colfax Town Board meets the second Wednesday of the month.
