Commissioner Chuck Lepper noted as instrumental in process of securing money for city beautification project

Enhancement of a bike trail as a part of the International Falls Gateway Project will likely move forward, thanks to the efforts of Koochiching County Commissioner Chuck Lepper.

The gateway project is intended to make more attractive the entrance to International Falls — a gateway to Voyageurs National Park — via U.S. Highway 53 and Minnesota Highway 11 East.

Lepper is a member of the Minnesota Department of Transportation Enhancement Task Force, which is made up of members from MnDOT, the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Louis and Itasca counties, the Department of Natural Resources, bicycle enthusiast groups and the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission transportation planning group.

The task force recommended to the Northeastern Minnesota Area Transportation Partnership Steering Committee that the International Falls Gateway Project receive $500,000 in fiscal 2014 enhancement funding.

The International Falls City Council this week voted to send a letter of appreciation for Lepper’s efforts.

The ATP Steering Committee will meet March 8 and decide if the project should be brought to the ATP for funding approval. This action would occur April 8 and official notification will be sent to applicants in mid-April.

The ATP has never denied a project that the task force has recommended.

Construction could begin in October 2013.

Lepper noted that the Falls project competed with nine other projects for a portion of $1.5 million. Lepper said 3.5 of the 10 projects were recommended for funding, with the Falls project getting one-third of the available money.

Prior to the task force meeting, Lepper said he sought letters of support for the gateway project and fielded questions about the project at the meeting.

“What I had to say apparently helped,” Lepper said. “And we were very lucky.”

Lepper said the money will help get the gateway project started.

Koochiching and International Falls have never sought money for projects through the ATP program, Lepper noted.

The application had sought an additional $125,000 for construction of a bike trail connection from the existing Rainy Lake Trail into the Voyageur Heritage Center site along Rainy River.

That part of the application was removed because of the condition of the Rainy Lake Trail, which runs along Highway 11 East. The Task Force did not see the value of connecting a new spur to the center before the Rainy Lake Trail is improved.

The Gateway Project includes a new segment of trail from the International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce building 350 feet to the east to connect to the current trail. This new trail segment will be constructed to 10 feet and then will connect to the current 8-foot trail.

The task force encouraged Koochiching County to apply for money to widen of the rest of the trail from the proposed location of the Voyageur Heritage Center to points east next year.

The next steps in the process are to:

• Wait until the ATP officially approves the project and sends confirmation in April.

• Once confirmed, nail down the source of a local match of $125,000.

• Determine how the project will be engineered and how that engineering work will be funded.

• Start working on a plan to get the fire tower refurbished and open for public use.