Town presenters outline Sandywood-to-Veterans Park trail plan as private nonprofit offers funding

Town staff member Pete told the Parks and Recreation advisory group that work is underway to build a pedestrian and bicycle trail linking the new Sandywood subdivision to Veterans Park, and that a private nonprofit has approached the town about providing significant funding for the project.

Pete said the town required a utility and access easement when the subdivision was approved and that the developer recently dedicated the road and utilities. He said the town signed its first building permit for the subdivision last week and that construction will start this summer. He described a proposed alignment that would use an existing easement to connect Hughes Road and Veterans Park and called the route “relatively easy” to walk.

Why it matters: The connection would create an off-street route for residents of the Sandy Beach/Sandywood area to reach Veterans Park and Hughes Road School without riding on county roads. Pete estimated the trail length at about 0.6 miles and said making it bikeable would help shift children and others off busy streets.

Project description and costs

Pete described project elements and preliminary prices. The plan calls for two prefabricated bridges to cross low areas: a 6-foot-wide by 52-foot span and a 6-foot-wide by 66-foot span, each with roughly a 9,000-pound load capacity. Pete gave preliminary manufacturer prices of about $36,000 for one bridge and about $50,000 for the other. He said combined bridge costs and associated foundations were in the roughly low‑to‑six‑figure range when including foundations and site work.

The walking/bike surface under consideration is a 6-foot-wide stone‑dust path built from 6 inches of crushed stone and a light dusting. Pete said engineering priced that surface at about $15 per running foot for a 6‑foot width (presenter noted the figure as $15 per running foot). Fence estimates to mark the town easement and prevent private encroachment came back at about $20,000, he said. In broad terms Pete said the project’s total “bottom line” was roughly what he described as “2.50-ish” (presenter language), and separately said he had been told the private nonprofit interest could produce “six figures” toward the work; exact donor commitments were not specified in the meeting.

Local concerns and next steps

Pete said the town has already sent letters to residents backing onto the easement to notify them of the work and to reduce disputes about whether the land is private. He said one adjacent resident objected to access next to their house and the town plans to install a twin‑veil split vinyl fence on the easement to define town property and reduce later encroachment.

Pete said the immediate next action will be to place the fence to “stake our claim” on the easement before more houses are occupied. He also said the nonprofit is walking the route with town staff and has shown interest in funding either the path surface or the bridges; Pete said that if the nonprofit funds one element, the town might cover the other. He noted grants remain an option, but said he prefers to see whether private funding materializes before applying for public grants.

Committee members asked about floodplain issues, accessibility and maintenance. Pete said there are low spots in the alignment but that bridges could be sized to keep the path out of floodplain elevations. He described the stone‑dust surface used elsewhere in town as “one step from concrete,” saying it can be suitable for hybrid bicycles and, with compaction, for wheelchairs in many places; he also said it is not plowable with a plow but can be groomed or snow‑blown.

What’s next: Pete said staff will bring a plan to the town board for formal approval to place the fence and to continue negotiations with the nonprofit. If private funding is confirmed the town will refine the budget and staging; otherwise staff may pursue grants or phase the work. No final contract or binding donor commitment was reported during the meeting.

Speakers quoted or paraphrased in this article are named in the transcript and listed in the speaker roster below.