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Midway council moves to refine documents to preserve Lundin property as open space
Summary
The Midway City Council directed staff to refine preservation documents for the Lundin property at 900 West Bigler Lane, agreeing to trail access features the Lundin family and partners negotiated while noting concerns about vehicles and livestock separation.
Mayor Craig Simons and city staff told the Midway City Council on June 2 that negotiations with the Lundin family have produced agreement-in-principle on trail access features for preserving the family’s 900 West Bigler Lane parcel as open space, but the council stopped short of final approval and directed staff to refine the documents.
City Attorney Corbin Gordon reviewed the options and said parties to the preservation effort met the morning of the meeting and that differences of opinion remained about public trail access and angler access. Mayor Craig Simons said the Lundins and partner agencies agreed to a crash gate and a V‑style (squeeze) angled pedestrian gate, plus a separate gate to close the trail for livestock movement; he said the city would install, own and maintain the fence and gates and that the Lundins were concerned about vehicles, e‑bikes and horses on the trail.
Council Member JC Simonsen said the public and livestock should be separated and that a mountain‑style trail alignment would be acceptable. “A crash gate was only for emergency access,” Simonsen said, and he signaled support for gate configurations that allowed farming operations to continue. Council Member Lisa Orme emphasized that Midway would be purchasing a conservation easement, not the land itself, and that preserving open fields can benefit farmers.
Engineering staff and council members discussed trail alignment that would follow the field edge and slope transitions so livestock movement could pass under or over trail access points. The council agreed to move forward with refining the preservation documents and to return proposed final documents for further consideration; no final conservation easement was approved at the meeting.
The council’s direction preserves the option of public trail access while recording the Lundin family’s conditions on gates and livestock management; staff will draft revised documents reflecting those conditions and bring them back for formal council action.
