GOCO Grant Application for Bridge-Related Work (Not CDOT)

Trustee Dan Nolan, Town Clerk Sandy White, and Geoff Elliott attended the recent workshop hosted by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to learn more about Local Parks and Outdoor Recreation (LPOR) funding for bridge-related work in Pioneer Park that is outside the strictly regulated CDOT scope of work.  Bridge-related park work will include trail entry points with interpretive signage, picnic area, parking, environmental education, lighting, angler access, and habitat work.  For a look at the plans - click on this link.

Looks like funding will be very competitive but GOCO procedures are more clear now including grading mechanisms and we are confident our project is worthwhile.  GOCO staff members Jake Houston and Jackie Miller remembered our long history with GOCO including:

·         Open Space Grant to purchase Pioneer Park in 1999

·         Planning Grant to develop river corridor restoration masterplan 2001

·         Planning Grant to locate, develop initial designs, and permit Pedestrian Bridge 2009

We are asking everyone interested to help us with letters of support for the Pedestrian Bridge and related campground work.  Please write us with these talking points:

·         You support the Pedestrian Bridge effort and GOCO funding for related work.

·         How you typically visit the park (bike, snowshoe, fishing, disc golf)

·         How you will use the project.

·         Why it is important to you, local kids, etc.

·         If you are willing to donate an afternoon or 2 during construction to help with landscaping etc.

Join us at an open house right before next Board of Trustees meeting 16Feb12.  We’ll start at 5:00 with discussion over maps and drawings, then a power point presentation at 5:30 with more details and open for questions 5:45.  More opportunities to discuss later as Trustees consider the final resolution to move ahead with GOCO application to pay for park work.  CDOT funding is already confirmed for the bridge work.

Construction Plans Available for Review

Geoff Elliott met with the Town of Hot Sulphur Springs (ToHSS) Board of Trustees on Thursday 19Jan12 to share TopKnot Engineers’ updated bridge plans which show a 2-foot reduction in bridge elevation due to recent floodplain analysis, great job Tony! Lower elevation means less fill, reduced wetland and river impacts, and less need for safety rails. We also discussed a strategy developed with Trustee Dan Nolan, Mayor Hershal Deputy, and Jack Zielinski to pull all ancillary design and park work out of bridge project to focus CDOT-related work totally on bridge. The strategy is to work with GOCO for a Local Parks and Outdoor Recreation (LPOR) grant this spring cycle. This should allow the bridge contractor (not chosen yet, RFP soon) to focus on bridge construction. Bridge plans are available for review in ToHSS Town Hall.  Everyone is invited to review and comment; Tony will begin working on the next set to CDOT after Feb1.

Pedestrian Bridge Project Moves Forward!

After 10 years of dialogue and planning, starts and stops, boil orders and stimulus projects, we are entering our final stages of Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) approval for construction of the Town of Hot Sulphur Springs Pedestrian Bridge over the Colorado River!
 
Project Engineer Tony Krempin of TopKnot Engineering and I (Geoff Elliott of Grand Environmental Services) will meet with ToHSS Trustees this week to discuss some final design considerations, and how we will best facilitate the bidding and construction process. Part of our plan is to get our bridge-construction contractor on board late spring (May-June) and give the contractor a couple of summer months to organize workers, materials, and presumably, a pre-fabricated bridge for installation in September.
 
We will have cleared and prepared access and staging areas so our bridge contractor can focus on the bridge itself. We will follow bridge installation with other park improvements coordinated with final revegetation and stabilization for winter.
 
Contracting will be straightforward, following standard CDOT conditions and procedures as outlined in our ToHSS-CDOT Intergovernmental Agreement which will be available at Town Hall along with TopKnot draft designs.

Posted by Geoff Elliott, Grand Environmental Services