Raccoon River Valley Trail becomes a Loop

Posted Oct 19, 2009
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The Raccoon River Valley Trail's 33-mile "North Loop" is a reality! Welcome to the trail Dallas Center, Minburn, Perry, Dawson and Jamaica!

Cooper, IA October 14, 2009 A three-year-long campaign to raise $6.6 million to pay for a new 33-mile “North Loop” on the Raccoon River Valley Trail went over the top this week. [BIKEIOWA note: Keep readin' folks... This is extraordinaroy news for Iowa! We are in a leagure of our own now with a 72 miles loop and 89 miles of total paved trail. This kind of stuff is what makes Iowa a Destination for many! These small communities will cetainly see big economic boosts over time from trail users. Bicyclists like us! Stay tuned here and on http://raccoonrivervalleytrail.org for all the latest] That came with a $484,995 grant on Tuesday from the Iowa Department of Transportation’s State Recreational Trails Program. The IDOT’s Transportation Commission approved the grant during its meeting in Bettendorf. That amount covers the shortage RRVT officials faced in raising a total of $850,000 required as a local “match” for a $1.6 million grant earlier this year from the Vision Iowa Program. The effort had gotten closer to that goal last week, when it was announced that the Natural Resources Commission of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources approved $367,000 in grants toward the project from the state’s “REAP” program. And the non-profit Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation said this week its members across the state and beyond have recently donated more than $35,000 for the project. In addition, an ongoing campaign for donations that RRVT officials have conducted the last two years among trail users and other supporters has brought in $40,470. VIDEO Two Videos from KCCI.com Part 1 and Part 2 And all that boosts the total amount of funds to just over the goal of $6.6 million, which is the projected total cost of the North Loop trail project. “It’s a reality now, it sure is!” said an excited Mike Wallace, the veteran director of the Dallas County Conservation board who has been the lead person in all the fundraising, since most of the new trail development will occur in his county. The 33-miles of new trail will mean five more communities join the network of trail towns in west central Iowa. Those are Dallas Center, Minburn, Perry, Dawson and Jamaica. Towns on the current 56 miles of the RRVT are Jefferson, Cooper, Herndon, Yale, Panora, Linden, Redfield, Adel, Waukee and Clive – stretching through Greene, Guthrie and Dallas Counties and into Polk County. When the full 89 miles are completed, the RRVT will then be one of the longest paved recreational trails in the U.S., and its interior loop of 72 miles will be the longest such trail loop in the nation.

Carla Offenburger, of Cooper, president of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, which markets and promotes the trail, was among those thrilled with the recent grants that have helped top the $6.6 million goal. “The RRVT has just got the seal of approval to become one of the longest and best recreational trails in the U.S.,” she said. “The number of users on the trail will increase substantially in the coming years. And the RRVT Association will stand ready to welcome them all in every community.” She added that “this is a big day for all users of the RRVT. It culminates the work of many individuals, businesses, communities, government entities, non-profit foundations and cyclists. I’m thrilled for all of us.” Jason White, executive director of the Midwest Partnership, the economic development cooperative serving Greene, Guthrie and Adair Counties, said this week’s funding news is big for “all trail advocates, especially those supporters of the Raccoon River Valley Trail. I have been fortunate myself to pedal with my family through Dallas, Greene and Guthrie counties, and meet some great people along the way. The addition of the North Loop adds more excitement and connectivity for the communities and users of the trail throughout central and west central Iowa.” In Jamaica, pop. 274, business owner and community leader Tommy Jo Scheuermann was ecstatic at the news. “Oh, that’s just great to hear, that it’s really going to happen now!” said Scheuermann, proprietor of ToJo’s restaurant and bar for eight years. “Let’s see, we’ve got the gas station/convenience store, my place and the Do Drop In bar – that trail will be good for all of us. And those trail users are going to leave here spreading the word. They’ll be saying to all their friends, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go try out this great little town — it’s Jamaica!’ ” Viivi Shirley, mayor of Perry, said the news “is just so exciting, and it’s going to be a huge boost for us in Perry — not just economically but also psychologically. We recently announced that we’re getting a new attendance center of Des Moines Area Community College right downtown in Perry, and we’re looking at having that open in a new building in two years. Now we’re hearing that the trail, which will run right next to the DMACC Center, will be fully completed in about two years, too. It’s like everything is falling into place together at the same time.” Dallas County Conservation director Wallace received official notification of the DOT commission’s approval in a mid-morning phone call Tuesday from Craig Markley, of the agency’s Office of Systems Planning. Markley made the presentation on the RRVT project, and recommended approval to the commission. The $484,995 grant comes from the State Recreational Trails Program, which receives an annual appropriation for trails development from the state legislature. Notice of the approval capped an amazing two weeks of fundraising success for RRVT users and advocates, as well as for all 14 communities located on the trail in Dallas, Guthrie and Greene Counties. Last Thursday, October 8, the Natural Resources Commission of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources approved the $367,000 in grants toward the project from the state’s “REAP” program. The “REAP” grants come from the state’s Resource Enhancement and Protection program, which is funded by the Iowa Legislature from gambling receipts. REAP, in its near 20 years of existence, has helped pay for many development and protection of many natural areas, parks, trails, historic and cultural attractions, and other “resources” across the state. Cities, counties and a few other public agencies can apply yearly for REAP funds, and the grants made official last week included $100,000 for the City of Perry, $75,000 for the City of Dallas Center and $50,000 each for the Cities of Minburn, Dawson and Jamaica. In addition, $42,000 was approved on a larger grant application from the Dallas County Conservation Board. All those grants are for trail development in those jurisdictions. So, between the REAP grants last week and the State Recreational Trails grant this week, the RRVT effort topped the $850,000 required as a “local match” by Vision Iowa’s $1.6 million award early last summer from its Community Attraction & Tourism fund. RRVT supporters had faced a deadline of December 7 to raise that $850,000, and officially qualify for the Vision Iowa grant, so the funding announcements of last week and this one brought great relief — but some prudent caution, too. “It’s easy to say we’ve got all the money we needed,” said Wallace. “But that very likely won’t be the case. As we do the trail development now, there will be a lot of contingencies for us to cover. Over the three-year period, construction costs are bound to go up, and we’ll have to deal with that. “So we’re going to continue right on with our fundraising efforts. Those will assure us of being able to complete the project, and they can help cover the costs of a lot of amenities that communities along the trail want to add.” Even so, he acknowledged, “just knowing we’ve been able to meet that Vision Iowa deadline of raising $850,000 in six months after we got the CAT grant, we can’t help but feel some relief. It was a real concern for us.” The fundraising campaign has brought in significant donations from individual trail users and proponents, businesses in the trail communities, foundations that support natural resources and recreation in the three counties, several city governments, and the boards of supervisors and conservation boards in all three counties. A recent one that had not yet been announced is a $20,000 pledge from the Bock Family Foundation, which helps projects in the northwest quarter of Dallas County. Meanwhile, in the campaign that the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has conducted among its members for help with the RRVT project, more than 100 donors have already responded, giving $35,122 in cash and pledges, according to Anita O’Gara, the INHF development director. That organization volunteered to assist in the fundraising, and began contacting its members in July. All the success prompted Perry Mayor Shirley to say that “Mike Wallace needs to be commended by all of us in the region for the way he led all this fundraising. He worked so hard at it, and now the payoff is going to start happening for all of us along the trail.” Carla Offenburger, the RRVT Association president, pointed out that “now, communities all along the trail – those on the portions of the trail already established, and the communities that will soon experience being parts of the new loop – should step up their planning and programming. We all need to be prepared with the needed amenities, so trail users will enjoy their stops in each town.”