Organizers of Northwest Angle 'Northerly Park' seek public input on master plan
Apr. 24—ANGLE INLET, Minn. — Efforts are underway to gather public input on a master plan for developing a park on 160 acres of county-owned land on Minnesota's Northwest Angle.
Located at Jim's Corner, the Northerly Park — as it's being called — would be the northernmost park in the Lower 48 states. Planners recently
launched a website for the public to share ideas
on what they think the park should include, and a public open house is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at Jerry's Bar and Restaurant on the Northwest Angle mainland.
Houston Engineering is developing the master plan and gathering input. The master plan will be a blueprint for the park and how it can showcase the Northwest Angle and what it has to offer, said Sam Trebilcock, transportation planner for Houston Engineering.
Trebilcock, who is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will be at the Northwest Angle for Wednesday's open house and presentation.
"I'm going to be collecting more information, touring the area, looking at the site and trying to get a really good idea of what everybody thinks is important to have in this park," Trebilcock said. "What should this park consist of — what should be the features? That's kind of what the early stages of this master plan is about — identifying the things that people who live up there want to see and what they think is important to highlight."
To date, the ideas include such amenities as a welcome center — either staffed or unstaffed, a lookout tower, interpretive signage, an elevated boardwalk and a dock.
Houston Engineering also has a landscape architect, engineers and other planners working on the project, Trebilcock said.
"They'll be putting the ideas or priorities that everyone wants into a master plan design," he said. "What are the costs of that? How should we phase it? There'll be, I think, up to three different options we'll be providing to the steering committee that we have and also to the Lake of the Woods County Commission."
According to Joe Laurin, a Flag Island resident and steering committee member, the idea for the park dates back about eight years, when the local Northwest Angle Edge Riders Snowmobile Club attended a grant-writing workshop offered by the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission.
The club submitted a grant request, Laurin recalls, and the Commission responded by saying park committees in larger cities typically hire a consultant to create a master plan. Because of that request, the commission then awarded the Northerly Park group a $70,000 grant to use for hiring a consultant to develop a master plan.
Houston Engineering was chosen from among eight different bids submitted to Lake of the Woods County for developing the plan, Laurin said.
The land was owned by the state at the time, he said, and since the Parks and Trails Commission couldn't award grants to fund projects on state-owned land, the county worked with the DNR to transfer the property to Lake of the Woods County.
That process took about two years because it also required legislative approval, Laurin said, but the DNR was able to transfer the land for basically the closing cost of about $8,000.
The DNR was "good to work with," Laurin said, and also helped the local group work through wetland mitigation issues, a process that also included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, among others.
The comment period now underway will continue through mid-May, at which time Houston Engineering will develop a draft master plan. That will be followed by another comment period through mid-June.
In addition, the Lake of the Woods County Commission will discuss the plan June 11, when it meets at the Northwest Angle, which it does once a year. A final master plan is set to be ready by Sept. 30.
Most likely, Laurin says, development of the park will be a gradual process, depending on funding and when it's available.
"We'll be applying for grants," he said. "There are even people coming out of the woodwork that want to help fund this."
As an example, the Northwest Angle and Islands Chamber of Commerce, a group Laurin says is now defunct, reached out to offer $7,000 that remains in its bank account. Northerly Park organizers are using the funds to pay for restoring an old gold mine cart from a feldspar mine on the Northwest Angle mainland, Laurin says. They're also in search of an old commercial fishing trawler.
"We're kind of looking at those as options, too, for restoring some history," he said.
In the meantime, though, organizers want ideas.
"Right now, it's like, what makes sense to have (as) the first feature?" Laurin said. "What can people enjoy?"
Added Trebilcock: "There's going to be plenty of opportunities for people to comment."
* On the web:
To comment on the Northerly Park Master Plan, go to
https://engage.hei.mysocialpinpoint.com/northerly-park-master-plan
.
