[0:02] [Music]
And I'm Marlene Thomas and I am a major
[0:07] proama of the city. Yes, ma'am. And I'm
just stopping and talking to our
[0:10] constituents and say, "Do you know about
the resurfacing project?" Yes, I've
[0:14] heard a little bit about it. Not a lot,
but a little bit. Okay. So, what have
[0:19] you heard so far? I'm hoping what I've
heard is that basically we're going to
[0:23] be repaving the asphalt walkway because
there are an awful lot of cracks and and
[0:27] dips. And if you could change one thing
about the park, what would that be? If
[0:30] anything, um, the resurfacing, just
probably repaving. Everything else I
[0:36] really like. Like you say, it's a little
bit rough on his scooter sometimes in
[0:40] his stroller. Hi, I'm Jessica Henry,
community development specialist with
[0:44] the city of Duth. Welcome to another
edition of Conversations with Council.
[0:48] Today we're at Button Road Park to learn
about an exciting improvement project,
[0:52] the resurfacing of our walking trails.
I'm joined by Mayor Pro Tim Marlene
[0:57] Thomas and council member Lamar Doss as
well as our parks and recreation
[1:01] director Kathy Marley to learn about
this project's purpose, timeline, and
[1:05] the benefit to our community. Let's
start with an overview. Kathy, can you
[1:09] tell us what this trail resurfacing
project is all about? Oh, I would be
[1:13] happy to. It is 1.08
um in length, a mile, a little bit over
[1:20] a mile, heavily used by all generations.
Um it's uh gathering places for people
[1:27] to come and meet each other and have an
occasional walk. It's also cross country
[1:33] use for the high school uh Duth High
School that'll come through here and
[1:37] train on our trail. It is one of the
most highly used visible passive um
[1:44] activities that the city of Duth offers
to the community. um very beloved trail
[1:50] and um we are excited about the proposed
project as this will improve our
[1:56] infrastructure and provide walkability
for a healthier community for
[2:00] generations to come. Very cool. So what
prompted the need for the project at
[2:05] this time? Um honestly it was the
deterioration of the trails as in it's
[2:10] an asphalt trail. So, as in roads, you
start to notice when there's uh large
[2:16] cracks or some potholes in some cases
and also in compliance to our storm
[2:23] water infrastructure. So, improvements
are needed not only for our hydrarology
[2:29] and our foundation, but also for the
surface and the base of our trail. Okay.
[2:35] So, how does this initiative align with
the city's broader goals for park
[2:39] improvements? Oh, at the top of the list
um as an active uh public open activity
[2:46] um for a healthier community. Um it is
number one on the list. Very cool. So
[2:52] Marlene, um what is the estimated budget
for this project and how is it being
[2:56] funded? So the estimated budget for this
project is about $6 million. that is to
[3:02] be seen, you know, once we get the bids
and we get the actual work, but we
[3:06] estimate that it will be about $6
million. Uh we funded the design phase
[3:12] which it was done with the 2017 FLOS
that was already completed and it's
[3:17] under review. That's where we have the
basis for the estimate for the total
[3:21] project and the total project will be
funded by the 2023's plus. Okay. Thank
[3:27] you. and Lamar, um what specific
improvements will be made, um to the
[3:31] trail and the surrounding areas? Well,
as Kathy alluded to, um big part is
[3:36] we'll pull up the existing trail, put
down a new base, new asphalt path. Um be
[3:41] some areas, um we'll have to do some
landscape improvements, um storm water
[3:46] uh upgrades to get it to code because
existing trails, 30 years old, so that's
[3:53] the main part. Very good. Um so Marlene
with that is there any anticipated
[3:59] challenges during the construction
phase? Certainly a lot of challenges
[4:03] facing and a lot of the areas you don't
know until you start pulling things up
[4:08] you know what else is coming up but we
have over 20 storm drainage the ponds in
[4:14] addition to that you know a lot of the
vegetation that is mature the terrain
[4:20] you see the elevation varies
tremendously from one area to the other.
[4:24] So, a lot of the areas have to have a
unique design. In addition to that,
[4:29] we're expanding the ADA um
accessibility. So, areas were not u
[4:35] accessible before, we're adding to it.
So, we're not just replacing what we
[4:40] have, we're actually improving. And we
hope that the improvements, especially
[4:44] with the um storm water, that it will
make it more um durable and it will last
[4:50] for many more years to come. Oh, very
good. Um, so Kathy, with all of that
[4:55] entailed, um, how will the resurfacing
project benefit the visitors and the
[5:00] community? Well, it's going to improve
the conditions of the amenity that, um,
[5:05] the park has to offer. Uh, so that's the
number one criteria is to improve it and
[5:11] bring it up to grade for for better use.
um if not we have areas that um would
[5:19] fail to the standards of what our
infrastructure needs to be. So
[5:25] infrastructure criteria is crucial to
the stability of our park. Um so Lamar
[5:31] um what is the projected timeline for
this project? It's probably going to
[5:35] take the course better part of a year to
get done. Um as Marlene had said phases
[5:40] going to be a big part of it. There's
going to be sections of the trail
[5:42] that'll be closed down temporarily as
work's going on. Um but within the year
[5:47] we should have project complete. Oh,
awesome. So, um Kathy,
[5:52] along for um along with this project, is
there any plans for additional
[5:57] improvements to Bunt Road Park following
the resurfacing? Um this will where we
[6:02] are going to be the actual trail is a
project in itself but then the
[6:06] surrounding areas with our ponds and our
storm water there'll be improved
[6:11] landscaping and um areas uh that will be
improved throughout the park to also
[6:17] stabilize the area of the trail.
Awesome. I I look forward to coming to
[6:21] check it all out. Please do. Um so
Marlene, um how can residents stay
[6:25] informed about the progress of this
project?
[6:29] Well, one of the greatest source of
information is Kathy here. You see her
[6:33] here all the time and I know all of our
team members uh with the park and
[6:37] recreations, but a lot of the
information is available on our website.
[6:41] So, if you go to duluthga.net,
um you will get a lot of the information
[6:47] within our website. In addition to that,
we have our blast. So, if you have not
[6:52] signed up for the blast, you know, our
blast will give you information,
[6:56] especially when we're talking about
changes to the schedule or the path or
[7:01] disruptions. So, if we're closing one
area, one parking lot, we will likely
[7:06] put some of that information on the
website and on the blast. So, stay
[7:10] tuned. That's how you can get a lot more
information as well as joining our
[7:14] meetings. Okay, good. Well, thank you
all for joining us today. It's been
[7:18] exciting to hear about the improvements
at Button Road Park. And to our
[7:21] audience, be sure to follow all the
updates um from the city of Duth at
[7:25] duthgga.net. And until next time, this
has been Conversations with Council.