John Menter, public works director, met for 45 minutes with the Sherburne County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, outlining a five-year plan for improvement to the county’s four parks.

 

They are Bridgeview Park,  29 acres off Co. Rd. 11 near the Mississippi River, purchased in 1998;

 

Grams Park, purchased in 2001 and is 113 acres, east of Zimmerman, a half mile north of Co. Rd. 4;

 

Island View Park, purchased in 2013, 72 acres, located adjacent to the Mississippi River southwest of Co. Rd. 8 in Clear Lake Twp.;

 

Oak Savanna Park, donated to the county by the Cox family of Becker, of 140 acres, located in the City of Becker, east of Hwy. 25, near the History Center.

 

Menter, whose public works department took over management of the county parks system this year, met with the board in February to establish some parameters for park development.

 

His visit Wednesday was to further those details.

 

Two of the parks, he note3d, are natural resource type parks, which could continue in that use, or be used as nature parks. They include Bridgeview and Oak Savanna parks.

 

The other two parks’ characteristics lend themselves more to dominant recreational activities, they being Grams Park, which abuts Lake Fremont, and  Island View Park, on the Mississippi at Clear Lake.

 

(Menter also talked about his office’s work on The Great Northern Trail, which is a trail from abandoned railroad bed from Elk River through Zimmerman to Princeton.

 

He has begun to meet with township officials and others to explain the county’s role in the park and trail development, ensuring locals have their say in those developments.

 

Some grants are available for park development, Menter noted. But he said tying county health and human connections into these projects could attract additional funds.