Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The new boat ramp on the east end of Foster Lake is out for bid right now, and construction on the new surrounding park facility is anticipated to begin this year.
The new boat ramp and park will be located on the lake shore at the intersection of Quartzville Road and Highway 20. The park will include parking, a restroom and a boat ramp and help alleviate congestion at the Sunnyside and Gedney Creek boat ramps.
It will be called Calkins Park, said Brian Carroll, Linn County Parks and Recreation Director. “We found it on Corps of Engineers documents when they did the initial plans.”
Bids on the project will close on Wednesday and Carroll said he still needs to get some necessary paperwork in hand before the project can start.
Linn County is awaiting a Corps permit that is reviewed by many different agencies, he said. The permit awaits only the authorization of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
“They’re issuing a biological opinion on the site,” Carroll said. “That’s because of the endangered species that move through the lake.”
Carroll said he hopes the final permit process will finish quickly. Grant funding for the project runs out at the end of 2007.
The engineer’s estimate for the park and ramp range from $250,000 to $750,000, he said, and the county has $500,000 in grants set aside for it. The grant funds were primarily provided by the Oregon State Marine Board and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, combined with a match component provided by the county, including cash and staff time.
In preparation for the project, the county is working with an environmental consultant to mitigate a wetlands identified on the site, Carroll said. Most likely, the county will pay into the state’s wetlands bank. The state sells credits for wetlands mitigation. The bank is used to create wetlands elsewhere to offset the loss of wetlands in projects like this.
“We have designs and everything in place,” Carroll said. He hopes the permit will be done in the next couple of weeks and that the county can go to work in late spring or early summer on the upland areas of the new park.
The boat ramp portion will have to wait until the water is down again in the fall, Carroll said, but it should be ready for use in time for the 2008 season.
Linn County Parks has several other projects slated for this summer.
Among them, crews will be at Sunnyside rebuilding the C-row restroom, Carroll said. New moorage has been installed at Sunnyside, and Carroll is looking for grant funds to replace other docks there over the next couple of years.
“The docks were dramatically needing changes to them or replacement,” he said.
Linn County closed the pedestrian bridge at Lewis Creek Park recently following a bridge inspection, Carroll said. Parks officials are looking at the costs of repairing it now.
The inspection revealed large amounts of rot in the main, large beams in the bridge, he said.
River Bend park will get a playground this year, Carroll said, and he is submitting for a grant to complete the second phase of camping spaces for the park although they will not be ready for use this year. The county is also looking at placing a couple of yurts or cabins at River Bend Park.
At Green Peter Reservoir, Carroll is submitting a grant application to study alternatives for providing power to Whitcomb Creek Park, he said. Power is not available above Green Peter Dam, but “we want to make improvements at Green Peter. That’s something we’ve been hearing a lot about.”
The county will look at solar, wind and hydro power options in the study. Once the county can figure out which way to go at Whitcomb, Carroll said, he thinks a number of grants are available to help pay for the actual improvements.
“We’ve got some other irons in the fire,” Carroll said, but he can’t talk about them yet.
For information on Linn County Parks or to make reservations, call (541)967-3917 or visit http://www.co.linn.or.us/parks.