Trail project receives $340K boost

Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation awards grant to Heron Trail construction

MOSES LAKE — The Heron Trail Boardwalk Project has been awarded $340,000 in grant money from the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation program.

The funds will go towards the construction of the Heron Trail, a 1.4-mile bike and pedestrian path that will snake around the heart of the city from McCosh Park, across to Division Street and on to the future Japanese Garden on Alder Street.

The biannual grant from the committee is fairly tough to get, and the Heron Trail beat out nearly 30 applicants. Four other projects besides the trail received some money from the committee, said Curt Carpenter, engineering and development technician for the city of Moses Lake.

This was the first time the Heron Trail project had applied for this grant.

The entire cost of the Heron Trail Project nears $680,000, including the value of the property where the trail will be. Besides the grant money, the city of Moses Lake has agreed to match $110,000 to it, and the value of the property that has been donated for the trail reaches around $150,000.

Out of the $80,000 remaining, $50,000 will come in the shape of city staff time, leaving the project handlers with the task of coming up with $30,00 in donations from clubs or other grants.

Upcoming milestones for the project include the design, set to be done in the fall of 2005, construction set to start in the fall of 2006 and to finish in the spring of 2007.

—Staff report