Construction is under way at Harlan County ATV Park
Courtesy of the Republican Valley Review

After many fits and starts, setbacks and restarts, and not just a little gnashing of teeth, construction has finally begun at the Harlan County Reservoir Off-Highway Vehicle Park. The first 30 foot culvert was set into the ground on October 27, a 45 foot culvert was set on October 28, and a crew from LeGrande Excavating arrived that same week from Lincoln to begin the earthwork necessary to create the 600 foot access road and the new parking lot that will serve the facility. Rock and gravel are on order and set for delivery as soon as the earthwork is completed.

Norm LeGrande, owner of LeGrande Excavating, donated $15,000 worth of earthwork to the project during the last fundraising event and groundbreaking in 2007, and has been patiently waiting for more than a year while the necessary certified plans and state and federal approvals on the project were obtained. "I can’t begin to say how much we appreciate Norm sticking with us through all the setbacks and delays," said Harlan County Tourism Director Pat Underwood, who in partnership with the local office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers applied for the first grant on the project two years ago, in October 2006. "Norm must have thought we would never reach this point, but he responded graciously and quickly as soon as we were finally ready and the rain finally stopped," she said.

Concrete septic tanks for the new toilet facility were also poured, delivered, and set into the ground by Abood Construction of Kearney at the end of October, and Steve Detlefson of Franklin has been hired to coordinate construction of the above-ground toilet structure. The new shelter, electricity, fencing, and other materials and services needed to complete the trail facilities will be scheduled as weather, timing, and cash flow allow. "People should still not be expecting the park to be open to the public for awhile yet," Underwood added, "but we are definitely getting closer."

The project partners have selected Trails Unlimited, a professional trailbuilders federal enterprise program under the auspices of the National Forest Service Pacific Region, for construction of the actual trail. A number of federal hurdles still have to be cleared to enable Trails Unlimited to travel from California to perform construction services on Corps of Engineers’ ground in Nebraska, but the process is moving forward. Underwood said Harlan County Attorney Bryan McQuay has been a key player in helping the partners through the legal tangles of making these arrangements. "Bryan has really gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping us through the legal maze and protecting the County’s interests along the way," Underwood said. "We are grateful for his work on behalf of this project."

Project partners say that although there is still much work ahead, they are relieved to have finally reached this point. "The trick with projects of this scope is not simply to obtain the grants, but also to be prepared to persevere around, over, or through all the unexpected obstacles and delays during implementation and grant administration," Underwood said. She also acknowledged with a smile that implementing a project this large always takes longer than the folks who aren’t working on it think it should. "We will be dealing with nineteen different contractors and suppliers, and if you count all the environmental and other sign-offs we have had to obtain, there have been eight separate government entities involved in the project, all of whose rules and procedures have had to be satisfied to move forward at each stage," Underwood explained.

"So yes, there have been setbacks and challenges and frustrations and a massive amount of paperwork along the way, as well as a lot of comment from folks who aren’t on the inside and who therefore, understandably, don’t see the reason for the delays, but you can’t let any of it cause you to lose hope or give up," she said. "If you are willing to call something a failure and walk away the first time it becomes difficult or takes longer than you want it to, you might as well never start anything. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the Harlan County Tourism Committee and the Harlan County Board of Supervisors for having had the faith and the patience to stand with us throughout this process. Ditto for our State Trails Grant Administrator, Michelle Stryker, from Nebraska Game and Parks in Lincoln."

The Harlan County Reservoir Off-Highway Vehicle Park is being built with $203,520 in grant funding from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, $38,160 of in-kind labor from the Corps of Engineers (which Underwood says does not begin to cover the tremendous amount of work they have actually put into the project), and a cash match cost of $12,720, which was raised through local private donations, special events, a raffle, and a $2,000 contribution from the Nebraska Off-Highway Vehicle Association.

Community Bank of Alma and Stamford is providing up-front financing for the reimbursement-grant project, waiving up to $2,000 in interest charges that the grants would not cover. The partners have calculated an additional amount of over $40,000 in volunteer labor and professional services, materials, and other in-kind donations made on behalf of the project, not counting the value of the 500 acres of land the Corps has provided for the project southeast of the Harlan County Dam.

Holdrege and Omaha engineers help move ATV Park forward

Courtesy of the Republican Valley Review
          The engineering firm of Olsson Associates in Holdrege joined the Harlan County ATV Park project team in early October to create certified plans for the toilet facility and make needed adjustments to the certified plans for the access road and parking lot in order to enable the project to clear an unexpected last-minute hurdle. Olsson Associates donated their engineering work on the project.

Based on their work, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission gave final approval on the plans in mid-October, thus enabling actual construction of the trailhead area of the park to begin. The ATV Park project experienced several delays early this year, in part as a result of a federal requirement for engineer certified plans being added after the grants to build the park had been awarded.

Earlier this spring, the engineering firm of Lamp, Rynearson in Omaha also helped out by volunteering to provide initial plans for some of the trailhead facilities, which they completed in September. Both firms volunteered their services based on a call for engineering assistance put out by the Harlan County Tourism office through the Nebraska Off-Highway Vehicle Association’s statewide e-mail messaging system. ATV riders Chad Slominski of Holdrege and Shawn Traylor of Omaha, who work for the engineering firms, received the message from NOHVA Business Manager Dan Nitzel and responded to the call for help within twenty-four hours.

Harlan County Tourism Director Pat Underwood said the project partners continue to be extremely grateful to all the individuals and organizations that have provided assistance and support for the project. "People locally and from across the state recognize the great need for this type of recreational amenity in Nebraska and have, time and again, jumped in to offer their professional services exactly when we needed them," she said. "We couldn’t be doing this without that kind of support."

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This page was updated on Saturday, March 07, 2009