Mason City council approves Prairie Land Trail Connector as part of Destination Iowa project

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City last night approved the contract for a section of trail that’s part of the city’s Destination Iowa project.

One bid was received for the Prairie Land Trail Connector project that extends through city and county rights-of-way to connect the Trolley Trail at South Taft Avenue and 19th Street Southwest and the Prairie Land Trail trailhead located west of Taft Avenue along 240th Street. The city and Cerro Gordo County are sharing the costs of the project since the project is inside and outside of the city limits.

City Administrator Aaron Burnett says this was the final contract to approve for the Destination Iowa project as the city was required to have those contracts completed by the end of the year.  “The Destination Iowa projects are all in motion, which is important because we did have a December 31st deadline to get those projects bid and awarded, and we were able to meet that. We did file for an amendment just to make sure that we were able to meet that time frame, but the good work of Mark (Rahm) and some of the others in getting this on the agenda tonight for award and consideration for the contract and bond.”

Heartland Asphalt had the lone bid of $556,315, about $40,000 under the estimated cost of the project.

The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors also gave their approval to the contact at their meeting back on Monday.