Douma Park near Sanborn was presented with an opportunity to expand. The Douma family has agreed to sell 37 acres adjacent to the park. The cost is not set in stone but is in excess of $440,000. Conservation Director Travis Scott indicated the acre price was in the area of $12,000. Board president Tom Konz expressed serious concerns about an appraisal. Any purchase of land by Conservation requires the blessing of the O’Brien County Supervisors, a big lift.
A discussion of how much of the trail from Paullina to and around Mill Creek Park considered the request by the Paullina Library to place book pages around the whole lake. After much discussion the board decided that with location and distance signs going up on the path there would be too much and appear cluttered. The board decided to allow the page stands up to “The Lodge”.
McCormack Area, a beautiful piece of ground owned by O’Brien County Conservation and dissected by Waterman Creek was designated a year ago for horse riding. The discovery by the current team of the diverse prairie plant and the new ATV and ORV caused the board, staff and horse riding proponents to reconsider how that ground should be used. It was decided to secure the property from motorized vehicle access and place a moratorium on that ground for use with horses to keep access limited.