Tag Archives: PRAB

Advocacy, Media, People

PRAB’s Dale Gehring features CROCT’s Sechler Park trail in his ‘park of the month’ column

PRAB Sechler Park column by Dale Gehring Dale Gehring, Northfield PRAB Chair

Northfield Park & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) chair Dale Gehring devoted a paragraph to CROCT’s Sechler Park mtb trail in this weekend’s Northfield News ‘park of the month’ column. It’s titled, Sechler Park offers much more than just baseball and softball. Here’s an excerpt:

One of the things the Northfield Park & Recreation Advisory Board is trying to move toward is making our community’s parks less seasonal. One example of this is Sechler Park… Our local mountain biking chapter called “Cannon River Offroad Cycling & Trails” (CROCT) has now developed a wonderful MTB trail network throughout the wooded portion of the park, ranging from beginner to expert level. The MTB trails can be accessed from Laurel Court behind Walgreens, entering the woods just to the right of the walking bridge. Folks can also enter behind the pavilion in the center of the park. We are currently working on signage that will be coming soon.

Land managers

Year-end update to Northfield’s Park & Rec Advisory Board

CROCT presentation to PRAB, Dec 18, 2014

For our CROCT presentation to the City of Northfield PRAB tonight, Marty Larson and I first took them through some 2014 highlights and then followed with a Q&A.  I think it’s safe to say they were happy with what we’ve done thus far.

2014 CROCT highlights (with links to blog posts):

  • Mar 20 – presented to PRAB – permission for demo trail in Sechler Park – LINK
  • Apr 7 – formed board – LINK; & online presence (blog, Facebook, Twitter, email newsletter)
  • Apr 23 – held first trail work day in Sechler Park – LINK
  • Apr 25 – hosted visit from IMBA Regional Director Matt Andrews – LINK
  • May 5 – became a MN non-profit; EIN, PayPal, checking acct
  • May 30 – conducted Sechler Park walk-through w/ Brian Erickson & Dale Gehring
  • May 31 – held founding supporters fundraising campaign LINK; extension in August – LINK ($1200 total)
  • Jul 13 – held board meeting in Faribault – LINK
  • Aug 21 – met with Rice County Parks director
    Sep 18 – became an official chapter of IMBA (includes 501c3 status) – LINK
  • Sep-Nov – held trail work sessions 1-2/times week – LINK (Sep 8 example)
  • Oct 12 – purchased liability insurance
  • Nov 13 – responded to citizen environmental concerns – LINK
  • Nov 16 – held inaugural group ride at Sechler – LINK
  • Nov 21 – created trail conditions Twitter feed – LINK
  • Nov 22 – attended Meadows Park community mtg – LINK
Land managers

Our presentation to the Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory Board: good vibes

CROCT presentation to March 20 Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory BoardMarty Larson and I made a brief presentation to the Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) last night. They seemed to like our plan to create river bottoms mountain bike trail in Sechler Park, and seemed open to exploring the possibility of a trail in Roosevelt Park and Roosevelt Ridge Park. They also wondered if Odd Fellows Park, site of a new dog park, might be a park that could accommodate both a trail and a bike park/pump track.

We were asked send a formal letter of request to the Parks staff requesting a formal agreement between CROCT and the City, starting with permission to work on a trail in Sechler Park this spring. Staff will take that request to their weekly staff Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting and then put it into an upcoming City Council meeting packet, hopefully with a recommendation that the Council direct the PRAB and the staff to work with CROCT on implementation.

Here are links to some of the maps and resources we used in our presentation:

Sechler Park

Roosevelt Park

Hauberg Woods

Small pump tracks and skills parks

Northfield Parks Resources