(Tuesday - March 16, 2021) - The Iron Mountain City Council is expected to meet in special session on March 29th, to finalize the application for funding to improve and expand the Pewabic Hill bike trail system.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be near a quarter of a million dollars, with a required local match of around 76 thousand dollars.

The Council held a public hearing on the matter on Monday evening, but were unable to finalize the application because the local match has not yet been formulated.

Members of the Dickinson Trail Network addressed the Council via Zoom, urging the Council to proceed.

City Manager Jordan Stanchina said that he will continue working with the DTN to finalize the local match formula. The local contribution need not be all cash. It can be made up of a combination of cash contributions, contributions of material or equipment, and donated labor. However, a value will have to be assigned to each of these factors in able to come up with a firm figure for the local match.

City officials hope to be able to connect the City's trail system to the Peninsula-wide trail system, via a tie-in to the Lake Antoine Road. Plans for that have not yet been finalized.

The special meeting is expected to be held via the Zoom online meeting platform, and may well be the last of the virtual meetings, as the Council is expected to resume their meetings at City Hall in April. Those plans are also being worked out at this time, and a final announcement will be made prior to the first meeting in April.

The funding is being sought through the Michigan Recreational Trust Fund.