Hurley trail acquisition moves forward, officials negotiate land purchase

HURLEY — The effort to acquire a section of land between the Montreal River and Second Avenue in Hurley — while nearing its final stages — still has several steps that need to be completed, according to information at the Thursday’s Iron County Regional Trail Committee meeting.

Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi said city attorney Ray O’Dea is working on drawing up the documents to purchase the land, which is necessary to continue Michigan’s non-motorized Iron Belle Trail into Iron County.

The local portion of the Iron Belle — which will run between Belle Isle in Detroit and Ironwood — has been completed from Bessemer to the Michigan border. Local trail proponents have been working to extend the trail west to Hurley’s Cary Park, and ultimately the city of Montreal, but these efforts have hit a roadblock as the Canadian National Railway owns the former Soo Line rail grade the trail is located on.

While there had been an effort to negotiate a lower price for the first two-block section of land, Pinardi said Thursday he had directed O’Dea to purchase the property for the railroad’s $20,000 asking price.

The committee hopes an application its members prepared through the city of Hurley for a $22,000 Gogebic Range Health Foundation grant will be successful, with the money intended to fund the purchase of the two-block section.

A response on the grant application is expected in May, according to information at the meeting.

If the foundation doesn’t award the grant, the group will need to raise the funds for the purchase.

Once the land is acquired, Hurley will finally be able to pave the land and create a trailhead at the river.

The money to pave that portion of the trail has been held since the successful “Bridge the Gap” fundraising campaign in 2015, which raised funds for necessary improvements to the rail bridge across the Montreal River. The extra money raised will be used to fund the paving.

The committee also discussed extending the time period for its Coastal Management grant. The $25,000 grant and $25,000 in matching funds were intended for use to fund research into the ownership of the rail grade between the two branches of the Montreal River and planning of two trailheads — one in Hurley at the river and the other in Montreal.

So far, the committee has only used $4,500 of the $50,000 available, as the title work turned out to be much less expensive than expected.

There was also a discussion of ways to connect non-motorized trail efforts in Hurley with those in Mercer; and while it’s too early in the Hurley trail process to shift focus from working toward Montreal, the committee agreed connecting with Mercer was always something to be mindful of and work towards.