Decorah Parks and Rec hears from public during Van Peenen round table

By Denise Lana,

It was standing room only inside the meeting chambers at Decorah’s City Hall on Oct. 30, as nearly 150 people turned out to take part in a special meeting with the city’s park and recreation board to discuss issues of trail usage at Van Peenen Park.  

The 120-acre park was originally deeded to the city in 1976 by resident John Van Peenen specifically for hiking, cross-country skiing, bird watching and horseback riding, with stipulations from Van Peenen that the land be kept in a natural state and not be used by motorized vehicles or for hunting. In the early 2000s, mountain biking had become popular, and Decorah Human Powered Trails, a local trail group, asked the city parks and rec department if DHPT could ride on Van Peenen’s trails and construct new trails on which to bike. 

Rick Edwards, director of the city’s parks and rec in 2005, wrote to Van Peenen asking his input regarding the addition of mountain bikes to the park trails. Van Peenen replied to Edwards, writing he didn’t have anything against mountain bikes, but he didn’t think horses and bikes could peacefully co-exist on the trails. Additionally, Van Peenen felt the trails’ capacity was already being stretched at that time and doing anything further would be detrimental to the park’s longterm health. But Van Peenen did say the park was a gift to the city and the decision was ultimately the city’s to make. Soon after this 2005/2006-time frame, Edwards gave verbal permission to DHPT to build trails in Van Peenen Park, according to park and rec meeting minutes and DHPT members. 

Since then, as Van Peenen predicted, a peaceful co-existence among various trail groups has been fleeting. Officials with the city and its parks and rec departent invited trail users — not just mountain bikers and horseback riders — to a round table discussion last week to help deescalate tension and give individuals a chance to voice frustrations and share stories. No official action was taken by the city or the park and rec board following the meeting.  

Full article available in the November 7 Decorah Leader.

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