Almost finished ...

PRINCETON — After more than a year of moving dirt and fighting with Mother Nature, the long-awaited Zearing Park expansion site is nearly ready for the public ... but not quite.

At Tuesday’s Princeton Park Board meeting, executive director Elaine Russell announced the board will have its next meeting, on Sept. 20 at the Zearing expansion site, so the board can review what’s been accomplished and determine if the finished product meets standards and requirements set by the board.

The 40-acre expansion site, located on the southeast edge of Princeton, includes new soccer/athletic fields, a new concession stand/restroom building, fishing pond and pier, and new walking paths. To help fund the project, the park district received a $302,000 Open Space and Land Acquisition grant to buy the expansion site property and another $400,000 grant to develop the property.

In looking at recently completed work, engineer Kevin Heitz said the septic system has been installed for the expansion site. Within the next couple weeks, construction should begin on the water line service, followed by final electrical work.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the park board awarded the water service construction project to Judd Construction of Hennepin with a low bid of $24,706. The park district received seven bids, ranging from the Hennepin company’s low bid to a high bid of $27,350. Advanced Asphalt was the only Princeton company to submit a bid on the project.

The board also discussed planning an grand opening for the expansion site. However, the grand opening may not happen this fall and might have to wait until spring, Russell said.

Until the project is completely finished and accepted, the expansion site remains a construction zone, Russell said. People using the walking paths or viewing the area are doing so at their own risk.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the park board accepted the 2011 fiscal year budget and appropriations ordinance, for the fiscal year which began July 1 and ends June 30, 2011.

Total appropriations for all funds are budgeted at $3,234,750. Comparing this fiscal year budget to last year’s is difficult because of last fiscal year’s Zearing Park expansion project, Russell said. Other than that change, all funds remain basically steady with last year’s budget.