Grant paying for feasibility study on city campground

By Anna Jauhola
Twenty-one people gathered in the Lake Bronson Community Center on Monday, Sept. 23 to learn more about a feasibility study for a campground within city limits. The city council had met for its regular meeting an hour earlier and was present for this meeting.
Earlier this year, the Lake Bronson City Council applied for a grant through the University of Minnesota Extension. They received a $10,000 grant, which will fund a feasibility study from the city’s submitted idea brief to build a city campground to generate revenue.
“This is all just ideas today,” said Crystal Rayamajhi, outreach specialist for the Northwest Regional Development Partnership through the U of M Extension. “Nothing is set in stone.”
She was joined by Matthew Land, a U of M graduate student in the Twin Cities who is working on his master’s degree in applied economics. Land will take various data, including information from the meeting, to compile into an economic feasibility study.
This idea came about after Councilor Mindy Kjelland and her husband, Ron, received a rural grocery store grant through the Northwest Regional Development Partnership. The Kjellands along with the council and others in the community discussed possible projects to submit as an idea brief, and settled on studying the economic feasibility of a campground with a laundromat in town.
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Rayamajhi showed a map of city land on the north side of town, including the city park and the two baseball fields. She also showed pictures she pulled from other projects to give the example of what could be included in the campground.
“Potentially it could be kind of cool to incorporate some solar, or maybe we’re going to have some native plantings or some gardens, and maybe we get some art incorporated into it,” she said. “The sky’s the limit at this point and we could see if there’s any funding out there to help pay for this.”
Land explained the study itself will include defining the project and its economic benefits and costs to the city. He will take ideas for the campground, research similar campgrounds’ costs and benefits, and report back whether that’s feasible for Lake Bronson.
The meeting was abruptly interrupted by citizens’ concerns.
“He’s making a huge assumption we all want it,” said Eunice Rich, a resident who lives near the proposed campground area. “Why don’t you just expand the campground at the state park? It’s 3 miles up the road. Why do we need to have one right in town?”
Rich and her husband, Bob, were concerned about noise at night, people wandering into their yard and trash being left out by campers.
Others agreed, stating they felt like the campground idea was already decided and they had no say in the situation. Resident Patti Krininger asked for clarification regarding the project because she too was under the impression this was a done deal.
Rayamajhi reiterated this phase is just a study of whether building a campground would benefit the city financially.
“If it looks like it won’t be profitable, then the answer is pretty simple right?” she said. “But if it looks like it would be lucrative, then there’s something to talk about.”
Resident Leana Kowaliuk said she’s more concerned about fixing what’s already in town, like improving the city playground and keeping the dog park. She worried about security for the airport and nearby neighbors, while others also worried about property value and taxes being affected. The biggest concern was who would maintain a campground and laundromat when the city has struggled to hire a maintenance person with what infrastructure is already in place.
Krininger broke into the chatter and clarified, again, what the study will do – it is only asking for input from the community on what residents like to see and what might draw people to town.
“After the feasibility study comes back and if they say we can make money for our town, then the concerns about the dog park and where your house is and all that, we can talk about all that stuff,” Krininger said. “Right now, it’s a question of what if and what kind of things are feasible.”
Land agreed and reminded the crowd the feasibility study is not costing the city or its taxpayers anything. When the study is complete, Land and Rayamajhi will return to Lake Bronson to present their findings.
“Then it’s your decision to do with it what you will. It’s just to have the information so you can make an informed decision, whether you want a campground or you don’t want a campground,” Land said. “Or to do something else entirely.”
Those who attended the meeting emphatically put their concerns and ideas on six large sheets of paper for Land to use for the study. Many of them seemed to better understand the project after listening to the presentation and getting clarification from the city council.