City council approves contract for Trout Run Trail bridge engineering

The Decorah City Council has approved spending up to $115,000 on having WHKS & Company design the Trout Run Trail bridge that will cross Highway 9. But there's one important piece of the puzzle that must come to pass first--the purchase of bridge right-of-way property on the north side of Highway 9.

City officials have been in talks with the property owners, talks that they characterize as cordial. But no contract has been signed yet.

That worried several city council members, who made the contract with WHKS & Company subject to getting an agreement on the purchase of the property. Said City Administrator Jerry Freund, "Obtaining that piece of property is of critical importance." City officials are hoping to reach agreement within the next several weeks.