Special to the Independent

LAKE BENTON — Hole in the Mountain County Park in Lake Benton stands a good chance of receiving state grant funds for park upgrades.

Lisa Graphenteen of the Development Services Inc. consulting agency updated the Lincoln County Board Tuesday about a grant proposal submitted to the Minnesota Parks and Trails Commission. The grant application includes fund requests for trails, the park sliding hill and campground.

“We’ve received very good feedback about our application,” Graphenteen said. “We’re hoping to get funded on at least one of the items for which we’ve applied. The only obstacle we could face is that they have a high number of applications.”

She said further information will be sent to state officials, and that the allocation of grant dollars will be decided in 2022.

“The information will be taken directly from our master plan for the park,” she said. “Three areas that have consistently been identified as top priorities are the trails, sliding hill and campground.”

In other park related business, the board authorized Graphenteen to apply for a weed control grant totaling $5,000, which would be put toward control of buckthorn in the park.

Buckthorn is an invasive shrub species introduced from European countries. It was frequently planted as hedges, but spreads easily into nature areas.

“If we haven’t already applied for the grant, we should,” said Lincoln County Commissioner Mic VanDeVere. “We might be able to purchase a mower attachment or some other kind of equipment that could help with controlling it, especially along the trails.”