Grant to support the growth of silent sports

WAUPACA – The Greenways grant through Waupaca County is currently open and taking applications.
The grant is aimed at growing silent sports, which are things like walking, biking, hiking and kayaking, throughout Waupaca County.
Ryan Brown, Director of Planning and Zoning as well as a member of the committee that helps to choose grant recipients, said building more trails and silent-sport options is important for attracting younger people to the county.
“We’re trying to attract people that love these types of amenities, having these trails … brings people into their communities,” Brown said. “We’re being proactive about these types of things, we’re trying the best we can to make them better, build more.”
The Greenways Commission was started in 2019, created by the Waupaca County Board to provide a silent sports grant to locally expand on outdoor recreation, in accordance to help implement a bike-pedestrian plan.

Brown said the program was started to help those who were also working towards expanding outdoor recreation, so if someone had a plan in place for a new trail or renovating an older trail the grant could provide some help.
Last year the recipient of the grant was the Iola Winter Sports Club who used the grant to build a mountain biking trail around the perimeter of the complex’s property, as an effort to expand summer outdoor offerings to all seasons.
There have also been projects like the bike trail built at Readfield Park in Caledonia, kayak and canoe launches in Marion and Weyauwega, a walking trail renovation in Whispering Pines by Hartman Creek State Park as well as the River Ridge trail which is found over by the Fox Valley Technical College.
Applicants can be towns, cities, private organizations, Brown said, basically anyone can sign off on it as long as they make the project aware to their local governing board.
The project would need to be within Waupaca County to qualify, with a concentration on building new trails or renovating old ones.
The grant is not available for playground equipment or bathroom buildings, the idea is to focus on green space, Brown said.
Brown said the annual maintenance would not be the responsibility of the county; that responsibility would be on the party that is awarded the grant.
The grant amount is 25 percent of the project cost with a max grant amount of $25,000.
Brown said with the application the applicant must have an estimate and a budget put forward.
Once the grant is awarded, it is not given to the municipality, organization or person until 50 percent of the work is completed on the project.
Applicants have until May 15 to turn in an application which can be found on the County web site at www.waupacacounty-wi.gov under the planning and zoning link or you can call 715-258-6255.
More information can be found on Facebook at Greenways of Waupaca County, or by emailing Brown at ryan.brown@co.waupaca.wi.us.