Proposal: Sunfish Lake Boardwalk
Update of October 6, 2025: This page is populated with information about the subject proposal organized according to the format of the Proposal Submission form. The proposal is addressed to the 2025 RFP for funding from the Priority 2 Allocation of the 3M/MN PFAS Settlement due October 8, 2025. Please contact Tony Manzara if you have questions. 651-769-7001 cell, tony.manzara@sminc-lake-elmo.org
This page contains, as directed, links to required supporting documentation and other information too large to fit the official format. This button is a link to a copy of the official Proposal PDF document prepared for submission:
Project Narrative, Project information: Title Sunfish Lake Boardwalk
Proposing organization: Friends of Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake Park, contact Tony Manzara, tony.manzara@sminc-lake-elmo.org
Priority 2 Goal area (primary) : Non-fishing-related Outdoor Recreation Projects
(secondary): Recreational Fishing Related Projects
Project Description Part 1 (overview)
HIGH LEVEL NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION This grant application requests $0.5 million to install a boardwalk across the northwest arm of Sunfish Lake (within Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake Park). This installation will greatly improve access to Sunfish Lake for Park users as an amenity to partially compensate the public for the (most probable) PFAS-related loss of the edible-fishing amenity. A significant amount of pre-proposal preparation has been done to ensure that there are unlikely to be any show-stopping political, technical, or regulatory barriers to this installation. The results of these efforts are presented in the Due Diligence section at the bottom of this page.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES The boardwalk would be about 300 feet long and entirely on City property covered by a Conservation Easement (Sunfish Lake Park), and would allow a full loop trail in the eastern section of the Park, which now has only two out-and-back segments which end at the lake shore on opposite sides (see map in Project Location section). Besides providing a more attractive and enjoyable hiking route, the boardwalk would be a great spot for catch-and-release fishing, birdwatching, dip-netting activities, observing the water lilies, and hopefully edible fishing in the future.
Justification for doing the work: Sunfish Lake is a wonderful natural feature for nature observation and recreational fishing, quite unsuitable for motorized watercraft due to non-existence of a public access ramp, relatively small surface area (50-70 acres), shallow arms, and the presence of aquatic vegetation. However public access by foot is very limited – currently only two dead-end trails in Sunfish Lake Park approach the public portion of the lake shore. The Boardwalk would connect those dead-ends and allow excellent hiking access for nature observation and fishing.
Justification for funding from Priority 2 Allotment: Sunfish Lake has been contaminated by PFAS from the Washington County Landfill. With the Boardwalk, it would become a very attractive nature observation amenity and a perfect spot for teaching young anglers about catch-and-release fishing.
Project Description Part 2 (overview) activities and timeline
assume start July 2026
Request For Boardwalk Design Proposals published, due 10/1/2026 8-1-2026
Select winning bidder and award contract for Design phase, 120-day completion 10-15-2026
Obtain City approval of design, and written regulatory approvals 3-15-2027
Publish RFP for Construction phase based on specified design 4-1-2027
Select winning bidder and award contract for construction 6-1-2027
Begin construction, based on contractor scheduling and weather conditions – earliest start date Summer 2027
Completion of construction – Summer 2028
Annual inspection after construction, and maintenance through years four and five of the project July 2031
Project Scalability: It is unlikely that the envisioned structure could be designed and installed for less than the requested amount.
Project location: The Sunfish Lake Boardwalk will be located in the northeastern portion of Sunfish Lake Park, extending from about Latitude/Longitude 45.0054/-92.9003 to about 45.0047/-92.9005 as shown on the linked maps. The locations where the ends reach dry land are above the area designated as wetland, and only the supporting columns will be in the wetland area.
maps: https://sminc-lake-elmo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boardwalk-location-maps.pdf
Project Collaborators:
City of Lake Elmo, Landowner, Lake Elmo Public Works Department, Land Manager
Indications / Letters of support
The Lake Elmo Parks Commission recommended on September 16, 2024 that Council approve the submission of the Letter Of Intent for this Proposal, https://miweblink.metro-inet.us/LakeElmoPublic/0/edoc/464243/09-16-2024%20Final%20Parks%20Commission%20Minutes.pdf
and the City Council approved the recommendation on October 1, 2024
https://miweblink.metro-inet.us/LakeElmoPublic/0/doc/464242/Page1.aspx
A letter of support from the Lake Elmo Public Works Department (Land Manager for the parks) is attached, visit REFERENCES section below for the link.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
- Benefits to injured resources and services: This project delivers the benefits of greatly improved public access to a natural resource (Sunfish Lake) that has been contaminated with PFAS released by 3M via release from the Washington County Landfill. Current access is limited to two dead-end trails that reach the shore of Sunfish Lake, in places that are often muddy. The project activities would result in an attractive continuous-loop trail and allow trail users to enjoy a lovely view of the lake, as well as readily engage in activities such as recreational fishing, dip-netting, bird-watching, and photography in most seasons. Because of the Conservation Easement executed June 30, 2009 between City of Lake Elmo and Minnesota Land Trust, Sunfish Lake Park is protected from development.
2. Cost An estimate was received from Stantec Consulting, the project cost should be very near the $500,000 value provided in the Letter Of Intent. The numbers on the spreadsheet submitted with this proposal were adjusted to conform to prescribed spreadsheet criteria.
https://sminc-lake-elmo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/boardwalk-cost-estimate-a-Stantec.pdf
Organizational capability to perform / administer such a contract: The Friends of Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake Park organization was chartered as a Minnesota Non-Profit Corporation in October 2016, is very financially stable, and has a solid track record in executing projects. Examples are the leasing of one acre of Sunfish Lake Park for construction of the Sally Manzara Interpretive Nature Center, the design and construction of the nature center (about $400K), and obtaining awards / properly administering DNR-CPL ($661,000 projects so far) and No Child Left Inside grants, and grants from organizations such as St. Croix Valley Foundation, Anderson Foundation, MN Parks and Trails Council, UMN Extension, Lake Elmo JayCees, Northwoods Water.
3 – Consistent with local, county, state, and regional planning. The 2024 Lake Elmo Parks Master Plan ( https://www.lakeelmo.gov/DocumentCenter/View/448/Parks-Master-Plan-PDF ) documents survey results (page 40) which describe citizen interest in more fishing opportunities. The document lists a “fishing pier” (p 69) on Sunfish Lake as a desirable addition. It also refers to the Lake Elmo 2040 Comprehensive Plan document that expresses the need to address the issue of impaired lakes, streams and wetlands (p 10).
4 Benefits Multiple Municipalities There is no systematic documentation of the domicile of users of Sunfish Lake Park (no fees, no staffed entry point). However, based on zip codes provided by visitors to the nature center who sign up for our newsletter (1600 recipients), Sunfish Lake Park is utilized primarily by residents of the nearby communities – Lake Elmo, Stillwater, Oakdale, Woodbury, Maplewood, North St. Paul, and St. Paul east. Any angler from these areas would benefit from this project.
5 Minimizes Potential for Additional Wildlife Injury or fish consumption related human health risks: Wildlife injury/habitat disturbance would be extremely minimal. The installation of the Boardwalk end points would occupy perhaps a hundred square feet of dry land at either end. The support columns ( roughly sixty of 4″ diameter with two every 10 ft) are estimated to occupy less than 20 sq ft of wetland. Driving the columns into the lake bottom may cause a slight redistribution of the mud which may contain some deposited PFAS, but such displacement would be minimal compared with natural water flow and plant/animal activity in the roughly 70 acres of this habitat. The presence of the Boardwalk should encourage fishing by providing more convenient access than the the current unimproved lake shore. There will be appropriate signage for anglers provided at both ends of the Boardwalk, based on the results of a study upon which to base a fish consumption advisory. The funding for this study is the subject of a co-pending request for funding from the Priority 2 allotment. If the Fish Advisory Project is not funded, the signs would be very cautionary. Transporting construction materials and the device for driving the support columns could cause the formation of ruts in the soil, but as with the equipment used in the “Restoration of Sunfish Lake” DNR-CPL project, we will do our best to restrict this movement to seasons when the soil is frozen, or otherwise minimize the disturbance.
6 Provides Self-sustaining Benefits: The Boardwalk would be sturdily constructed of weather-resistant materials and inspected annually by City staff. Based on experience reported by owners of similar structures, the lifespan of a properly constructed structure of this type is a number of decades, over which the Boardwalk would continue to provide benefits. Once the funding from this program is depleted, the Lake Elmo City Council as advised by the City Parks Commission will have to decide whether there is sufficient public interest to continue maintenance.
7 Minimizes Adverse Community Impacts: Short Term: There would be some traffic – a few heavy vehicles on the Park entry road for a day or two to bring in equipment and material, and a slight disruption of access to two short sections of the trail in the Park while some of the equipment and material is brought to the construction site. There may be about 1-2 days of noise from driving the columns. The nearest residences are about 640 ft to the north of the site. As was done when there has been forestry mowing, prescribed burns, and open burning of deadwood piles in support of the DNR-CPL Restoration of Sunfish Lake Park Project, signage will be erected and the affected neighbors notified well in advance via the established communication channels. Long term: No significant negative effects of having the Boardwalk in place. It would be built to not interfere with navigation, as required by public waters legislation, for the selected location.
8 Demonstrates Equity and Environmental Justice: The Boardwalk will provide a benefit to trail users with physical disabilities such as difficulty in walking, allowing them to have convenient, up-close access to the lake. Exposure to nature has been shown to provide mental health benefits.
The locality of Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake is not within the State’s defined environmental justice areas: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bff19459422443d0816b632be0c25228/page/Page/?views=EJ-areas
9 Includes Community Engagement: The submission of the LOI for this proposal was presented at the Parks Commission public meeting, and at the City Council public meeting, and received approval from both bodies. If the grant is awarded, the project will be publicized on the City’s website and in the Friend’s communications.
10 Provides Public Access: The project would provide improved public access to Sunfish Lake. The Boardwalk would connect shorelines on the arm of the lake that are public property (northwest section). The land owner is the City of Lake Elmo, and the Park is open from dawn to 30 minutes after dusk year-around. Currently a Park visitor can hike to one point on the shore of the north side of the arm of Sunfish Lake that is in the Patk.. Or they can hike to one point on the shore of the south side of the arm of Sunfish Lake that is in the Park. The wetland at these points is often muddy, so the opportunity for fishing or pond dipping is very inconvenient. With the Boardwalk, a visitor could traverse the continuous loop on a solid dry trail, and could fish or pond-dip from the Boardwalk.
There is not currently a public boat launch point on Sunfish Lake, and no such amenity seems to have been written into any published plan. The trail system provides the only public access. By observation, there is only very limited use of watercraft, consisting of kayaks and canoes on rare occasions. The author has not seen any motorized or sailing vessels on the lake.
There perhaps a dozen private owners, including two HOA’s, of the lakeshore of the main body of Sunfish Lake (southeast section).
11. Matching / Leveraged Funding: This project is not seen as part of a larger project, but it has relevance to the co-pending proposal to the current RFP “Sunfish Lake Fish Advisory”, the Letter Of Intent for which was also accepted. The ability to provide a fish advisory based on actual evidence of the safety (or danger) of consuming the fish caught in Sunfish Lake would strengthen the value of the Boardwalk from a standpoint of encouraging recreational fishing and fishing education .
There is no other funding for this project, but approximately 100 volunteer hours would be contributed by the Friends of Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake Park (in-kind donation) for such activities as pre-bid specification drafting, liaison / coordination with the City, obtaining bids, etc.
Due diligence activities covering the question: would construction of such a boardwalk be possible?
Met with Andrew Moe, Minnesota Land Trust steward for Sunfish Lake Park, June 14th, 2023 during a regular site visit related to the buckthorn removal project. The idea of the boardwalk was presented, Andrew did not see any major show-stoppers, but of course there would have to be a focused meeting and discussion before MLT could provide a written opinion. There would have to be a quite minor trail realignment to assure that the trails meet the ends of the Boardwalk. Lake Elmo Public Works would have to approve.
Met with Dan Scollan, metro area Hydrologist of the MN Department of Natural Resources, and Jay Riggs and Karen Wolk, Valley Branch Watershed District, on June 30th 2023.
Dan Scollan explained that the DNR’s main concern was that a structure not block public access to navigable public waters. There is no public access ramp on Sunfish Lake, and by observation, very little boating on Sunfish Lake. Small watercraft can be launched from private lands on the lakeshore, or from the trails in the Park. Although the water surface area to the west of the proposed boardwalk location is quite limited, legally the structure must allow free passage of watercraft appropriate to the body of water, about 3.5 ft above OHW level. Therefore a floating boardwalk design would not be granted the required permit, but a design comparable to the Oakdale design (a bridge on supports) could be granted a permit. Dan brought along the relevant regulations and a very useful bathymetric diagram (it did not scan well due to white-on-black lines).
Karen Wolk explained that the main VBWD concern is reduction of wetland areas, and any consequent destruction of wildlife habitat. The post-supported design occupies negligible wetland area (only the cross-sections of the posts themselves) and would probably be granted a permit, but any earth-fill required to support the ends of the boardwalk would have to be compensated if they were in wetlands.
Jay Riggs and I walked out to the area’s South shore, and he pointed out the approximate contour of the OHW level and the dry/wetland boundary. This second contour was 20-30 ft horizontally uphill from the shoreline. Jay explained that if the boardwalk design included a post-supported section to cross the wetland (and not require earth fill in this area) the permit should be granted.
I met with Jan Hansen and Sarah Harding of Stantec Consulting by phone on June 30th 2023 to discuss the possible cost of this project. They have experience with this kind of construction. Their initial estimates (based on the Oakdale design as a template) were up to about $500,000 depending on the exact design, and the soil structure properties of the lake bed. Stantec recently provided a detailed cost estimate, view it using the button in the REFERENCES section below
Intern Lauren Shipman and I determined the water depth at points in Sunfish Lake in early July 2023 via pole sounding, our results in the northwest arm are in agreement with the depth profile for the northwest arm shown in the bathymetric map provided by Dan Scollan. The deepest water depth between the proposed crossing routes is about 4-5 feet.
The City of Oakdale constructed a somewhat similar structure in 2014 . I requested information about initial and maintenance cost, and got this response:
Tony,
My name is Jeff Koesling, I am the Park Superintendent for The City of Oakdale and I oversee the maintenance on the boardwalk located up in the Nature Preserve. I know that You were requesting some information/details on Our boardwalk and I can try and answer them for You.
The overall project cost for Our boardwalk back in 2014 was approx. $318,000. The maintenance on it since it was installed has been very minimal. We do not clear snow from it during the Winter mos. this was decided to try and preserve the decking from possible damage from the equipment and it has worked very well w/ the users etc. We have had some issues with some deck boards that have “curled” which is normal, and We also have had to repair a few sections of the handrail/side skirt fencing that was damaged by some trees that came down during a wind storm. We have also had the occasional issue w/ graffiti that has taken place, but it has been minimal in the last 10 yrs.
I contacted the administrator for the Crex Meadows preserve, Grantsville, WI, which also has a boardwalk, but they reported maintenance problems due to insufficient depth of the original support posts.