The Plymouth County Conservation Board on Tuesday designated a new site for its proposed Education and Conservation Opportunities (ECO) Center that could help reduce project costs.

Dennis Sohl, Plymouth County Conservation director, said the center will be built adjacent to the Elk Overlook Parking Area in Hillview Park.

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"It will mean considerably less earth moving and be considerably closer to our utilities," Sohl said. "After listening to concerns from neighbors, our architects agreed this would be a better site."

No exact cost savings have been calculated from moving the center south of the original site, but Sohl estimated $25,000 to $50,000 could be saved.

However, he said, that will probably be eaten up by rising material costs.

"Until we actually let it for bids, we don't know where final cost is going to end up," Sohl said.

The ECO Center is estimated to cost $850,000.

That is expected to be paid with $450,000 of Local Option Sales Tax money, $150,000 for each of three years, and grants.

A Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) grant application for $400,000 has been submitted, and will be reviewed and possibly awarded in September, Sohl said.

Along with discussing the ECO Center, the conservation board also swore in its two newest members, Chris Beeck, of Hinton, and Troy V. Hemmelrick, of Akron, and declared an old shelter house, prairie hay and three elk as surplus property.

The shelter and restroom building, which is deteriorating and needs to be torn down, is in an area next to the Big Sioux River that hasn't been used since the flood of 1993, Sohl said.

The board authorized staff to dismantle it or find out if someone else has a use for it.

Prairie hay from parts of Hillview Park and Boyd's Bende was also declared surplus to help keep trees out of the prairie and to bring in some revenue. The conservation department will also keep some of the hay for its own livestock.

The conservation board also authorized the sale of three elk, two yearlings this fall and an old cow in the spring.

Sohl will attend a future Plymouth County Supervisors meeting and ask permission to sell the elk through an auction, which will probably be held the second week in September.

After those animals are sold, the conservation department will have a bull, three cows, two yearlings and three calves from this year remaining in its herd.

"We want to maintain a small herd size so our pasture doesn't get overgrazed," Sohl said.