The county is making progress on securing land for the Shooting Star Trail to reach Austin.

The county board approved two motions Tuesday to help Public Works Director Mike Hanson secure land from four property owners to bring the bike trail from Rose Creek to County Road 52.

The board set the purchase price on the land at $8,000 per acre, and board members voted to allow Hanson to sign purchase agreements for the property.

If all goes as planned, the county will purchase about $14,000 worth of property.

After this land is secured, Coordinator Craig Oscarson said the county will then shift its focus to securing land the rest of the way to Austin.

County commissioners voted in May to try a new plan to drum up funding from the state: Secure the land the trail would run through in order to show state officials Mower County is ready to finish the project.

The plan isn’t without its pitfalls. County officials still have to figure out how — and where — the bike trail will cross Interstate 90 and landowners still must decide whether to sell their land.