Notes to the 2/23/06 Central Ohio Greenways and Trail Forum
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Held at the Powell City Hall in Powell.
Brad Westall opened the meeting with a brief agenda and then introduced Jeff Snyder of the Powell Parks Dept. who welcome the group to Powell. He also introduced Erin Miller and Leslie Strader of MORPC and Steve Studenmund of Franklin County Metroparks.
Joan Simcak spoke on Holmes County projects including construction on a 29 miles trail to connect to the Mohican and Kokosing Gap trails. 10.1 miles have been completed and another 4.7 will be completed this year from Millersburg to Killibuck
Kim Marshall spoke on Knox County projections including 16 1/2 miles of trail--the "Heart of Ohio" trail from Centerberg to Mt. Vernon.
Frank Demarco from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources spoke to scenic river access.
Brad talked about the tourism opportunities that trails in Knox and Holmes represented.
Wayne Roberts talked about Madison Country projects including the OTE trail coming in from Xenia and the routing through London. There was some brief discussion about the stalled Camp Chase Trail and also the trail signage through the town of London where it runs on a few streets.
Ira Weiss spoke about Fairfield County and the Fairfield Heritage Trail. Phase 3 construction this year will bring it south of Lancaster. It will connect every park and school in the area. He spoke to Safe Routes to Schools (more about this in a minute) and signage. There was some discussion of a "demo" trail segment that they are building in Amanda to demonstrate to reticent farmers the compatibility of trails with their operations.
Jesse Carter from the Delaware Health Dept spoke about the nearing completions of two trails in Delaware City. The east-west trail that crosses US 23 via an existing railroad bridge and a crossing trail that runs on S Henry St. which is adjacent and runs roughly parallel to US 23
John Gideon from the Central Ohio Bike Advocacy Coalition (COBAC) spoke about rescissions to funding on both the federal and state level. Also the National Bike Summit in Washington 3/13 - 3/15. He encouraged the audience to get involved in ensuring that Traffic Enhancements are preserved in municipal, state and federal budgets. www.cobac.org
Steve Studenmund, Bill Busher and Steve Brown spoke on several Metropark projects including the Darby Creek Trail--a new section in Battelle-Darby Creek Metropark from Rt. 40 to the main picnic area in the center of the park (4 miles) as well as an underpass of I-70 south of Prairie Oak Metropark and the connection of these two to join the two parks. There are 25 miles of the Darby Creek Trail in various stages of from planning to current use. Also the relocation of Shannon Rd was shown and the routing of the Blacklick from its current terminus, under Winchester Rd and to the new bridge to be construction over US33. Also the connection between the Blacklick which dead ends in Portman Park and the Blacklick Woods Metropark was discussed. The 2.5 miles connector would underpass I-70 and Tussing Rd. At the last Forum, issues with the Tunburry Golf Course were discussed. http://www.metroparks.net/
Catherine Girves (sic) discussed efforts in the OSU area to provide valet bike parking for events.
Terry Gee of Whitehall spoke about efforts to begin work on the Big Walnut Trail by working with the Port Columbus Airport and using environmental offsets for their development projects to build trail.
A representative from Bexley (Bruce) spoke about community connections in work to connect city facilities to the Alum Creek Trail and about the recent improvements to the park south of Main Street at Alum Creek Dr. "Pumphouse Park." Brad spoke about this being the "year of the bridges" and mentioned the Greenlawn bridge improvements and, after a mention of the recently completed I-670/Alum connector reiterated the commitment to complete the Alum Creek Trail by 2008 and the Blacklick by 2008-9. He also spoke about connecting the Olentangy Trail to Highbanks Metropark and talked about Mayor Coleman's imperative to double the number of trail miles by the 2012 city bicentennial.
Kim Conrad from the OPRA (Ohio Parks and Recreation Association) www.opraonline.org talked about that organization and the help and support it could provide to folks at the forum.
A representative from Delaware (Susan) talked about polling residents about what they wanted. Lack of greenspace was number one. Talked about working with developers.
Dave from Ohio Greenways spoke about the work his organization was doing in working to protect local watersheds. http://www.ohiogreenways.net/index.htm
Michael Hooper from the Westerville Parks Dept spoke on some recent completions to the Genoa Trail and south to Schrock Rd. Also some connector trails to tie to city services such as the library and post office.
Ted Miller of Preservation Parks of Delaware Co spoke about a new park to be built south of Galena. http://www.preservationparks.com/
Break
Panel Forum on acquiring Rights-of-Way with Jerry Rampalt (OTE), Dean Ringle, Franklin County Engineer, Charlie Ruma, Virginia Homes (and OTE BOD), and Jay Larrick AEP. http://www.ohiotoerietrail.org/ ; http://www.virginia-homes.com/ ; http://www.aep.com/
Dean Ringle reviewed bridge projects. The construction of trail paths on the Clifton (Alum Creek Trail) Ave bridge and the Greenlawn (Scioto Trail) Ave bridge. The Camp Chase trail (OTE) was discussed. The current status is that the railroad is not participating except possibly for a short section. Other possible routes are being looked at which would involve either running to the Scioto Trail when it is extended south of SR104 or through some part of western Franklin County. He also discussed improvement to Clyme Rd and showed a design map for the Morse Rd/SR62 roundabout with trail connections for New Albany and Gahanna community trails and to a Columbus extension which will presumable link to the nearby Alum Creek Trail. He also mentioned that the new editions of the fold-up city map will have improved park colorations and the major trails shown.
Charlie Ruma spoke to the needs of housing developers in working trails into their projects and how the demands of his customers have changed to include more green space and amenities like trails and parks. He spoke to the permanence of trail construction citing bike paths in Holland that have existed for more than 100 years.
Jay Larrick talked about requirements for using power line rights-of-way for trail use. The underlying land is not owned or controlled by the AEP and trail use may require an additional easement agreement with the land owner.
Jerry Rampalt spoke to expectations of trail users including amenities and also on acquiring rights of way--three steps: people who want trails; the rights-of-way and money to build. The last is the easiest to get.
During lunch, provided by Burgess and Niple, a presentation was made on the environmental issue mitigation in the new Whittier Metropark including an interesting set of aerial pictures of the area from 1938 to the present. The existing trail will be moved as the new construction begins. Parts will be closed during construction of the wetlands and the new Audubon center.
There was some discussion about dam removal on the Alum Creek. The low dams at Nelson Park and Wolfe Park are to be reconfigured to improve river flow.
Jack Shaner from the Ohio Environmental Council and Dan Richey from the OTE spoke about methods for working with legislators.
The final panel of the day was on gaining local group support.
Wayne Roberts talked about local reticence to working with folks outside Madison County. He also mentioned creating events around trail completions to generate enthusiasm and support. http://www.fmcpt.com/
Andy Brenner, of the Delaware County Friends of the Trail, spoke to how his group is organized and how they delegate projects for completion. He spoke to their "Adopt A Tree" program as a means to funding trail building. http://www.gbgm-umc.org/galena/DCFT.htm
David Hohmann made a presentation on activities that his organization FACT (Friends of the Alum Creek Trail.) http://www.friendsofalumcreek.org/
The meeting concluded around 2:30 pm
PLEASE NOTE: I apologize if I have missed names or misspelled names or left anything out.
DAVID ROSEMAN'S COG FORUM NOTES
to be paved by August 07.
FRANKLIN CTY (Dean Ringle)