PRESS
Public hearing deals with SR 13 trail segment
July 16, 2008
©The Mail Journal, posted with permission
By LAUREN ZEUGNER
Staff Writer
Well over 100 people filled
Celebration Hall in the Syracuse Community Center Wednesday night, July 9. Spike
Ford, president of the Syracuse-Wawasee Trail Project, gave a brief history of
the project before turning the meeting over to David Brandes, segment manager
for SR 13.
Brandes explained the purpose of the
meeting was not to discuss trails in general, but specifically
the SR 13 segment, which would take the trail south and east along SR 13 from Harkless
Drive to Wawasee Middle School. Discussion Wednesday night was focused on a
portion of the segment, from Harkless Drive to Waco Drive, by the Sleepy Owl
restaurant.
Ford explained how the trail
committee works with members becoming segment managers responsible for
overseeing the work on one portion of the trail.
He said the trail committee is
applying for a Transportation Enhancement Grant from the Indiana Department of
Transportation. Syracuse and approximately 100 other communities are vying for
the same grant money.
Brandes stated the TE funds will
go to a public agency, in this case the county commissioners, who will accept
the grant and use the funds to pay for the trail work. The committee is applying
for $1 million which the community would need to raise approximately $200,000 in
matching funds.
If the grant is awarded to
Syracuse it would be 18 to 24 months before construction would start due to
design and engineering work. “Putting trail down is unbelievably expensive,”
Brandes said.
David Armstrong from INDOT
attended the meeting.
“The dream is children could go to
the middle school on their bike safely or people on the south side could come
into town on their bike,” Brandes said.
The Wawasee Area Conservancy
Foundation purchased the Dunithan property and the WACF board has agreed to meet
with the trail committee, “looking at ways the trail could come off the highway.
In some areas we will need a board walk to cross wet lands. About nine-tenths
will be on WACF property,” Brandes explained.
Brandes, who has been very
involved in WACF, explained he has stepped down as chairman and that Ford met
with the WACF board. He had no part in the discussions.
Brandes told the crowd the
committee hopes to receive more grants in the future. The Ruth Lily Grant is not
set for SR 13 segment.
Questions from the audience
included how wide the trail will be? The trails will range from 8 feet to 12
feet wide. Someone asked if the Syracuse community was competing against Fort Wayne for grant money. The answer was no,
Syracuse is competing with communities of a similar size.
Another person asked how will the
trail be maintained. Ford explained once trail is put down, it becomes the
county’s liability since most of it is in the county. The least expensive way to
maintain the trails may be through an adopt-a-trail program. As far as keeping
the trails in good repair, the committee hasn’t worked that far ahead
yet. “The interesting thing about
trails, people like yourself who use trails take care of them,” Ford said.
“People are respectful of them.”
As for landscaping, the commitee will seek out
donations for landscaping, benches and lights.
One person in the audience asked
about an endowment. Ford said the committee was spending the money it received
as soon as it was getting it to put trail down, but an endowment was a
possibility. Dave Lichtenauer explained the
Syracuse Park Foundation, which raises money for the parks, started the trail
committee. His hope is to have a Turkey Creek Township Park District that would
take care of a trail endowment. “Seventy percent of the people who use the parks
are from the township and they contribute nothing through their taxes (to the
parks),” he said.
Ford also put out a call for
volunteers to get involved in the project and explained how area neighborhood
associations and different organizations were partnering with the trail
committee.
The SR 13 segment was explained. A
crosswalk parallel to SR 13 will travel through residential areas, creating a
design challenge. A guard rail may need to be installed and the trail squeezed
behind it. A 10-foot wide boardwalk will go through the wet land area and there
will be a 12-foot trail behind the telephone poles along WACF
land.
It was explained since the TE
grant is federal dollars, the trail must meet federal standards which is a
12-foot wide trail is desirable while 10 feet is minimum. Someone asked if that
was the case, why were some trail segments 8 feet wide. Brandes explained those
segments are not near segments INDOT could potentially fund.
Another audience member suggested
getting off SR 13. Brandes said the committee was going to try, but still had to
abide by INDOT specifications if the grant was awarded.“The whole purpose of the trail
system is not to be in a cocoon. The government wants everyone within 15 minutes
of a trail and connectivity . . . You have to have a place to go, especially
with INDOT funds,” Ford explained.
Another question was if the trail
along SR 13 was in the state right of way what was the risk of losing the trail
in the future to highway widening. Armstrong said he couldn’t promise
that wouldn’t happen, but said some trails are being added to highway bridges.
Another person said some states require trails alongside new
highway.
Public hearing on SR 13 trail segment to be held
June 2, 2008
©The Mail Journal, posted with permission
By LAUREN ZEUGNER
Staff Writer
You've heard about the Syracuse-Wawasee
Trails Project for a while now,
but now is the chance to ask
questions and make suggestions
about this community wide
project.
Syracuse-Wawasee Trails Committee
is hosting a public information
meeting with representatives of
the Indiana Department of
Transportation at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, July 9, in Celebration
Hall of the Syracuse Community
Center, 1013 N. Long Drive. The
committee is in the process of
seeking a $1 million
Transportation Enhancement grant
for the SR 13 segment of the
trail.
The purpose of the meeting is to
explain the project and get ideas
from the floor. Dave Brandes,
segment manager for the SR 13
section of the trail, explained
the trail will run from the stop
sign on Harkless Avenue to the Sleepy
Owl. The trail will be 10 feet
wide, some of which will be
within the public right of way.
Approximately nine-tenths of the
trail will be on Wawasee Area
Conservancy Foundation property
and Department of Natural
Resources property. According to
Brandes, who is a WACF member,
the WACF board will welcome the
trail onto its property, anywhere
from 20 to 60 feet off the
highway.
"We want as many citizens as possible
(to attend)", said Brandes. "If
this room (Celebration Hall) isnt
big enough, that would be great!"
The meeting is critical to the grant
process, but also because the
committee wants more public input
about where the trails should go.
"Some people will come up with
better ideas, better than we came
up with, better than EarthSource"
(the consultant hired to assist
the committee), said Brandes.
The deadline for the Transportation
Enhancement grant is Aug. 15,
where it will be in a pool with
100 other trail project proposals
from around the state all vying
for $23 to $25 million. Grants
are also graded on a point
system based on community
involvement. In fact the grant guidebook states:
"The level has been and remains
high through the life of the
project", when talking about where
points are awarded.
Other areas
where points can be earned on the
grant include having amenities
such as rest rooms, water
fountains and bike racks along
with public viewing areas along
the trails. The WACF is looking
at building an overlook along the
trail on its property. Funding
for the overlook will come in
part from a $5,000 donation from
the Wawasee Property Owners
Association. Additional funding
for the overlook will come from
the trail committee and the TE
grant.
Another area points can be earned
is on connectivity to existing
trails in the community as well
as connecting to trail systems
outside the community.
Members of the trail committee
are also encouraging business
owners and members of the
community to write letters of
support for the project. Letters
of support should be addressed to
Spike Ford, c/o Syracuse Parks
Foundation, Syracuse Parks and
Recreation Department, 1013 N.
Long Dr., Syracuse, IN 46567.
Transportation Enhancement grants
are awarded on an 80-20 split
with the community being required
to raise its 20 percent in
community funds. If the grant is
awarded, the funds will be
handled by the highest elected
official in the county, which
will be the county commissioners.
Ford, president of the trail
committee, explained the
commissioners will be the paying
entity and are in support of the
project.
So if there are questions about
the trail, questions about
volunteering on the committee, or
you just want to learn more about
the project, be sure to attend
the meeting.
