Jefferson Township officials tour potential path site

MAC CORDELL
Press Staff Writer
Published October 08, 2003 12:18 PM CDT

Members of the Jefferson Township Board of Trustees met with Tom Cochran Tuesday morning to discuss future plans for the Prairie Oaks Metro Park.

Cochran, park manager for Prairie Oaks, met with Township Trustees Mark Forrest, Rudy Denes and Leon Creamer as well as with Kenny Greene, Jefferson Township administrator.

However, although general future plans for the park were discussed, the proposed bike path that would connect Prairie Oaks and Battelle-Darby Metro Parks was what interested the trustees.

The exact location of the six-mile path still is unclear, but most of it would run along the western border of farmland owned by Battelle Memorial Institute.

The trail would be about 12 feet wide and the easement would need to be about 25 feet wide. No vehicles, except for emergency service vehicles, would be allowed onto the path. Off-road vehicles also would be prohibited. Cochran said the trail most likely would go under the Interstate 70 bridge that crosses the Big Darby Creek.

The trail would be patrolled daily by park rangers, who have full law enforcement authority.

While park officials are confident they have a workable plan, many residents who live near the proposed trail are concerned. Trail neighbors understand that the park has rules, but are concerned that not everybody would follow the regulations.

"All of their concerns are legitimate," Cochran told the trustees. "What people do not understand is how we do business.

"We always have some problems at first, but we put up signs, we educate people and then we enforce them. When we start sending people to court, that really deters people. We really do have a lot of experience dealing with these kinds of things that the general public does not know about."

Forrest said neighbor concerns prompted him to talk with property owners around other Metro Parks.

"I talked to some people who back up to the Glacier Ridge park and they love it," Forrest said. "They are actually asking for more trails.

"Once you establish a presence, people begin to understand and you have an ability to enforce the rules that the general public doesn't really have."

Cochran said many times property owners find that more people in the area deter would-be vandals and other evil-doers. The West Jefferson native mentioned a farmer near Groveport who was having problems with dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles on his property until Metro Parks moved in and began enforcing the no-vehicles rule.

"I can't say it never happens, but we don't have that many problems," Cochran said. "We do look after neighboring properties. If someone is gracious enough to give us an easement, we are going to do everything we can to help patrol the area."

A second concern of neighbors is that the trail would not be maintained if people stop using it.

"We would hope they would never get tired of using the parks," Cochran said. "As long as we have been in existence, we have only grown in attendance."

Forrest tried to put to rest any fears that Metro Parks would try to take land by eminent domain. He said Metro Parks policy has not included taking by eminent domain for more than 20 years.

"I think that is not their intention," Forrest said. "It is not their policy anymore. It would be a major concern of the trustees if that was their intention."

Forrest said the trustees want to meet with Metro Parks Director John O'Mara to discuss possible alternate routes. The proposed potential route would cross state Route 142 twice.

"The reason we are meeting with O'Mara is to discuss alternate routes," Forrest said. "We have had suggestions. We have some alternate routes. There are some concerns and there is a safety issue."

No timeline was given for the completion of the bike path.

"It takes a lot of community support and effort from us and the community, so there is no set timeline," Cochran said. "We know it will not happen overnight.

"We have to develop a conceptual idea. Then we have to get people to understand it. We need to get support from some private property owners to see if they are willing to sell us some property or to give us an easement, before we can even begin working on anything. So it is difficult to have a timeline."

Denes said it is a difficult task balancing the needs of a growing community.

"What we want to stress to people is that we are not opposed to the concept of the bike trail," Denes said. "But we need to be responsive to the needs of the township residents."

Forrest went further than Denes.

"It is all so new," he said. "We still have a lot of things to work out, but we are hoping to work with the community and Metro Parks. Well, we will be working with Metro Parks. We just need to work some things out. We know that there are some concerns, but we have talked to other neighbors.

"The parks have added to the community. They have been accepted well by the very local community not to mention the widespread community."

While the proposed bike trail is in Madison County, residents will not be the ones footing the bill for the trail, which O'Mara said has an unknown price tag at this point.

"It really will cost them nothing," Cochran said.

Metro Parks is supported by a 10-year, 0.65-mill property tax levy approved by the voters of Franklin County in 1999.

Metro Parks also receives additional funding from the state's Local Government Fund and Local Government Revenue Assistance Fund as well as from grants, donations and earned income.

Metro Parks was established in 1945 and manages and operates 14 parks, including more than 20,000 acres throughout seven central Ohio counties.

It is a separate political subdivision of the state of Ohio and is governed by a three-member Board of Park Commissioners.

Mac Cordell can be contacted at (740) 852-1616, 1-800-282-3838 or by e-mail at news2@madison-press.com