More than 40 years ago, the supervisors in Antis Township struck a deal with the Pennsylvania Railroad to purchase a one-mile tract of old railroad bed.
\nThe supervisors, at that time, saw a goldmine in the layer of balace that accompanied the tracks. They used this balace to help with paving on township roads.
\nBut as the years passed, the balace slowly dwindled away. Now, the property has no use to the township and leaders are trying to figure out what to do with it.
\nLast evening, the township opened the doors to its meeting room and welcomed more than three dozen concerned residents to offer their opinion on what the township should do with the property.
\n\u201cAbout ten months ago, a resident approached me concerning the ATV traffic on the old railroad bed,\u201d said Chairman Supervisor Leo Matuszewski. \u201cWe, here at the township, talked at length about it and decided the best thing to do was hold a public meeting to hear your comments. We want to know what you think.\u201d
\nThe opinions were varied. Some \u2013 mostly those who live on property that parallels the railroad bed \u2013 believe the township should sell it to them. Others see increased tourism and economic development possibilities with a Rail-To-Trails system. While others say the township should just keep the property for the time being and see if anything works itself out in the future.
\nDespite the purpose of the meeting, those attending used the forum to argue the benefits and disadvantages of a Rails-To-Trails system.
\n\u201cI represent the 13 neighbors who live in that area and out of the whole bunch, only one is for Rails-To-Trails,\u201d said Bob Himes, noting that he didn\u2019t speak with the other family directly. \u201cWe\u2019re hear to say that we don\u2019t want people in our backyards. We don\u2019t want the vandalism or the litter or the crime.\u201d
\nBut according to Palmer Brown, project manager of Rails-To-Trails, the vandalism, the litter and the crime \u201cjust doesn\u2019t happen\u201d on the trails.
\n\u201cStatistically, it just doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d said Palmer.
\nBrown cited the Lowery trail near Williamsburg as an example. He said since 1994, there has been very little vandalism on the trail.
\n\u201cNo one can guarantee there won\u2019t ever be occurrences there,\u201d said Brown. \u201cBut looking at the Lowery Trail since 1994, it\u2019s pretty evident that people care about the trail and want to keep the vandalism and litter out of there. So far, it has worked pretty well.\u201d
\nHimes said he and the other residents of the area do not oppose the Rails-To-Trails project. He said their opposition lies in the scores of people who will be on or near his property while accessing the trail.
\n\u201cThe most attractive area of the trail would be from the reservoir on up to Blandburg,\u201d said Himes. \u201cThat\u2019s where it should start. Not in our backyards. We just don\u2019t want everything that goes along with the people \u2013 the vandalism and the litter.\u201d
\nBob Smith, the resident who first approached the board ten months ago with a concern about the ATV riding, was one of the opponents to the Rails-To-Trails program back in 1996 when it first came to the supervisors\u2019 attention.
\n\u201cThen, I felt the same way many of you all do,\u201d said Smith. \u201cI was worried about the vandalism and the litter. But I was mis-informed.
\n\u201cSince then, I\u2019ve done my homework and now I don\u2019t see the same problem that some people here tonight have referred to.\u201d
\nAccording to Brown, who has worked on nearly a half dozen trail projects, said bringing a Rails-To-Trails project to Antis Township is essential for linking the communities of Bellwood and Blandburg.
\n\u201cThese kinds of projects really tie communities together,\u201d said Brown. \u201cThere is an excellent opportunity here for the township and I believe it\u2019s one of the most important project the township can do right now.\u201d
\nOthers disagreed.
\n\u201cThe are other things this township needs,\u201d said Larry Nau, a resident of Fostoria. \u201cSome places don\u2019t have sewer. We have water issues. We don\u2019t need to pay for exercise.\u201d
\nThe idea for a Rails-To-Trails in the area is not new. In fact, it is labeled as a \u201chigh priority\u201d on the township\u2019s comprehensive plan and was fully explored in 1996.
\nDick Suter, the man who developed the plan eight years ago, discussed the process of developing the plan and what it would have taken to get the project moving. He said after the plans were drawn up, funding was looked into, but then fizzled.
\n\u201cFunding sources weren\u2019t as plentiful as they are today,\u201d said Suter.
\nSuter claims this fall, windows for funding will open.
\nAccording to Brown, the Lowery trail cost about $470,000 to complete. He said a Rails-To-Trails program is federally, state and privately funded. He said the township could use the property as half a match for a state grant. Afterwhich, the township could seek federal funding with an 80\/20 match – 20 percent of which would be footed by the township.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to see my neighbors penalized with another tax increase to help pay for a project like this,\u201d said Dave Minehart, a 40-year-resident of the township. \u201cWhy penalize the tax paying people of the township?
\n\u201cI think the property should be turned back over to the property owners.\u201d
\nBut according to Matuszewski, giving or even selling the property to the residents of the area isn\u2019t feasible.
\nMatuszewski said the township\u2019s solicitor informed him that if the property was going to be sold, it needed first to be appraised. If this appraisal reached more than $1,500, the property would have to be advertised for bidding or a public auction.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t see how it (selling the property) will benefit the town or the residents,\u201d said Matuszewski.
\nBrown said the township could, however, convey the property to a non-profit group for a minimal fee.
\n\u201cThere would be several groups interested in acquiring the property or at least, to use it,\u201d said Brown, \u201cincluding ours.\u201d
\nStill others, like resident Rick Sprankle, believes the township should hold onto the property and see what pans out.
\nSprankle, a horse owner, claims the Pennsylvania Game Commission has decided to close the mountain to everyone after the snow melts away. He said the state is moving to this drastic measure after a recent incident in the eastern part of the state.
\nAccording to Sprankle, the use of ATVs, bicycle riders and other traffic had caused severe erosion to a state game land near Lititz. He said the commission is irritated that many residents, who don\u2019t possess hunting licenses, are using the property. He added the game commission uses proceeds from hunting license sales to maintain these state game lands.
\n\u201cWe have to figure out what benefits everyone,\u201d said Sprankle. \u201cWe\u2019re losing all our riding areas.\u201d
\nFollowing the meeting, Matuszewski said the supervisors will take everyone\u2019s opinion into consideration and hopefully come to a conclusion in the near future. He said the topic will most likely be discussed at the meeting Thursday at the township building, but does not expect a resolution at that time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 40 years ago, the supervisors in Antis Township struck a deal with the Pennsylvania Railroad to purchase a one-mile tract of old railroad bed. The supervisors, at that time, saw a goldmine in the layer of balace that accompanied the tracks. They used this balace to help with paving on township roads. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}