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County officials oppose trail ideaBy JAMIE WILLEYHorrii News Service_Oswego — The Raiis-to-Trails Conservancy of Washington, D.C., got the opposite of what it wanted from Labette County and Cherokee County commissioners Monday.The conservancy had sent a letter to the Labette commissioners asking them to file a letter with the Surface Transportation Board and Southeast Kansas Railroad Company to express interest in developing a biking-hiking trail along a 36-mile rail-road corridor that is to be abandoned in May.The corridor stretches from Coffeyville, through the Chetopa area and on to Faulkner.The conservancy said there are more than 835 such trails along abandoned rail lines in the United States, with more than a thousand more proposed.The Labette commissioners, however, traveled to Columbus to obtain the signatures of Cherokee County commissioners on a letter opposing the rails-to-trails proposal.Labette County Commissioner Lonie Addis told the Cherokee commissioners he was concerned with the policing and maintenance of such a trail, and that1 it would-not; offer much ’1 recreational promotion for the area:Addis also said the trail would cause problems for peo- 1 pie who live or farm next to it.“We can see a lot of liability, a lot of detriment,*’ Addis said.The letter states that commissioners of Labette, Cherokee and Montgomery counties oppose any effort to convert the abandoned rail line into a recre- * ational trail. If the line is to be abandoned, the three counties would be better served to have the former railroad right-of-way reverted to the adjacent landowners, according to theletter. '“We feel it would be best to 1 keep it on the tax roll,” Addis said. !Cherokee County Commissioner John Green said he has not heard from anyone in favor 1of a rail-trail in this area. \Labette County Commissioner Cecil Fish said the trail would be a good idea if it ran through a large city, but not in a rural area. ‘Grants probably could pay for the upkeep of the trail, but sooner or later the county would 1be responsible for maintenance *funding, Labette County Com- ]missioner Dale McBride said.All three Cherokee County }commissioners signed the letter, which Labette commission- ,ers signed earlier in the day. i
Newspaper Details
Ottawa Herald
Ottawa, Kansas, US
Thu, May 01, 1997
Page 7
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