Fate of trail project uncertain after about-face by Cass County Board

Yahoo

25-03-2025

Mike Sousek, general manager of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, addresses the Cass County Board prior to its vote Tuesday, March 25, 2025, to rescind approval of a recreational trail route across the county. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)
PLATTSMOUTH, Nebraska — The prospects are again uncertain for a long-sought recreation trail across rural Cass County.
On Tuesday, the Cass County Board voted 4-1 to withdraw its November approval of a route for the trail, a 10-mile segment that would achieve a long-held dream to connect Lincoln and Omaha via a hike and bike trail.
The vote was an abrupt about-face for the board, which had voted 3-2 in November to OK a memorandum of understanding with the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District to build the trail from the end of the Wabash Trail south of Elmwood to the Lied Bridge that spans the Platte River near South Bend.
Since November, two members of the County Board changed, and both voted against the route that had been OK'd by the previous board — 'Route D,' which roughly follows a little-traveled, north-south gravel road along 334th Street.
Complicating matters involving the construction of a connector trail across Cass County is that a lawsuit was filed recently against the County Board there.
Mark Meyer, a Cass County resident whose family has land on the proposed route, accused the Board of violating the Open Meetings and Interlocal Agreement Acts when they approved a route for the trail in November.
The lawsuit, filed March 4, by J.L. Spray and Raymond Daugherty of the Mattson Ricketts Law Firm in Lincoln, asked that the November approval of the route and the agreement to work with the NRD be nullified.
The request and a response from the county are pending.
Board member Daniel Stohlmann of Louisville, a new board member elected in November, said commissioners weren't give enough information about the precise route the trail would take — including which side of the road it would impact — and that commissioners needed that before giving a final OK.
'I think it's really important to evaluate all options,' Stohlmann said after the vote. 'This trail is a permanent thing. It's really important to get it right the first time.'
Tuesday's vote was reminiscent of two decades ago, when a similar trail proposal, following a different route, was shot down over landowner complaints that a trail would devalue their property, provide a hazard for farm equipment and put an eyesore in the ditch before their homes.
Representatives of bicycle and trail groups from Bellevue, Omaha and Lincoln disputed that during public comments at the meeting, saying that existing vehicle traffic poses more of a safety risk and that projections indicate a completed trail would generate $2.5 million in economic activity for the county.
Already, there's a weekly 'nacho ride' from Lincoln to Eagle, and a regular 'pie ride' to Elmwood that draws dozens of bikers.
When asked the status of the estimated $15.5 million trail project, Mike Sousek, general manager of the Lower Platte South NRD, responded 'I'll have to figure that out myself.'
'We will have to sit down with the county and reevaluate Route D and go from there,' Sousek said.
In rejecting the once-approved route — agreed to after months of public meetings and discussion — the Cass County Board set its April 22 meeting for the NRD to return with more precise plans for the route.
While a big win for local landowners who dispute the benefits of a recreational trail, it was a crushing defeat for bike enthusiasts, who see completion of the connector as a major step in the state and national development of a trail network.
The state, in 2022, allocated $8.3 million toward completion of the trail link.
Sousek said Tuesday that $400,000 had been spent on a consultant's study of possible routes, and to conduct several public meetings to gather input. A $1.9 million contract was recently signed with JEO Consulting to design and engineer the trail, a limestone path that would be built in existing right-of-way in ditches parallel to existing county roads.
November's agreement made clear that no private property would be used for the trail, and thus, the use of eminent domain was off limits. Route D was chosen in large part because it crossed the fewest residential driveways, nine, than the three other routes considered.
Sousek said the 'gap' in financing the trail — between the $8.3 million allocated and the final cost, which he said he hoped to get down to $10 million or $12 million — would be covered by private donations from trail enthusiasts or, if the NRD Board deemed appropriate, property tax revenue. Trail advocates have said private donations would not be difficult to obtain.
Cass County is not contributing financially to the project, and the NRD has agreed to cover all costs of operation and maintenance. But because county road ditches are being used, the county has a big say on the route.
Over and over at Tuesday's meeting, Sousek said that the NRD would work with landowners who don't want the trail crossing their driveways. Already, he said, he'd worked around the objections of one family by rerouting the trail to the other side of the road.
'I hear the complaints … I understand your concerns,' he told landowners attending the meeting, which overflowed the board meeting room. 'I'm going to do everything in my power to address them.'
'We don't come in and act like a bulldozer,' Sousek added. 'We have a history that shows that partnerships work.'
Cass County Attorney Chris Perrone told county board members that they had a say in the final design of the trail, and if the trail caused any damage to county roads — by washing out a road or gravel — the county could seek legal action for the NRD to pay for it.
Perrone also told the board that the county could be liable for the costs already spent on the trail if it eventually doesn't get built. He added that the county could also be sued for not proceeding with the trail project, noting that one lawsuit has already been filed to block the completion of the trail.
Stohlmann, who introduced the motion to rescind approval of the trail route, told the Examiner he wasn't against the trail in any location, but wanted to talk to the NRD about other options.
Alex DeGarmo, chairman of the Cass County Board and the lone 'no' vote to rescind the route decision, said after the meeting that a lot of the objections to the trail had been voiced, and heard, over the past few months.
'Hopefully, we'll find an amiable resolution,' DeGarmo said.
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