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Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rural county declines to vote on path for long-sought hike-bike trail
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways On the steps of the Cass County Courthouse, a debate broke out Tuesday after the county board failed to give final approval to a route for a proposed hike-bike trail across the eastern Nebraska county. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner) PLATTSMOUTH, Nebraska — It's back to the drawing board for a long-sought recreation trail across Cass County that would connect bike-hike trails from Lincoln and Omaha. On Tuesday, the Cass County Board failed to vote on a preferred route for the trail, reversing course from last fall when the five-member board — with a slightly different makeup — voted 3-2 to approve an interlocal agreement with trail developers. That agreement included affirmation of a 10-mile route recommended after a year's worth of public meetings, a route that paralleled mostly sparsely traveled gravel roads between the end of the Mo-Pac Trail at Wabash and the end of a trail just south of the Platte River near South Bend. Uncertain future It left uncertain what route, if any, the county board might approve, and whether $8.3 million in state funds allocated by the Legislature to help build it would be expended by a deadline at the end of 2028. Supporters and opponents of a recreation trail proposed to link other trails from Omaha and Lincoln again filled the Cass County Board meeting room on Tuesday. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner) Trail supporters, who have worked two decades to provide a connector trail across the rural county, expressed bitter disappointment after leaving the nearly one-hour long meeting, with one terming what had happened 'a cluster.' 'I'm not an attorney, but I don't know how the county can back out (of its previous agreement) without some legal consequences,' said Julie Harris, executive director of one pro-trail group, Bike-Walk Nebraska. But one trail opponent, who owns land along the preferred route selected in November, said a delay was appropriate. 'I think they should prove that they have the funding before they start construction,' said Judy Stroy of Murdock. She referred to a gap in financing the preferred route for the trail, referred to as 'Route D.' It has been estimated to cost about $15 million, about $7 million less than what the state has contributed. Donor support During the meeting, Mike Sousek of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, which is developing the trail, said he had obtained a signed agreement with a Mo-Pac Trail Alliance supporting the Cass County connector that those groups would cover the gap in funding with private donations. There are no plans, Sousek told commissioners, to utilize property tax dollars to build the trail. He added that he expected the final cost of Route D would come in at less than $15 million, perhaps in the $10-12 million range. Sousek said that recent discussions had reduced the number of driveways that the trail would cross from nine to three. He said that Route D — which roughly follows 334th Street, a north-south, gravel road — had been picked because it features the fewest residences and crosses the fewest driveways. But despite those assurances, commissioners failed to approve or reaffirm a route for the trail Tuesday — a vote that had been postponed from April so that commissioners, including two new members who joined the board after the November election, could obtain more information about the exact route. A motion to approve Route D failed due to the lack of a second, as did a motion to postpone the vote again until May 20. Commissioners on Tuesday made no other motions for alternative routes. Three other paths had been studied by a consultant. Lack of action Cass County Attorney Chris Perrone said that despite the lack of action on Tuesday, the interlocal agreement between the county and NRD remains in effect, and that commissioners, at a future meeting, could move to approve a pathway for it. The county is not contributing financially to the project, but because the trail would utilize county right of way — ditches along county roads — it must approve a route. '(The board) is not saying 'no' to the trail … you're just saying you're not ready to pick a route,' Perrone said to a packed meeting room of trail friends and foes. Sousek, of the NRD, told commissioners after the vote that he needed some guidance about what the problems were with Route D, the route recommended by a consultant and seemingly backed by the board in November. 'What is the problem with Route D?' he asked. 'I'd like a direction?' Sousek noted that the NRD had spent 'a considerable amount of money and time' considering four routes for the trail over the past year. Commissioner concerns Eventually, Commissioner Terry Dasher, who was elected in November, said he had visited the preferred route with a tape measure and was concerned that the 8-foot-wide limestone trail would not 'fit' in the roadside ditches. Commissioner Duane Murdoch, who voted 'no' on the interlocal agreement in November, also voiced concerns about who would be liable if a bicyclist had an accident on the trail due to ruts from heavy equipment crossing it or from flying corn stalks from nearby harvesting equipment. Cass County Board member Dan Stohlmann, also elected in November, spoke against Route D as well. The discussion then turned to why the most westward pathway, Route A, wasn't selected. That route, which generally follows Nebraska Highway 1 from Elmwood to Murdock and then north to South Bend. Commissioners said it would give more economic opportunity to Murdock because it would not bypass the town. There also appeared to be a wider right of way on which to build a trail, said critics of Route D. Costliest route Route A was projected to be the most expensive, at $24 million, and Sousek said it was rejected due to high cost, the prospect that some property tax dollars might be necessary to complete it and higher traffic counts. There also was an issue of whether the State of Nebraska would allow the use of its right of way, he said. Eventually, Commissioner Alex DeGarmo, the chair of the board and the only clear supporter of Route D, was able to convince fellow commissioners to form a subcommittee to try and work out an acceptable route. Murdoch, a trail skeptic, also was appointed to the subcommittee. Harris, of Bike-Walk Nebraska, said that in her mind, many of the issues raised by critics of the trail had already been asked and answered, and that commissioners, over the past month, had plenty of opportunities to ask additional questions and had not. 'I'm very frustrated,' she said. 'I just think we need to regroup and talk about a path forward.' 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Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fate of trail project uncertain after about-face by Cass County Board
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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
