By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Opponents of the Wabash River Trail asked Wabash County Commissioners to temporarily stop work on the trail.
Glenn and Sheila Butcher, owners of Bass and Bucks, addressed questions and concerns with the three-member panel on Monday morning, March 6, that were raised by landowners at two separate meetings in February and again on Thursday, March 2.
More than 35 people, the majority of whom were against the project, filled the Commissioners chamber and spilled out into the hallway. They listened as the Butchers and others discussed their concerns.
“I would like the commissioners to consider a stop order on this trail to go out into the county until they have the proper permits, studies and detailed plans backed in writing at your guys’ approval so it is safe for our county,” Butcher told commissioners.
Mrs. Butcher added they believe the work is in violation of a county ordinance and that, under the ordinance, commissioners are able to issue the order.
Butcher also noted that he has approached the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that work is being done in flood plains, and that the two groups are investigating the matter.
“It’s just like any government office,” he said. “They have to look into things before they speak. They are aware of it. Duke Energy in Indianapolis is aware of it.”
Mrs. Butcher said the couple wanted to make sure that commissioners were aware of the various investigations “so that when this comes down, you guys aren’t unaware of what’s happening in your county and in your district.”
County Attorney Steve Downs explained the process in which commissioners could consider a stop-work order.
“The commissioner could consider a stop-work order when they get a written report from the flood plan administrator, which is the plan commissioner,” he said. “They don’t have any power under the ordinance to consider a stop-work order at this point, and would not, until they have a written report from (Mike) Howard that the trail is being constructed in violation of the ordinance.
“If and when they get that, then the would consider that.”
Much as it was at the Thursday night meeting at Bass and Bucks, the concerns dealt with such things as:
• Landowners’ rights
• Safety along the proposed 33-mile trail
• The possible use of eminent domain to acquire land
• The impact of a trail to property values and property taxes
• The impact on wildlife and the environment
• If the proper permits were received for the work done so far in Lagro
Commissioner Barry Eppley said the list of concerns were indeed valid, and wondered what the reaction of trail committee was when the list was presented to them.
Butcher said he has not had a formal meeting with trail committee members, but had a brief conversation with two representatives following a recent Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.
“We wanted to make sure we had all of our questions from all of our fellow neighbors put together,” he said. “If they want to sit down, we’re willing to sit down with them and make everyone happy with an alternative route that’s a safe route and not run our eagles off and destroy our beautiful wildlife.”
Following the Butchers’ presentation, several audience members spoke on the matter. Of those speaking, only one, Lagro resident Ted Christman, spoke in favor of the project.
Christman has agreed to let the section of the trail from Lagro to Wabash cut through his property. He said he has been receiving criticism on social media for his decision, which he said was unfair since the use of his land was solely his concern.
He also addressed a concern Butcher broached about if compensation for landowners will be fair for all involved.
“As far as compensation, I feel that’s between me and the committee,” Christman said. “It’s nobody else’s business what we discussed. Yes, it’s up to the committee to be fair with everybody, I’ll grant you that. But I’m getting tired of being bashed on Facebook and on the radio by a neighbor.
“I respect her decision on what they do with her property; she can respect mine.”
The neighbor in question, Lena Gray, later told Christman that she wasn’t the one criticizing him on social media and if he received that impression, she was sorry. She said the families have been good neighbors for more than 60 years, and hoped to continue being such.
She said she just wishes that the trail – which comes close to her driveway and front yard – was further away from her property.
Mike Shoemaker, a resident of Hill Street in Wabash County, was against the trail.
“We don’t have curbs or sidewalks, but you’re going to put in a bike trail in our neighborhood and bring in the unwanted people that don’t go down in that area, but not you’re going to bring them there,” he said. “Are we going to be safe from the crime, the littering, the drugs? We don’t need it. You’ve never been concerned about us down there, and now you’re going to bring a bike trail through there and make us liable for this bullcrap.
“It’s unnecessary. This whole thing is unnecessary.”
He suggested improving existing parks instead of creating the trail.
“It’s useless,” he said. “Twenty years from now no one is even going to use it.”
An emotional Lori Siders told commissioners that she purchased her land along the river so she and her grandchildren could have a place to play. She also said that in light of the Delphi tragedy, she is concerned for the safety of her daughter.
“You want anybody to come on my ground,” she said. “This is where I want to play with my grandkids. You want a trail on your ground, then you go put it on your ground. Leave mine alone.”
She also said property values will drop once the trail goes through “because nobody’s going to want to buy it once the trail goes through here.”
River Trail treasurer Justin Gillespie was the lone trail representative at the meeting.
While he didn’t speak publicly, he told The Paper of Wabash County that several good points were brought up during the discussion. He also reiterated that, in spite of Lagro Clerk-Treasurer Kristi Bone saying there was a plan for the trail, there isn’t a formal plan in place.
“Obviously there’s a plan for the city limits of Lagro,” he said. “We approached the Lagro Town Board with that.
“As far as between Lagro and Wabash, right now, we haven’t started construction in the county areas, and that’s why things are flagged out, so we can talk to property owners and come up with an official plan.”
As for the western portion of the county, he said, “Again, we are doing this in phases and we really don’t have a good plan for the west side of the county. We haven’t focused yet in that area.
“There are several ways we would like to go, or thought we could go. But, again, it’s all involvement with ownership and what works best for their property and if they’ll allow us to go on their property.”
As for the eminent domain, he again stated that the committee has no interest in obtaining property through that process. While it is not able to do so now, it could possibly use it if it receives funding from the Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority.
He also said that committee members are open to meeting with those who have concerns about the trail.
During Thursday’s meeting, about 75 people listened as the Butchers spoke about concerns. They also heard from State Rep. Bill Friend, who represents Miami County in the Indiana Legislature, and Wabash County Sheriff Bob Land.
Friend said that since this was a private organization that eminent domain could not be used. However, he later told The Paper that it was a gray area as to whether it could be used if the project receives funding from the RDA.
He also told The Paper he questioned why the trail committee doesn’t have a plan developed to present to the public.
“It sounded to me … that public communication has been lacking,” Friend said. “That’s not the way you accomplish a public project like this, where you want to go for 30-some miles. You’ve got to have the buy-in of the public and the adjacent landowners if you want to make this work.
“You’re just going to run into all types of roadblocks, and that’s where they are right now.”
Land noted that he has not seen specific plans, but is concerned that the route from Lagro to Wabash has no access for emergency vehicles.
He said he was told trail officials planned to walk the route to find three sites at which the trail could be accessed.
I have yet to see a balanced story presented with facts regarding the trail along the Wabash River. It doesn’t take much research to produce results. Bottom line is that trails are good for communities and for landowners along the corridor. But when you look to recent newspaper coverage of the trail, coverage isn’t pro, it’s con. As in con job. There’s an acronym for such behavior. CAVE men. Citizens Against Virtually Everything.
The first thing that the Butchers brought up was safety, but trails are one of the safest places you can be. It is a good thing that they approached the Army Corps of Engineers, though they and the DNR don’t have any jurisdiction on the river or the floodplain. I doubt they’re investigating anything, because trails are one of the most appropriate uses of a floodplain. Housing is one of the least appropriate uses of floodplains, since FEMA loses billions of dollars every year issuing flood insurance policies that pay dwellers to rebuild only to be flooded again in a few years. In some places, you aren’t allowed to rebuild in a floodplain if you take flood insurance. In short, no floodplain manager would deny trail building because that is exactly the type of use they encourage.
Landowners have every right to protest intrusion onto property that they own, but protesting out of concern for safety flies in the face of the extensive research that has been done on trail corridors over the past two decades.
The next concern raised in the recent story was over the impact on property values and property taxes, which only shows the desperation of those raising red flags. Which is it? Are your property taxes going to go down, or up?
They’re going to go up, because multi-use trails increase adjacent property values. So yes, your property taxes may go up, but only because the value of your property increased because of the trail. Trails have a negligible impact on wildlife and on the environment, for reasons like public safety. Trails increase the safety of the area because the people who use trails advocate for and practice healthy lifestyles, and their presence on the trail and their eyes on the trail prevent the corridor from being used for baser purposes. Druggies don’t use the trails. They’re not into exercise, if you know what I mean.
It doesn’t surprise me that the Butchers haven’t had any formal meetings with the trail committee members, because they know that they speak for so hundreds of people who want this trail to go forward because it will be of great benefit for Wabash. It will attract companies offering good jobs, because companies are looking for communities with amenities such as multi-use, non-motorized trails. I also found it humorous that Butcher thought that the trail would run off the eagles and ‘destroy our beautiful wildlife’ since he owns a business catering to clients who destroy our beautiful wildlife. I’m all for hunting, but he’s evidently not.
Just because Ted Christman was the only one at the meeting in favor of the trail doesn’t mean that those in favor of the trail are in the minority. In fact, they are in the clear majority.
Another thing that puzzles me is why people think that the trail is going to dump druggies and vagrants into their back yards, yet they have a fifteen-foot-wide ribbon of asphalt leading right up to their driveways and aren’t in the least concerned about that. Heck, those ribbons lead to a vast network of other ribbons, crisscrossing the landscape at the rate of one every half mile across the entire country. Mass murderers from anywhere in the world could drive right up to their houses and poop in their yard, this network is so extensive. But they’re concerned that a narrower asphalt ribbon, carrying cyclists, joggers, rollerbladers, and mommies pushing strollers are going to have parties in their yards. Do these people wish that the road leading to their driveway was further away from their houses, too? Logic would suggest it.
While everyone’s emotions are heightened over the tragedy in Delphi, statistically, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning six times in one day than to be abducted and killed in the U.S. It is statistically insignificant as a cause of death.
Putting recreational trails along the Wabash River is a proper use of the land. If the project is opposed by certain landowners who don’t want to grant easements, that is fine. The plan will adjust to reflect that reality. But citing multiple concerns that have been proven to be non-concerns as the number of multi-use, non-motorized trails have increased across the U.S. over the past 20 years doesn’t do anyone any good.