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GREENFORD -- Despite an outcry from several residents this week, Green Township officials are assuring they have made no deals regarding a proposed bike trail expansion through the township and have no part in private property lawsuits with public entities.
A large group of residents attended this week's township trustees meeting under the impression it was a special meeting to discuss the Mill Creek MetroParks bike trail expansion through the township which includes suits against property owners to secure the land where the trail will be located.
Fiscal Officer Randy Chismar said that although many residents attended, only three spoke including property owner Diane Less, who urged the trustees not to make any deals with the MetroParks before the residents have settled their cases.
Chismar said there is no deal in place between the township and the MetroParks and that the township has no say in the private property suits.
Chismar said it is the understanding of township officials that about half a dozen property owners are being sued, but that the MetroParks has adjacent property owners on a list for when they need access to the bike trail property.
MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young said Thursday there are 13 property owners with 20 parcels of land who have been identified for permanent or temporary appropriation (eminent domain) or acquisition. As a public entity, the MetroParks has the authority for appropriation for projects that benefit the public as a whole, Young noted.
The MetroParks Bikeway is one section of the proposed 100-mile Great Ohio Lake to River Greenway, a developing corridor that will allow trail users to travel from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. The MetroParks trail runs along the old Niles and Lisbon Branch of the Erie Railroad Company railroad bed and currently ends at Western Reserve Road. The proposed expansion would run along the west side of Washingtonville Road and connect with the Greenway Bike Trail in Washingtonville in Columbiana County.
Young said the proposed expansion is the third phase of a project started more than a decade ago.
Concerning the township, the MetroParks has targeted one acre of property on Calla Road where the expansion will curve around the railbed, which is the only access drive for a home there. Chismar said township officials originally believed the MetroParks wanted a right of way, but received paperwork requesting to purchase the whole acre at approximately $1,000 less than the township paid for it more than 30 years ago. Trustees rejected that offer.
Chismar said the MetroParks then submitted a revised offer that included just the right of way, but wanted the township to donate it. Trustees also rejected that offer after receiving legal advice that indicated the offer was poorly written.
That was the last contact the trustees have had with the MetroParks, Chismar said.
Also at the meeting, trustees scheduled a scrap appliance collection May 11-25 at the recycling site behind the fire station in which resident can drop off items at any time.
khowell@salemnews.net