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LISBON -- Despite a blistering loss at the polls last month for the latest park levy attempt, the Columbiana County Park District recently announced some positive news -- the dedication of a new 1-mile trail section in Lisbon.
The event will take place May 17 at the trail head on state Route 154 for the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail Extension East. Construction of the trail extension started last year.
"It's part of a much bigger picture," park district board Chairperson Eileen Dray-Bardon said.
The new section, which also travels through the streets of Lisbon to connect with the trail off of state Route 164, extends the length of the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail to 14.8 miles and that much closer to the Ohio River. Dray-Bardon explained that eventually extending the trail south to the river remains an overriding goal, not just of the park district, but of other organizations, such as the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition and the Great Ohio Lake to River Greenway Trail.
For the dedication, she said folks who have had an impact on the project have been invited to attend, including Ohio Department of Transportation personnel, Columbiana County officials, Lisbon village officials and officials from the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center.
The majority of the more than $1.1 million project was funded by the federal Transportation Alternatives Fund program, with the park district getting some help from Columbiana County commissioners to cover the local share. The Ohio Department of Transportation oversaw the work.
The project is complete except for the installation of an informative kiosk and trail head sign which will both be done before the dedication with help from CCCTC. She also said the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce has offered help to keep the kiosk updated about events happening in Lisbon.
The hope is that people will park at the trail head on state Route 154 and travel through the village. Dray-Bardon said Lisbon Mayor Peter Wilson has been supportive and sees the economic advantages.
Some people also donated money for benches and some Boy Scouts worked on a pollinator garden.
"It's been a very cooperative venture," she said.
The Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail was last extended in 2011 when the leg from Leetonia to Washingtonville was built. A section of the trail between Leetonia and Franklin Square was repaved in 2019. There's a trail head also at the train station in Lisbon off of South Market Street.
In discussing the recent levy loss, Dray-Bardon said she looked at the precinct-by-precinct breakdown and "it gave me pause to see the fact that we had lost in so many precincts."
This was the first time the levy was countywide, but the addition of the village of Rogers and Middleton, Knox and Liverpool townships, which recently became part of the park district, did not help.
Knox Township voters overwhelmingly said no to the tax levy, with 70 percent of the voters saying no in the Northeast and South precincts and nearly 68 percent in the Northwest precinct. In the Middleton Township Rogers precinct, nearly 67 percent of voters said no, with Middleton Township Negley having nearly 66 percent of voters say no.
In Liverpool Township, the precincts split. Liverpool Township East had 57 percent of voters say yes to the levy, while 61 percent of voters in the Liverpool Township West precinct said no.
In Salem, the yes voters outnumbered the no voters in just two of the nine precincts, while in East Liverpool, four of the six precincts had a majority supporting the park levy. In Columbiana, two of the five precincts had a majority support the levy.
In St. Clair Township, a majority of voters supported the levy in three of the five precincts.
In Leetonia, where the trail has a large presence, the majority of voters supported the levy, but just barely. In Lisbon, the majority of voters in the north precinct said yes, but in the south precinct it was no, although by a very slim margin.In all other communities and townships, the loss was resounding.
The .35-mill, five-year park levy would have generated $890,000 per year if voters had approved. The cost for the owner of a home valued at $100,000 would have been $12.25 per year, or $1.03 per month, according to the county auditor's office. The park district sustains operations on the $15,000 received annually from the Local Government Fund. Money from oil and gas leases is dwindling down to nothing. The district also uses grant funding and donations.
Dray-Bardon said the district will use money available from the metro parks fund from ODOT through the state budget to expand the Franklin Square parking lot beginning next week. The money can only be used for parking lots or driveways, not for personnel or the trail itself or anything else.
The district operates Scenic Vista Park which covers 250-plus acres in Center Township and includes an 18-hole disc golf course, hiking trails and pavilion, Hellbender Bluff Park covering 800 acres in Madison Township, 15 miles of Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail stretching from Lisbon to Washingtonville, and the historical Ohio Supreme Court meeting site marker on state Route 7 in Fairfield Township.
Dray-Bardon said they heard a lot of comments about the size of the proposed funding increase for the park, plus they had not placed the levy on a primary ballot before and that's a different mix of voters. Another reason could have been the recent increase to property values which raised taxes for residents. Dray-Bardon said they didn't know what to expect from the new communities voting on the park levy for the first time.
So where do we go from here? Dray-Bardon asked. No decision has been made. There was some discussion about whether to try again in November, or reduce the millage amount, but that was tabled until the next meeting on May 14.
She said the goal is to have a more robust park system in Columbiana County, but the question is, do the people want it? Are voters sending a message? The margin of defeat this time was worse than the previous effort.
The staff includes one part-time administrative assistant and one part-time maintenance person who works from March 1 to Nov. 30. They also try to get seasonal labor to help out. They also have help from Friends of the Park.
Board members are unpaid volunteers. Besides Dray-Bardon of Rogers, the board includes vice chair Tom Butch of Salem, attorney Tim Brookes of East Liverpool, Dave Hughes of Salem and Dottie Betz of Wellsville.
Dray-Bardon said this is a critical time for the future of the park district.
"I think we have a board that cares a lot about the park district," she said.
To learn more about the park district and all it offers, visit the website at www.columbianacountyparkdistrict.org or the district's social media page for the list of activities for this year.
mgreier@mojonews.com