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City gets $75K for $90K trail
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 16, 2014


The state awarded $75,000 last week for a $90,000, 500-foot trail from West Branch Village to the Hoover Nature Trail, making it easier for 20 percent of the city to walk to schools, downtown and other western sections of the community.


City Council member Colton Miller, property manager of West Branch Village, said “I think it’s awesome.”

“It’s a great thing,” he said. “There’s no safe route for kids or adults to come out or go into town.”

City Administrator Matt Muckler said he is “very pleased” to get the grant after submitting it in 2013 and being 13th in line when only enough money existed for 12 projects.

The project includes a 400-foot-long, 10-foot-wide concrete trail, a 100-foot-long bridge over the creek and floodplain and 200 feet of stream bank stabilization to control erosion. The trail will start at the south end of the mobile home park’s storm shelter, curve behind the building toward the north, then cross the creek and curve south to connect with the Hoover Nature Trial.

The city will purchase materials for the project to cover the remaining $15,000 not included in the grant, Muckler said, and while engineers will design the trail and bridge, the bridge will be built by volunteers and the trail will be built by a contractor.

“This REAP grant will allow the city to construct an important segment of the Trails Plan,” read a city and Resource Enhancement And Protection press release, referring to the West Branch Community Trails Plan, developed in 2011.

Since most children ride buses to school, Miller predicts adults will use the trail more than children.

“And the kids have figured out shortcuts,” he said. “Adults don’t feel like jumping a creek. I know I’ll use it more.”

Muckler noted that the project includes “green aspects” — native plantings around the creek and materials to reduce erosion.

“In addition to promoting the health and well-being of residents who will have access to the Hoover Nature Trail, this well-placed trail becomes a new option for commuting to school and work,” read the press release.

The city administrator noted that the Boy Scouts use the storm shelter, so that is an example of how people other than West Branch Village residents will use the trail.

“This is a great addition to the trail system,” Muckler said.

Miller noted that West Branch Village, which is owned by Hames Communities, tried to build a path themselves. Power poles, land, concrete blocks, volunteer labor and more were pledged to the project.

“But we ran into a bunch of red tape from the (Department of Natural Resources and Federal Emergency Management Agency),” he said. “But when all is said and done, this is a great thing.”

The city trails plan was produced by a committee made up of representatives from West Branch Parks & Recreation, elected officials, residents, Main Street West Branch, the National Park Service and River Trails and Conservation Assistant Mary Hanson of the National Park Service. Partners for the West Branch Trails Project include the National Park Service, Main Street West Branch, West Branch Village Mobile Home Community, West Branch Community School District, Hames Communities, West Branch Parks & Recreation Commission and the Cedar County Conservation Board.

Muckler said that without the trails plan, the city could not have convinced the state to fund this project.

“A lot of people were involved in that planning,” he said. “And that is starting to pay off.”

There is a way to reach West Branch Village from Hoover Nature Trail now, but it is a short dirt path connected to a grassy field that runs along the creek. It is not shoveled or otherwise cleared of ice or snow.