Filling in trail could cost Horse Cave

By GINA KINSLOW

HORSE CAVE — A portion of a walking trail at a park on Maple Avenue has been filled in with dirt and while that may not sound like a serious issue, it could be very costly for Horse Cave.

The city received a federal grant to develop the park and undoing work that has already been done could be costly in several ways. The city could be required to either remove the dirt at its own cost or build a new walking trail.

The city acquired a $75,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant about four years ago to develop the park. The city matched the grant by contributing $75,128.61 for a total project cost of $150,128.61.

“Plans included a one-third mile walking trail, a parking area, children play area, minimal lighting, a covered picnic area, horseshoe pit, checker tables, Frisbee golf, benches, trash receptacles, signage and landscaping,” said Ken Russell, chairman of the city’s former Main Street Committee in an e-mail. “Due to budget restrains, the trail was to be crushed stone and the area over the cave was to be crushed brick. The parking area was to be gravel. It was hoped that future funding would pave the parking area and concrete the non-cave area of the walking trail.

“After the election of 2006, the Main Street Program, as well as the supporting committee, was abolished and no further work was done on the park,” Russell said.

Land and Water Conservation Fund guidelines require the property to remain open to the public and maintained for recreational use.

Councilwoman JoAnne Smith contacted Jodie McDonald with the Kentucky Department for Local Government last week when she learned a portion of the walking trail had been filled in.

McDonald responded via e-mail and said “the trail will have to be fixed,” based on KDLG regulations.

The city has been reimbursed $58,993.66 for work that has been completed at the park. The remaining balance of the grant is $16,006.34, which Smith fears the city will now have to pay back.

Andrew Hartley, staff attorney for DLG, said “neither the city nor the mayor can simply ‘pay back’ the funds used to construct the discontinued part of the park.

“Once L&WCF; monies are involved, the area must be maintained in perpetuity as a public recreation area or the city must complete the conversion process to substitute another property as a public recreation area. A conversion is generally a two-year process and will require the city to purchase land with equal value. Alternatively, the city can maintain the area for another public outdoor recreation use consistent with the L&WCF; Act,” he said.

McDonald explained the conversion process to Martin in an e-mail. She also told Smith in another e-mail that re-creating the trail would be cheaper than the conversion.

Hartley said non-compliance will render the city ineligible for future L&WCF; grants.

“DLG is in the process of scheduling a monitoring and compliance visit to the city of Horse Cave to determine the status of the project and evaluate the alteration of part of the walking path. The site visit will take place as soon as practicable,” he said.

No one seems to know why a portion of the walking trail was filled in. Martin refused to comment on the issue Monday.

“It is such a shame that Mayor Martin has denied our citizens the opportunity to enjoy what could have been a wonderful city park. Not only did he not finish the work for the city, he completely ignored the Maple Avenue park. Now, with his latest unauthorized action of covering up the trail path, he has violated the terms of the grant, and will no longer be able to request an extension to finish the park,” Smith said in an e-mail. “In addition, the city also will have to repair his ill-advised action at its own expense and cannot collect $16,000 plus in grant matches. The city council has asked him to call Jodie McDonald at the Department for Local Government before beginning to do the work, but he chose to ignore the council and proceed on his own.”

City Attorney Pat Ross said Tuesday morning that he had not had any discussions with anyone regarding the issue.

A couple of weeks ago the council agreed to budget $50,000 for the 2009-10 fiscal year to finish the park.