Flathead County commissioners are considering a proposal to fund a long-term maintenance plan for bike and pedestrian paths throughout the county at a cost of about $29,000 annually.
As the number of county trails has continued to grow, a dilemma has come to forefront: Who is responsible for maintaining the trails and how will it be paid for?
“We’ve been talking about this for 12 years,” Jed Fisher, director of Flathead County Parks and Recreation, said, “and it just needs to be addressed. We’ve done a good job of developing trails, but if we let them slip into disrepair the investment will be gone.”
Most paved pathways in the county were built with funds from the Community Transportation Enhancement Program, federal highway dollars earmarked for non-motorized transportation. The grants require local maintenance of completed projects.
But while the county has administered the allocation of CTEP funds, officials have never allocated funds specifically for trail maintenance.
“After the trail is built it essentially becomes an orphan, because no county department wants to take on an unfunded responsibility,” Jim Watson, of the county PATHS committee, told the commission.
The problem came to a head this past winter when a new pedestrian and bike path on East Evergreen Drive became impassable because of snow.
Evergreen Community Partners, a nonprofit group, had raised money to match a federal grant for the path in an effort to provide a safe route for schoolchildren walking and biking to Evergreen Elementary. But with an unusually heavy snowfall, berms built up and the path lost its effectiveness.
The county road department, already understaffed and on a tight budget, didn’t have time or money to keep the snow cleared from the mile-long trail. The Evergreen School District also didn’t have the resources to commit to regular maintenance.
The Evergreen path, like many others, is on county right of way, meaning the responsibility for maintenance ultimately lies with the local government.
Faced with citizens’ complaints, the commission asked Fisher, Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty and county Planning and Zoning Director Jeff Harris to develop a maintenance plan.
“Ultimately, what I’m trying to prevent for you is that room full of people concerned with safety,” Fisher told the commission. “(Evergreen) wouldn’t have been an issue if we had a maintenance plan in place.”
If the resolution Fisher presented last week is approved, his department will become the parent department for trails, with support from the roads department and planning office.
In order to take on the work, Fisher told commissioners the parks department would need an additional part-time employee and one piece of equipment – a $65,000 Kubota or Bobcat. Fisher estimated annual oversight and maintenance costs, including the new employee’s salary, would run about $21,600.
The roads department would chip in heavy equipment as needed, and the planning and zoning department would continue planning and development of new trails.
Fisher also warned that the county should plan for eventual resurfacing costs. The average life cycle of a trail is about 12 years. All of Flathead County’s trails are newer than eight years; 3.5 miles will be due for resurfacing in 2013 and another 11 miles will need resurfacing in 2018.
The county’s commitment to maintenance funds, Fisher said, could also act as an incentive for private groups to contribute, or provide the matching funds necessary for in-kind grants.
The plan covers less than half of the county’s trails – 14.5 miles out of approximately 35 miles. “First and foremost, we’re really trying to deal with the ones near schools and then expand later,” Fisher said.
Commissioner Dale Lauman said he thought the plan represented an efficient collaboration between county departments. “I think that’s what we encourage as a government entity – getting best bang for the dollar for the taxpayer,” he said.
Commissioner Joe Brenneman challenged the need for the extra equipment, arguing that any of the maintenance could be done with machinery the county already owns.
The commission asked Fisher to explore private contracting offers further and volunteer efforts like adopting a trail. The commission will revisit the plan in a month to six weeks.