MOUNT VERNON — Licking County officials have taken the next step to fill in a missing piece of the Ohio to Erie Trail.
Lori Totman, director of the Knox County Park District, said that the Licking County Planning Commission has successfully applied for a grant to buy a 1.1-mile parcel that will connect two sections of trail: the Heart of Ohio Trail and the Meredith State Road Trail.
Knox County’s Heart of Ohio Trail ends at Huffman Road south of Centerburg. The Meredith State Road Trail is a 1.6-mile section in Delaware County running from Meredith State Road, just north of Condit, to North County Line Road. The Meredith State Road Trail has no public access point on either end; users must walk or cycle to the trail.
“They have until the end of December 2018 to purchase the parcel,” Totman told the Knox County Commissioners on Tuesday. “They did make provision for public access with 10 parking spaces. Our hope is they will be able to reclaim the railroad right-of-way and that we will be able to connect the Heart of Ohio Trail with Preservation Parks of Delaware County.”
Totman said that once the weather breaks, she wants to recruit volunteers and start clearing brush and stumps from the 1.1-mile section.
The park district has set aside $12,000 in 2018 to begin what Totman called “major tree removal” on the Heart of Ohio Trail. She said that some of the trees probably should have been removed before the trail was paved but were not due to the quick turnaround between receiving grant money and completion requirements. Tree removal will begin on the section from Huffman Road to North Clayton Street in Centerburg. She anticipates it will be a multi-year project.
The district continues to work on acquiring easements along the HOOT. “There are probably five that we need to identify and make sure we have something in place so that we can cross back and forth,” she said.
A “re-do” of the Mohican Trail from the Bridge of Dreams to the Holmes County line is also in the budget. Totman said the park district is trying to get some grant money to help fund the work.
Also related to trail work, Totman said the park district will be buying a large blower that can be used on all three sections of Knox County trail. “It’s so heavy duty that we will be able to take walnuts off the trail,” she said.
In October, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Totman said she is working with the Brown Family Environmental Center and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to coordinate activities celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the Kokosing River being designated a scenic river as well as the first water trail in Ohio in 2005.
Also on Tuesday, the commissioners signed a Community Development Block Grant agreement for work on 15 culverts and bridges in Pike Township. The total project cost is $456,426. The grant is for $241,300; the remaining $215,126 will be in the form of in-kind services provided by the county engineer’s department.
