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MOUNT VERNON — Questions abounded from residents, runners and cyclists on the Heart of Ohio Trail when a contractor harvested walnut trees along the bike path in March.
They questioned why the trees were harvested and raised concerns about the leftover trunks and limbs. They also alleged the contractor cut down trees on private property. A cyclist was concerned about trail damage.
One property owner alleged the contractor cut down his cherry tree. A runner expressed dismay that a tree in the Mount Liberty parking area was harvested, even though it was healthy and provided shade for the playground.
At Wednesday’s Knox County Park District board meeting, Bishop Road residents John and Beth Thatcher raised the same questions.
The why
Park director David Heithaus contracted with M-M Precut on Jan. 28 to remove all of the dead trees along the 35 miles of the Heart of Ohio, Kokosing Gap, and Mohican Valley trails as part of a hazardous tree removal project.
In return for cutting down and removing the dead trees, M-M Precut could harvest the walnut trees within the trails’ right of way.
M-M had to cut the trees before April 1 because of federal Indiana Bat endangered species protection rules. The rules prohibit tree cutting during active bat season, April 1 to Sept. 30.
Neither Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville nor the Knox County commissioners saw the contract before it was signed.
The issues
Adjacent property owner and Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher said the contract is illegal and the park board should rescind it.
Board bylaws state that board members must approve contracts. They also state the board pays contracts through funds approved and appropriated from the budget.
Neither of those occurred.
“The black walnut trees that have been harvested are the property of the county commissioners, and that’s what was used for payment,” Thatcher said.
Additionally, boards must competitively bid contracts above $79,500. However, the contract value is unknown because the board did not appraise the trees removed, nor did it get a cost estimate to remove hazardous trees.
Thatcher believes the contract opens the door for a lawsuit against the park board on two fronts:
•Other tree companies could file suit because the board did not bid the contract.
•M-M Precut could file suit if the board rescinds the contract.
The second course, he said, presents additional legal issues because there is no way to tell how much M-M would lose by not harvesting the remaining walnut trees since the board did not get a tree appraisal.
Thatcher said it is subjective whether the trail looks better or is safer because of M-M Precut’s work. He said that in his area at least, many dead trees remain, and M-M did not remove or chip the branches and treetops it cut down to reach the walnut trees.
He questioned whether M-M Precut had insurance to cover trail damage or worker injury and noted the board should notify adjacent property owners when work is being done that will affect them.
“There were logging trucks going up and down the trail. They were leaving trash on people’s property; we still have the orange can of spray paint from our woods,” he said.
The aftermath
McConville confirmed that park officials do not have an estimate of the number of walnut trees the contractor harvested, nor their value.
“Those walnut trees can in and of themselves be nuisance trees because they drop walnuts down on the bike path, which can lead to bicycle accidents and that kind of stuff,” he said on Thursday.
“People turn their ankles, they wipe out on their bikes, that kind of thing. I think it needs to be understood that there’s some overlap here.”
Regarding how far back from the trail the right of way goes, McConville said the right of way on the Heart of Ohio Trail is 60 feet.
“So it should be approximately 30 feet to each side of the center line of the old railway,” he said.
“That is a fairly wide easement as it goes through there.”
The contractor removed some of the trees. Others, along with tree tops and brush, remain. McConville said park officials will investigate what remains on the ground.
Limbs and logs the contractor cut and piled up are available for the public to take. Those interested are to contact the park district.
McConville declined to say whether the park board will rescind M-M Precut’s contract.
“We’re going to thoroughly review the situation, and we are ensuring that all of these contracts hit a desk at the prosecutor’s office before they get signed,” he said. “Because that is part of the legal review process for county contracts.”
