The Prairie Trails Club says it’s ready to make improvements to the North Judson Erie Trail, but it might be easier to do if Starke County were formally involved. The trail is owned by the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, but Starke County’s five-year park plan suggests that the county lease it and operate it as a park facility.
Discussions began last year, but so far, no agreement has been reached, according to County Attorney Marty Lucas. “I can’t say there’s been any formal action, but there have been discussions continuing on that,” he said during Tuesday’s Starke County Park Board meeting. “I agree it’s a win-win-win, still. I think these devilish details keep getting in the way.”
Prairie Trails Club Treasurer Kathy Lucas brought the issue to the park board Tuesday. She said the club has gotten some donations, and several people are interested in volunteering. But she thinks it would be easier to get grant money for the Erie Trail if the county government had a role. It would also be cheaper for the county to insure and maintain the trail than it is for the museum.
County Attorney Marty Lucas said that adding the trail into the county’s road inventory would bring big benefits. “I don’t think that a road that doesn’t allow motor vehicles is necessarily prohibited as being part of the county road system, but if it could be done, then maintenance would become so much cheaper,” he explained. “We would get this insurance benefit, we would get the maintenance benefit, and we would get the benefit of volunteerism being more effectively done. People would feel confident. Everything would be better, and it would be more easily promoted, too.”
Board members said that one of the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum’s concerns with the lease had to do with the horse trail. Additionally, Kathy Lucas felt that the museum wanted to make sure its right-of-way was preserved, so it could extend its railroad tracks to the east. She suggested that any agreement include language promising not to build any structures on the right-of-way.
Meanwhile, Park Board President Roger Chaffins agreed to discuss the matter with Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum President Cory Bennett.
