Pennsy Trails seeks to buy more land, keep expanding

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GREENFIELD — Usage of the Pennsy Trail system has increased, and members of the organization’s board are hoping to keep growing with more construction and land purchases on the way.

In a recent survey, volunteers with the Pennsy Trails organization spent 385 minutes monitoring the trail and talking with people who used it. During that time, Pennsy Trails board president Mary Ann Wietbrock said, they counted 318 people using the trail, including bicyclists, walkers and runners.

“This rate doubled from two years ago,” Wietbrock said. “It’s a great place for outdoor fitness.”

Another survey conducted this summer measured who is visiting the trails by looking at the license plates of cars parked at Pennsy trailheads.

“There is a significant amount of visitors from outside of Hancock County, so people are coming to trails,” Wietbrock said.

Wietbrock said design is complete for the planned section of the trail from County Road 500W to 600W. The property for the work has been purchased by Hancock County. A Next Level Trails Grant is funding the design and construction, but as part of that grant agreement, the county agreed to do the actual work. Construction is set to start later this fall.

That section of trail will connect to the recently completed stretch of trail between County Roads 400W and 500W, which was funded by a federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant.

The next phase will be working on the portion of the trail running east from 400W to 300W, with the intention of eventually linking it to the current Greenfield trail terminus at 150W. This new section of trail would cover 1.1 miles.

The county has been awarded a grant by the Department of Natural Resources to buy more property for trails and will receive $78,000 from the state for that purpose. However, Wietbrock said, the trails organization will need additional money to purchase the full parcel. The cost estimate for the parcel is over $230,000.

Wietbrock said the purchase would likely be funded by the organization’s own money along with funds from the county, the DNR and the Greenways Foundation.

At its most recent meeting, the Hancock County Tourism Commission turned down a request from Wietbrock to put $50,000 toward a land purchase near the 400W trailhead that would help expand uses of the trail system.

The land purchase would allow for the expansion of the parking area and allow for the trailhead to be the site of larger events. Wietbrock said the organization hasn’t put an offer on the property yet because it wants to raise the necessary funds first.

Tourism commission members said they only had $57,000 left in their funds to provide grants for the rest of the year.

Treasurer Bob Mattsey said the extension of the trail was a good project, but it didn’t fall under the tourism commission’s mandate to invest in promoting tourism. The organization’s grants typically fund events or advertising.

“I try very hard to figure out how to tie a grant to tourism,” Mattsey said, but he didn’t think the land purchase could fall under that umbrella.

Wietbrock said the trail does promote tourism and connects Hancock County to the state as a whole. She pointed to the trail system’s connection to the National Road Heritage Trail, as well as bicyclists from surrounding counties who visit the Pennsy Trail for events.

The tourism commission considered a motion to invest a smaller amount in the trail project, but it ultimately wasn’t successful.