SPRINGTOWN -- Talking through the issues and reaching a consensus on a walking trail in Springtown will be necessary but not necessarily easy with the town divided on the issue and some wishing to move ahead and seek grant funding to build a paved trail for walking and cycling and others objecting and saying they live in Springtown because they like it the way it is and don't want people walking or cycling past their properties.
Information on building a recreational trail in the town was addressed at an open hearing on Thursday, with representatives from the National Park Service and the Northwest Arkansas Council explaining the process for building such a trail and the benefits of having the trail for the town.
Guy Headland, of the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, with local headquarters in Fayetteville, said it was a good thing for the town's people to discuss all the concerns and pros and cons of building a walking trail and come to an agreement everybody can accept so that the town can stand together and move forward with the project. He said the assistance program would only be able to help if the community is united behind the plan.
Headland, using a PowerPoint presentation, said the town needs to set priorities and "craft a vision" which the town's people support and then develop a sustaining organization which will move the plan forward and keep up the trail when it is built. Then, with "commitment from the community," the town can apply for assistance online, he said.
Misty Murphy, regional trails coordinator for the Northwest Arkansas Council, spoke of the benefits to the community of having such a trail, chief among them being the health benefits for residents and people from the area using the trail. She said, with trails being developed to connect communities and features in Northwest Arkansas, having a trail in Springtown near Flint Creek would make it more likely that other trails would connect through Springtown.
Delia Haak, executive director of the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, who lives midway between Gentry and Springtown, said she likes to walk a mile per day and would come to Springtown for the benefits of walking on a paved trail away from highway traffic. She also said trails with riparian zones along creeks and rivers serve to filter runoff waters entering the watershed system.
Murphy answered concerns about possible crime and abuse of the creek related to the trail by saying that more eyes on the area usually works to reduce crime and destruction of natural areas and has helped significantly in other places where trails have been built.
Karee Barrett, a Springtown resident who lives at the headwaters of the Flint Creek, said she enjoys trails and used Bentonville's trail system when she lived there but was attacked on the trail. She voiced concerns about possible crime on the proposed Springtown trail and asked how the town could keep such attacks from happening there. Barrett said her insurance agent said liability insurance premiums could rise for those with the trail adjacent to their properties.
Headland said trails were not 100 percent crime free but that they were usually safer than other areas and had less crime. He suggested a community patrol of the trail, along with citizen use, to help ensure safety to those using the trail. He said increased cost of liability insurance would be a matter of how much protection property owners chose to purchase.
Several residents voiced concern about part of the trail running along Main Street through Springtown, saying they didn't want outsiders walking past their homes. Others suggested the town could not patrol a walking trail since it did not have its own police force and depended on patrols from the county sheriff's office.
A few residents said they live in Springtown, or moved there, to get away from the people and traffic and didn't want to see a walking trail bring more people into the town and past their homes.
Headland said it was good that the town's people were raising these concerns now and suggested more meetings to work through all the concerns and come to an agreement on a plan everyone can accept. One such possible compromise would be to complete the portion of the trail on the west side of town on land owned by John Wasson, a supporter of the trail idea. The possibility of looping the trail on the west side of town was also suggested, saving the possibility of adding to the trail route for the future.
The trail proposed would run along the old highway bed, starting just east of the Arkansas Highway 12 bridge over Flint Creek, and follow the old highway bed to Main Street in Springtown, continue east on a proposed sidewalk along Main, cross the new Aubrey Long Road bridge and follow the creek back to the west and then north along the north branch of Flint Creek. Total length of the trail would be 1.24 miles, according to Paul Lemke, Springtown's mayor.
The trail would have great value because of the proximity to Flint Creek and the plants and animals there, as well as historical value because of the Trail of Tears and Civil War roads which followed the creek, Lemke explained. Springtown and the creek are also significant in Gentry's history since many of the businesses which moved to Gentry with the coming of the railroad had their beginnings in Springtown.
Easements are promised by John Wasson, owner of land to the west of Main Street, and the city owns or already has easements on the balance of the proposed trail, Lemke said Aug. 8. John Wasson has provided a letter of commitment to provide the needed easements, Lemke explained.
With the National Park Service Aug. 1 deadline already past for applying for trail grant assistance, the town has more time to work on a plan everyone can accept before next year. And, with the apparent political undercurrents at work in the town, it will take more than just time to agree on a plan for a recreational trail in Springtown.
General News on 08/20/2014