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WARREN -- Trumbull County Commissioner Tony Bernard contacted Trumbull County MetroParks Board Chairman Randy Fabrizio recently because a woman was unhappy that the portable bathrooms on the Western Reserve Greenway bike and hike trail were removed a month earlier than usual this year.
Fabrizio said he explained to Bernard that removing the portable toilets early was a way for the MetroParks board to stay within its $131,000 budget for this year. Fabrizio said the issue is just a small symptom of a bigger problem.
The main issue is that the pavement on the trail "is near or at the end of its designed life. And if something isn't done, if we don't start maintaining it, we are going to lose it. Then you're talking about a lot of numbers," Fabrizio said at the county commissioners' workshop meeting Tuesday.
Fabrizio said the "surface" of the trail "is in deplorable condition. It's not just the pavement. There's drainage problems … and roots intrusion that cause (pavement) deterioration. Our capital plan over the next five years is to put $50,000 a year into that so we do not lose the bike trail."
He said he knows the commissioners "do not like to hear us whine every single year about our budget," so the MetroParks Board is trying to set up a 501(c)3 (non-profit organization) to look for donations and God-willing make some headway in the next few years" to repave small parts of the trail. “Then hopefully we can get a product that we can be proud of."
He brought several bike trail supporters with him to the meeting who use the trail "almost on a daily basis."
Commissioner Rick Hernandez reminded Fabrizio of a new cost that came online when the final phase of the trail in Trumbull County was completed in recent weeks through Weathersfield that connects Warren and Niles.
"We have an additional three miles to maintain out there," Fabrizio said. "So now (Trumbull MetroParks Executive Director) Zach (Svette) has to get his equipment out there. He has to load it up, take it to the other side of Niles. That means a truck, a trailer, personnel to mow a little over three miles of additional trail, which is almost impossible."
Fabrizio said the MetroParks is hoping the commissioners will provide about $50,000 for a used truck and trailer and a zero turn mower. He said he will ask for that in county budget hearings starting as soon as next week.
Fabrizio said, “We'll do the best we can with what we have. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when you don't even have Port-A-Johns out there. We don't even have Port-A-Johns at all of the facilities we have. We are down to two or three facilities where we have them."
Dennis Bresenhan of Champion told the commissioners he has been using the trail since 2009 or 2010, "so I have watched what has happened to the trail over all of those years. The trail was originally paved in 2003. Basically for 23 years, the trail has not been touched, as far as the asphalt. And every year, it has continued to deteriorate.
“Roots are growing underneath it, upheaving. One of the worst sections is right there at the Champion trailhead, where everybody sees first-hand when they come in and see how bad it is. I see people coming using walkers, that are with their kids using strollers, and they are not able to navigate the trail it's so bad."
He said he has talked to people who have come from other states to use the trail "because it is one of the nicest trails, location-wise in the entire state. When you are on this trail, you are in a canopy, like a forest. You will see wildlife. You will see all kinds of things. It's a great trail starting it that many years ago. But since then, no money has been put into it," other than grass cutting and fallen-tree removal, Bresenhan said.
He said the section near the Champion trailhead at state Route 305 is the oldest section of the trail from Champion to Ashtabula. The other sections are newer and "in good shape still. But that one has gone to the wayside as far as any kind of maintenance."
He said he sees "more and more people wanting to use (the trail) every single day. I left at 6 (p.m.) the other day, and there were still people were coming in, bringing their kids with their bikes and riding that trail before dark."
Bresenhan said he and his wife frequently go the Hyde-Oakfield trailhead part of the trail in Bristol Township instead of the Champion section because it is in better condition and easier for his wife.
It is "a shame because that is the most popular section of the entire trail. Most of the riders come in through Champion ... and head north." He said a newer section that heads into Warren is used a lot less than the section north of Route 305.
"You keep putting money in, expanding the trail, but there seems to be no maintenance plan for upkeep,” Bresenhan said.
He mentioned that there is a section between Hyde-Oakfield Road and state Route 88 near King Brothers where there about 16 large bumps because of roots under the asphalt.
He said there are 16 of them built up to create something like "huge speed bumps," calling it the "worst kind of Band-Aid possible." None of the commissioners indicated they had ridden the trail to know that problem personally.
Bernard asked how long the trail has had problems this severe, and Bresenhan said it's been five to seven years.
Commissioner Denny Malloy said the problem began 25 years ago when the bike trail was built with grant money, but there was never any money provided to maintain it.
“We took it as a community and now we are the point of 25 years of wear and tear,” Malloy said.
He said maintenance needs be addressed by the state, as well as Ashtabula, Columbiana and Mahoning counties. Malloy said the burden has been left to the county taxpayers to maintain.
Malloy said the counties need to say to state legislators, "You gave us this drug and got us hooked. Now you need to get us off of this thing. You need to get us to rehab when it comes to this bike trail."
Bernard said something needs to be done.
“We can lobby the state and try to get the funds. I'm not sure how successful we will be. But we have to look at the real bad areas we're going to have to fix. This is the first time, really anybody has brought the attention to this board,” Bernard said.
Hernandez said it makes sense to contact state or federal officials to discuss the need for trail maintenance funds.
Nick Coggins, assistant director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, said state and federal grants were obtained to build the trail, and the commissioners over those years acknowledged responsibility for maintaining it.
He said the Trumbull County MetroParks has a plan for maintenance, but no funds to implement it. The same agencies that funded the trails do not offer funds for "deferred maintenance."
Coggins said repaving has not taken place on the trail. The cost to operate the trail have risen, and funding has been "stagnant."