Park board: Keep power line off our trail

Thursday, May 22, 2008

By Glen Miller

The Geauga Park District Board of Commissioners, as expected, has said it is firmly against letting the central portion of the Maple Highlands Trail be utilized as the route for a proposed 138-kilovolt transmission line.

The board unanimously passed a resolution during a May 13 meeting opposing the Ohio Power Siting Board's (OPSB) request that FirstEnergy Corp. consider construction of the overhead transmission line along the trail.

In part, the resolution says the idea "is not consistent with the mission of Geauga Park District to preserve, conserve and protect the natural features of Geauga County, and to provide the opportunity for people to enjoy and appreciate those resources."

Many of the approximately 50 people attending last week's board meeting urged park commissioners John Leech, Robert McCullough and Mark Rzeszotarski not to oppose the idea.

Most of those people were members of Citizens Advocating Responsible Energy (CARE), a non-profit organization primarily made up of residents who would be impacted directly by the construction of FirstEnergy's power line along Route 528 through Thompson, Montville and Huntsburg townships.

Even though most residents agree local electric service needs to be improved, CARE President Jim Galm claimed the nearly 15-mile preferred route "would nearly maximize destruction, havoc and mayhem" on more than 180 acres of private property and farms in the three townships.

The park trail is among the better alternative routes because it is an existing corridor where damage to the environment could be minimized, Galm argued.

Park officials, however, said trees and vegetation along the trail would have to be cut down to make way for 80-foot-high transmission line poles. The changes that would occur along the trail were shown in a conceptual photo recently made available by park officials and published in the Geauga County Maple Leaf.

Galm called the photo "shameful." It represents "something that is not real" based on research CARE members completed of other park trails, he added.

Other park trails "harmoniously share" space with transmission lines, including a park running through parts of Franklin and Madison counties, Galm contended.

A woman in the audience, who did not identify herself, said the possible transmission line corridor was in place prior to the development of the park trail.

Galm said he was expressing the view of many members when he urged the park board to allow the Maple Highlands Trail to include multiple uses, such as the power line and a possible nearby bridle path. Several people suggested the development of a park district bridle path running parallel to the trail.

Galm's comments were supported by Julie Crocker, an attorney with Taft, Stettinuis & Hollister, the Cleveland law firm representing CARE. She contended the transmission line would not interfere with the trail if it were placed adjacent to a possible bridle path.

"If you want to oppose the one that is going directly against the path and using the path as an access road, that's understandable," she said. "To eliminate the possibility that options be foreclosed from consideration by the board, we ask that you not do that at this juncture."

In addition to the park trail route, the park commissioners also said they oppose the preferred Route 528 route and use of Clay Street, an alternative north-south route FirstEnergy has considered, Park District Executive Director Tom Curtin said.

The park district owns land along parts of both roads. Its opposition to the Route 528 and Clay Street routes has been noted in park district letters to the OPSB, Curtin added.

Park Commissioner John Leech said he would never approve the idea because it is contrary to the park district's purpose.

"We give the wrong impression, I think, if we tell them (OPSB) that we may consider it," he added.

Other CARE members supported Galm's position. Among them was Clay Street resident Don Miller, who said Leech's comments do not reflect those of taxpayers living along Route 528 or Clay Street.

"The term 'we' impacts me. You don't speak for me unless I ask you to, and I'm sure everybody in this room feels the same way," Miller said. "Don't pass this resolution because this path (park trail) has the least impact for 'we' collectively."

The board needs to consider the impact on people and their land, not just park district property, Miller added.

Rather than exerting pressure on the park board, Munson Township resident Craig Lanese suggested CARE members, park commissioners and Chardon officials work together to find an alternative acceptable to everyone.

"But, I think it is unreasonable to ask the park district to just sit back and say, 'Maybe they'll consider it.' It sends all the wrong signals to an organization like FirstEnergy," Lanese said.

Park Board Vice President Mark Rzeszotarski said the board's resolution is nearly identical to a 1996 board resolution that opposed a plan by The Illuminating Company to run a power line along part of a then-proposed park trail. The OPSB approved that plan, although the project was abandoned by the electric company.

Known as the Rachel Route, the 1996 proposal involved the installation of an Illuminating Co. transmission line through parts of Montville, Hambden and Huntsburg townships. It also included utilization of approximately 75 percent of the Maple Highlands Trail right-of-way. The townships and the park district objected to the route.

"Today, we have a linear park that is active, so this resolution merely updates our opposition," Rzeszotarski added.

At the suggestion the park board's attorney, David Ondrey, the board also will ask to intervene in the OPSB public and adjudicatory hearings to be scheduled as early as next month. As an intervenor, the board would become a party in the proceedings, regardless of the routes discussed, he said.

"We would be in better position to monitor and oppose the transmission line routes," Ondrey said.

Chardon Mayor and City Council President Karen Simpson was among those attending the May 13 park board meeting who opposed consideration of the Maple Highlands Trail as a possible route.

Last week, council unanimously passed a resolution opposing utilization of the park trail and an abandoned railroad corridor through Chardon.

"We have great concern about letting this route go through the city. It would go into and through areas of high density and have a social impact on people in the city," Simpson said.

Following the meeting, Crocker said the OPSB previously granted CARE's request to intervene in the matter, but will take a "wait and see" attitude when the issue comes before the agency this summer.

"Our position is -- and it will be during the hearings -- FirstEnergy did not consider a number of possible routes that the transmission line can be placed on, one of them being along the (park) bike path," Crocker said. "We think there are a number of possibilities that FirstEnergy did not look at, including using Route 11 (a high-speed corridor that runs from Ashtabula down to East Liverpool) or the Rachel Route."