More Heated Discussion on the Rails-to-Trails Project at Neillsville Common Council Meeting
Thursday, June 27th, 2019 -- 11:57 AM
-It was another crowded night at the Neillsville City Council meeting as they discussed a resolution supporting the Neillsville Improvement Corporation’s Rails-to-Trails Project.The council heard a quick synopsis of the project at the meeting. The Neillsville Improvement Corporation, or NIC, has joined the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and is spearheading a project that would turn an old railroad bed between Neillsville and Chili into a walking/bike trail. 98% of the land is owned by Xcel Energy and the company has agreed to a conditional sale of the land pending final negotiations with NIC. At this time, no money has been spent and no action is set in stone. NIC has just entered the planning phase of this project, but there is a lot more work to do and many more hoops to jump through. And, as members of NIC have frequently expressed, this entire project could still fall through. The group wants to work with adjacent landowners along the rail bed in regards to leases and easements, where applicable. They’re also striving to work around landowners that won’t support the project, make sure they don’t disrupt any agricultural operations and assure them they have virtually no liability should someone leave the trail, step on their property and get hurt. NIC continues to stress that with the thousands of miles of bike trail around Wisconsin, these issues have all been addressed and haven’t been a problem.
The project hasn’t been without controversy, however. Some landowners on and adjacent to the rail bed have objected to the project being on or near their land. Some of them opposed to the project were present Tuesday afternoon and stated why they were against it and the reasons included legality issues, ag concerns, cost of the project and liability. They even mentioned legal action taken against the NIC group and Xcel from landowners stating they won’t allow their land to be used for the trail. They also felt there were other trails in the county they could use. There were also people in support of the project at the meeting. They felt this would be a great improvement for the county and could have a great economic boon for the area. There were also a couple officials from the Village of Granton present. They expressed their support for the project and stated the Village of Granton has already passed a resolution expressing full support for the project. The NIC group has been given support by several other groups as well, including the Eat Right, Be Fit Coalition, the Clark County Economic Development Corporation and Tourism Bureau and the Clark County Young Professionals.
The purpose of the resolution approved at the council meeting last night was simply expressing support from the City of Neillsville for the NIC group to continue with this project as they continue with the planning phase. No money from Neillsville has been spent on this project nor does this resolution including any monetary contribution from the city toward the project. In the end, the council approved it with 4 voting yes and one abstaining. Aldermen Julie Counsell abstained as the trail would travel through her ward and by her property. She also questioned whether Aldermen and NIC President Dan Clough would abstain. He did not and cast a vote as, he stated, an alderman only needs to abstain if there would be any monetary benefit to them regarding the item. He stated he was not making any money from this project, so he cast a vote. Dan stated the estimated cost of the project is anywhere from $600,000-$800,000.
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