At least 130 people have signed a petition aimed to keep Harrison Hot Springs from paving a walkway beside McCombs Drive.
Deanna Boudreau set up the petition last week, after hearing residents on Facebook complaining about the potential asphalt walkway on McCombs Drive.
“I was hearing so many people say ‘Why are they paving?’” Boudreau said. “Paving is infrastructure. Paving is not trail development.”
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The walkway is planned as part of a $350,000 grant to continue the Miami River Greenway.
The grant, announced in February, would see a gravel trail follow along the Miami River between 217 Miami River Drive and 299 Miami River Drive. This section of trail was part of the original Miami River Greenway plan, which was approved by council in the past but never completed.
| The proposed gravel path along the Miami River that would complete the Miami River Greenway in Harrison. (Get Into It Harrison/Harrison Hot Springs) |
The asphalt part of the pathway, which would go along the length of McCombs Drive, was not part of the original trail design. CAO Madeline McDonald said it was scoped by the engineering designers.
For Boudreau, the paved walkway is not what this grant money should be used for.
“You’re taking trail development money to pave the road wider, when the road itself needs to be paved,” she said, adding that paving a walkway could inspire more tourists to walk down the residential road or see drivers using the walkway to skirt around speed bumps.
“It’s just going to cause a whole bunch more problems.”
Others commenting on the petition online also had concerns about the impact on the McCombs greenspace, with one saying: “Asphalt is not green. Stop the gentrification of our natural environment.”
Although no shovels are in the ground yet, the project has already stirred up some heated discussion in the council chambers, as well as online.
In early February Coun. Gerry Palmer brought forward a motion asking for three grant-funded projects to be brought back to council for further review. One of these projects was the Miami River Greenway application.
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Palmer and Coun. Ray Hooper spoke about the need for council to be making decisions on the scope of projects, and not leaving what could be considered “political decisions” for others to decide. This included whether walkways should be gravel or asphalt.
For Boudreau, this is exactly why she’s seen many people have concerns about the trail grant.
“It’s not free money, it’s taxpayer’s money, one way or another,” she said. “But we weren’t consulted.”
She added that she felt staff had pushed council into agreeing to the project during the grant application period, when council had to vote on whether or not to apply for the trail development grant funding.
“Many of the residents in the village feel that the village staff just assume that they’re running the show and have contempt for the residents and council,” Boudreau said.
The Agassiz Harrison Observer reached out to McDonald for comment on Boudreau’s statement. She declined, saying “people are entitled to their opinions.”
“We have a very respectful process at the council table, and I appreciate that very much,” McDonald said.
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There are still many steps that need to be taken before any paving would get underway on McCombs Drive.
McDonald said a request for proposals for the trail development project will be going out soon, and bidders will be encouraged to include other potential designs for the project.
“It was scoped in asphalt, so that’s what went out there with the conceptual drawings, not the final design, at the council table,” McDonald said. “I think that caused a lot of concern. I think there’s really no need to react to that yet, because council hasn’t made a final decision on that.”
The RFPs will come back to council sometime in the spring for further consideration.
Construction on the trail project is expected to get underway in the summer of this year, with the project completed by 2022.
Correction: An earlier version of this article had the incorrect spelling of McCombs Drive. The Observer regrets the error, and has changed the online story to reflect the accurate spelling. We’d also like to thank the reader who emailed us with the correction.
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