Bellefonte to Milesburg trail focus of feasibility study

Centre commissioners hear details, cost estimates

BELLEFONTE -- The results of a trail feasibility study from Bellefonte to Milesburg were presented to the Centre County commissioners at Tuesday's meeting.

Mike Bloom, Centre County's assistant director of planning and community development, made the presentation.

"This is something that we have been working on for the past couple of years to get to this point," Bloom explained.

The study was done for a 2 1/2-mile area. According to Bloom, there are some complexities to completing the trail. The study mentioned ownership, historic/cultural resources, environmental resources, environmental sensitivity and required permitting as some of those complexities.

There are seven property owners along the 2 1/2-mile stretch, Bloom said.

"Those are a mix of state, local and private property owners," he said.

The trail would include eight segments done in three phases. There are five bridge structures to work with.

The overall construction cost of the project comes with a price tag of $6,153,619. The project, Bloom said, could be done in three $2 million segments.

"This is an opinion of probable construction costs. That number could go up or down depending on what you encounter with further planning and design moving forward. But this gives you a good snapshot of what it's anticipated the trail would cost to develop," Bloom said.

If constructed, the trail would require maintenance and upkeep, which could be done through a multi-municipal trail authority.

According to the study, it would cost approximately $18,535.22 annually to maintain the trail. That number can be "whittled down" Bloom said, through volunteer labor and the like.

Bloom said that a trail is a realistic possibility.

"The future development of the Bellefonte to Milesburg trail is technically feasible, it can be built from a engineering perspective. There didn't seem to be any immediate red flags or anything that said this is a no-go as they went through the study process. However, there is the recognition that it is a very complex project and a very expensive endeavor to move forward," Bloom said.

The commissioners accepted the final report.

Funding the feasibility study -- done by Pashek and MTR -- came through a grant from the DCED for $70,500 and local contributions of $15,300. The local contributions came from Bellefonte Borough, the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau, ClearWater Conservancy, Centre Foundation, CentreBike, the Nittany Mountain Biking Association, State College Cycling Tussey Mountain Outfitters and the Michael and Alice Young Family.

"Without those folks, we wouldn't be where we're at today," Bloom noted. "A very sincere thank you to the community for stepping up and supporting this study."

The commissioners also voted 2-1 to enact Resolution 3 of 2019 in support of Restore Pennsylvania, a $4.5 billion infrastructure plan. Democratic commissioners Mark Higgins and Michael Pipe voted in favor of the resolution, while lone Republican commissioner Steve Dershem voted against it.

In other business, the commissioners moved several items to next week's consent agenda:

∫ A contract with RBA Professional Data Systems, Inc., to provide software enhancements to the E-Jury program. The enhancements will allow jurors to receive payment for their services by the use of a debit card. The total cost of the contract is $2,250 and includes training and annual software maintenance.

∫ A contract with Service Access and Management, Inc. (SAM) to provide fiscal operations for the Transportation Department. Operations will include staff training, fiscal reporting, payroll, and revenue and expenditure review. The contract total is $24,000 for the period of July 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2019.

∫ Agreement with RBA Professional Data Systems, Inc. to provide management information services and products. The contract total is $65,927.02 per month and will increase annually by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Based on prior increases in CPI, an estimated yearly 2 percent increase, the contract total is estimated at $2,445,368.19 for the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022.

∫ A contract renewal with Thomson Reuters to provide Westlaw Proflex. The contract total is $76,436.72 for the period of Aug. 1. 2019 through July 31, 2022.

The commissioners will meet again at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 25 at the Willowbank Building in Bellefonte.