Colden Citizens for a Community Trail

Year in Review

2011-12-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

We have accomplished much progress toward our goal of promoting and advocating for a Community Trail on the abandoned B&P Railroad corridor. Since our citizen group formed in September of 2010, we have:

*Met monthly, bi-weekly, and sometimes weekly.

*Defined the key issues both pro and con surrounding the Community Trail Issue

*Orchestrated a Community Education Campaign

*Designed, produced, and mailed a direct mail brochure to every household in Colden and Concord

*Designed, produced, and mailed a 2nd direct mail piece to every household in Colden, Concord, West Falls, and overlapping addresses in Boston and Holland.

*Delivered brochures and petitions to local businesses

*Responded via email, snail mail and phone calls to every person who responded to our campaign, both for and against the trail

*Designed a blog with an I-petition and survey

*Set up a display booth with promotional materials and petition at the Colden Festival

*Set up a display booth with promotional materials and petition at Colden Elementary

*Attended the NYS Parks & Trails Conference in Ithaca

*Written and spoken with Colden and Concord Town Officials

*Designed a long-range plan

*Held a General Interest Meeting open to the public with full presentation/guest speaker

*Secured a complete GIS map of the Colden rail corridor

*Defined a long-range plan

*Gave a presentation to the Colden Town Planning Board in November of 2011

*Gave a presentation to the Colden Town Board in December of 2012

We identified and verified strong community support for a trail in our community, the results of which we presented before Town Officials in Colden. The Town of Colden has been our first choice for political action. Different strategies are being developed for the Towns of Concord and Aurora. There is still opposition to the project, but we believe that the Colden Town Board has now been presented with good information and reasons to consider the positive aspects of this project for our community. We will continue our efforts in the New Year.

Please contact us if you would like to be involved and we will let you know our January meeting date, time, and location. Email us at: Communitytrail@gmail.com

We wish you and your loved ones a Happy, Joyous, and Blessed Holiday Season!

Ensure Outdoor Recreation is Part of State Economic Future

2011-10-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

Governor Cuomo has announced the establishment of 10 Regional Economic Development Councils. Each Council will develop a strategic plan for economic development projects. Park and trail advocates can play an important role by linking economic development with trail building. CCCT will continue to track this program for trail funding opportunities. In addition to economic development, safety and health benefits are also good reasons for building the trail. Colden and Concord trail supporters should continue to press town councils for legislation favorable to the trail.

"Connecting the Dots" The WNY Greenway

2011-09-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a proposal by Rick LeFeber, Executive Director of the Cattauraugus Local Development Corporation, which was submitted to the recently formed Erie County Regional Economic Development Council:

"The Western New York Greenway is a project proposal that would utilized existing former corridors for commerce and natural trails to create a logical network of hubs and linkages. This will be accomplished by taking already existing trails, parks, and natural bodies of water such as: Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the Niagara and Allegany Rivers, Chautauqua Lake, Zoar Valley, Allegany State Park, Niagara Falls, the Genesee Greenway, WAG Trail, the Chautauqua Rails-to-Trails system, Pat McGee Trail, the North Country Scenic Trail, the Finger Lakes Trail, Chautauqua Trail, Allegany River Trail, and the Bicentennial Bike Trail- and then creating the linkage between these hubs of natural beauty and tourism.

This strategy has already begun in part with the proposed Buffalo-Niagara Greenway, Erie-Cattaraugus Rail Trail, the Seneca Nation-Pat McGee Trail connection to Allegany State Park, the Allegany River Trail expansion, and the Cherry Creek area trail system. WNY just needs to complete the gaps.

This strategy can make rapid implementation with the emphasis, expertise, and coordination from NYS, the Regional Economic Development Councils, Rail-banking, NYS Land Banking Laws, counties, municipalities, and grassroots organizations.

The WNY Greenway could be the #1 Greenway System in the United States."

Election Results

2011-09-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Patty Zurbrick, the only candidate to respond to our invitation to comment on the Community Trail intiative, won her Republican primary election defeating Stephanie Czernaik. Councilman Pat Murhpy, lost his bid for Town Judge, and will remain in his council seat on the Town Board.

Where Do the Candidates Stand?

2011-09-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday, September 13th is Primary Day. In the Town of Colden, three candidates are seeking two councilman seats on the Town Board. They are: incumbent Gerry Pietraszek; incumbent Stephanie Czerniak; and newcomer, Patty Zurbrick. A fourth incumbent, Pat Murphy is running for Town Judge.

We asked all four candidates if they would like the opportunity to state their position on the Community Trail Project. Only one candidate, Patty Zurbrick replied. Here is her reply:

"Thank you for inquiring about my position on this issue. I personally feel at this time that all citizens in the Town need more information. I feel it is important that the facts should be given and not the second hand information that is being passed around. An open meeting to all would be an excellent idea, inviting all property owners. Landowners who border the rails need to know that there are other options available such as bypasses etc. It should be stated that this is just an informational meeting for all, hope this will happen soon."

The remaining three incumbent candidates all signed the resolution against the trail project in March. In communications with us and others during the summer months, they all expressed a willingness to review the issue in light of new information and citizen support. However, we are disappointed that they did not respond to our invitation to comment on their position during their election campaigns.

In the Town of Concord, two representatives Salzler and King are running unopposed for their seats. Rumor has it, that they "could go either way" on the Community Trail initiative.

We can't emphasize enough, how important it is that supporters of this trail make their opinions known to their elected representatives on the Town Board. This project will not happen without strong citizen pressure. You must make your opinion known to all representatives and those campaigning. A sample letter and email addresses are listed on the right-hand side of our home page. Just cut and paste- and you're done in two minutes!

Update

2011-08-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

We hope you are having a healthy, fun and safe summer! The core committee of our citizen group has been meeting through the summer and most recently met this past Thursday evening, July 28th.

1. The response to our educational brochure campaign in Colden and Concord has been very good. So far, respondents are in favor of the trail 8:1. Be on the lookout for a second mailing at summer's end!

2. As a group we have responded to a Colden Town Board invitation for round table discussion regarding the proposed trail and as of this date have not received a response.

3. There has been a change in status regarding the rail banking parties. The only parties currently on record to acquire the B& P railroad property are NYS PARKS and ERIE CATT RAIL TRAIL. The utility companies will need to maintain access and will always have an interest in the rail corridor, but they are not in line to purchase the R.R. property.

4. An invitational letter to meet and discuss trail possibilities has been sent to the Colden Town Planning Board.

5. Some of our readers have requested a map of the proposed trail to help visualize where the trail would be. We are in the process of developing just such a tool, and will post it on this blog when it's ready. This map would only be a proposal. We wish to emphasize that although we are advocates for the trail we are NOT the decision makers. Ideally, final decisions about trail details, are made by the community as a whole with suggestions from citizens, town planners, and all town officials.

6. We will have a display table at the Colden Art Festival - September 10 and 11th and are looking for volunteers to help man the table and to provide helpful information to interested parties. All volunteers would be accompanied by a member of our core committee. If interested, we will contact you with available shifts.

7. We are planning a general informational meeting for September. We will notify you of this event during the month of August- we hope that you will put the date on your calendar! We look forward to meeting you in person, listening to your suggestions, answering your questions and letting you know how we can utilize your help as we move forward.

Multi-Use Trails Help Revitalize Communities

2011-07-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

In 2004, with funding from the New York State Department of Health, the organization “Parks and Trails New York” (see our link on this blog) launched its Healthy Trails, Healthy People Program, helping five local community groups develop multi-use trails. Through this program, citizens from across the state are in various stages of developing trails, thus laying the foundation for a statewide trail network for the future. These trails will connect towns and villages with the intent of improving the health of their residents and revitalizing their communities.

With potential corridors for community trails already in place due to abandoned rail lines, shared-use trails are an important component of a nationwide effort to encourage healthy life syles, offering both recreation and alternative transportation for everyone from walkers and bikers to in-line skaters.

This effort- building a NY Statewide trail network one locality at a time- is providing exertise and support to novice trail advocates. It enables trail advocates in communities to learn from the expertise of others who have had success in meeting the challenges of designing and building trails. To learn more about the 110 multi-use trails across New York State, check out this website: www.ptny.org/greenways/maps.shtml and their very helpful Trail Finder Interactive map.

Will My Taxes Go Up?

2011-07-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest questions people ask regarding the building and maintenance of trails is “Will my taxes go up?”

The answer is “NO!” So how can a trail be built and maintained without increasing town taxes? Read on:

NYS purchases the railroad property with money from the NYS Real Estate Transfer Tax. Money to build the trail is available from a variety of public/private partnerships, and from federal dollars from the Federal Highway Fuels Tax Recreational Trails Program. These federal funds can only be used for open space preservation projects and trails. (That’s federal money we’ve already been taxed for). The question is, do we want to see our already taxed dollars spent in other communities in Western New York, across the state, and the nation, who are building trails- or do we want our dollars staying right here in Colden supporting our community and local contractors?

Maintaining the trail once it’s built usually comes from private/public partnerships and donors. Some municipalities embrace the concept of trails and want to fund them. Others find the dollars through grants and/or private donors.

How much money does it take to maintain a trail? Let’s look to a close neighbor for an example- the Pat McGee Trail in Little Valley. This trail, which is partially paved and twice the length of the Colden section (12 miles vs. 6 miles), currently costs approximately $500-600 per mile for yearly maintenance. That would be about $3,600.00 per year for a six mile trail- assuming it’s even partially paved. One private donor has already pledged support for assisting with trail maintenance in Colden. We needn’t look to our town budget at all. A local organization (Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail) is also ready to help secure funding for this project.

Meeting Update

2011-06-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday, June 27th, Colden Citizens for a Community Trail held a very successful and productive meeting. Many thanks to all who attended.

* We are pleased to announce that our brochure campaign thus far has been very successful. The responses have been overwhelmingly favorable and we've received very positive feedback. We have already tripled the standard response rate for direct mail campaigns. Favorable responses outweigh those opposed to the trail 6:1.

* Despite the Colden Town Board's June 9th resolution opposing the trail effort, each council-person has indicated they are willing to meet with us to review the issue with fresh eyes and ears. Much of the data they based their vote on was erroneous and outdated. We will be arranging to meet with all our representatives over the next month.

* We have sent a press release to the Springville Journal to make them aware of our presence in the community, and to let the public know of our interest in making this trail a reality for Colden.

* We are in the process of responding to everyone who expressed concerns and/or had questions about the trail. We are actively communicating with adjacent landowners who oppose the trail as well as others. We continue to seek dialogue- understanding their concerns, while at the same time striving to put good information into the hands of residents and town officials.

* We are drafting a second follow-up mailing to Colden residents.

* We are planning to a display table for the Colden Festival this September. Greg Culver (Sliders) has graciously offered to let us set up in the space in front of his store.

* We also hope to organize public information meetings for late summer/early fall.

If any of these projects interest you and you would like to help, please contact us.

We will keep you posted of on-going developments!

An Interesting Idea

2011-05-23T20:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a great idea we heard recently: Why not combine two of our best resources and put them to work on the trail? The first resource we're thinking of is our abundant annual snowfall. What's the second resource? For years our local sportsmen and conservation clubs have made many positive contributions in our communities- not the least of which is working with youth. How about integrating a first class trail with a first class target range and creating a youth biathlon program? Other towns sponsor teams for State and National Olympics, why not our community? Check out the link to the left of this blog "Saratoga Biathlon Club" for an example of something that "could be" when folks work together! In non-winter months clubs also sponsors biathlons that combine target shooting with running and/or biking. There are numerous examples throughout the country of these kinds of partnerships.

Brochure

2011-03-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Our new community education brochure is ready! If you would like a copy or would like some for distribution, please let us know how many, and how we can best reach you. Contact us at the email address listed below.