Greenway
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
At the May 22, 2007, town council meeting, when I brought up the sudden difference that occurred in the width of the Heritage Trail at the Cerulean Restaurant, where the trail entered the Village At Winona, I was met with incredulous looks from everyone on the council. Probably, most of the council members really did not know what I was talking about, but Craig Allebach, Winona Lake town coordinator and president of the Heritage Trail Committee, had to know exactly what I was talking about.
Later on this summer, I met with a representative of the Village At Winona and found out that before the Village signed to have the trail go through their property, there was an agreement made that the trail could be different on their property and could be closed for festivals. If Mr. Allebach had enlightened us with that information at that May 22 meeting, a lot of negative publicity for the greenway could have been prevented.
At the June 12 meeting, when Mr. Allebach spoke in what I would call a rather dramatic manner to declare statements similar to indicating the greenway was the way it was going to be and that the Heritage Trail becomes a bike trail only at the Cerulean and that's that, he still did not explain that this arrangement had been planned and agreed upon long before. Because of that neglect, I requested to see the plans they used to gather the large donations and grants with which the trail was built.
On Sept. 26, as on June 12, Mr. Allebach responded he had no copies of these plans and would have to get them from one of the groups he had sent them to. Doesn't this bother anybody else but me? Surely, a copy of the way the trail was to be done is around that he could have offered to show me. The fact the people painting the trail on East Canal Street mistakenly started out by painting a full-size trail on the street at Auditorium Boulevard and East Canal Street and the fact no one has a greenway layout to show encourages one to think something was trying to be pulled over on someone - and I no longer think the Village At Winona was the one trying to do that.
As far as the safety of the greenway, no one but Harry Langford and me has written letters to the editor or talked at the council meetings about their concerns. Therefore, even though I believe the curved and shrunken part of the trail is unsafe, it would be beating a dead horse to continue complaining. If I see a greenway layout that shows the trail is the way all agreed ahead it would be, it will bring closure that could and should have occurred on May 22.
Winona Lake is truly blessed to have the greenway. One of my biggest joys comes from seeing those on wheelchairs enjoying it. How absolutely wonderful!
Jan Nelson
Winona Lake, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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At the May 22, 2007, town council meeting, when I brought up the sudden difference that occurred in the width of the Heritage Trail at the Cerulean Restaurant, where the trail entered the Village At Winona, I was met with incredulous looks from everyone on the council. Probably, most of the council members really did not know what I was talking about, but Craig Allebach, Winona Lake town coordinator and president of the Heritage Trail Committee, had to know exactly what I was talking about.
Later on this summer, I met with a representative of the Village At Winona and found out that before the Village signed to have the trail go through their property, there was an agreement made that the trail could be different on their property and could be closed for festivals. If Mr. Allebach had enlightened us with that information at that May 22 meeting, a lot of negative publicity for the greenway could have been prevented.
At the June 12 meeting, when Mr. Allebach spoke in what I would call a rather dramatic manner to declare statements similar to indicating the greenway was the way it was going to be and that the Heritage Trail becomes a bike trail only at the Cerulean and that's that, he still did not explain that this arrangement had been planned and agreed upon long before. Because of that neglect, I requested to see the plans they used to gather the large donations and grants with which the trail was built.
On Sept. 26, as on June 12, Mr. Allebach responded he had no copies of these plans and would have to get them from one of the groups he had sent them to. Doesn't this bother anybody else but me? Surely, a copy of the way the trail was to be done is around that he could have offered to show me. The fact the people painting the trail on East Canal Street mistakenly started out by painting a full-size trail on the street at Auditorium Boulevard and East Canal Street and the fact no one has a greenway layout to show encourages one to think something was trying to be pulled over on someone - and I no longer think the Village At Winona was the one trying to do that.
As far as the safety of the greenway, no one but Harry Langford and me has written letters to the editor or talked at the council meetings about their concerns. Therefore, even though I believe the curved and shrunken part of the trail is unsafe, it would be beating a dead horse to continue complaining. If I see a greenway layout that shows the trail is the way all agreed ahead it would be, it will bring closure that could and should have occurred on May 22.
Winona Lake is truly blessed to have the greenway. One of my biggest joys comes from seeing those on wheelchairs enjoying it. How absolutely wonderful!
Jan Nelson
Winona Lake, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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