Funding for trail project in doubt

A proposal for paved trails in Sisters Country has generated significant interest and a high degree of controversy, but the money to actually get them built is far from secured.

Gary Farnsworth, Region 4 area manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation told The Nugget on Friday that it is currently doubtful that a portion of the trail from Sisters to Tollgate will get funding through the STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Program) process.

STIP funds projects based on a prioritized list, and the trail project, Farnsworth said, currently ranks too low to expect funding.

"It doesn't look like it would be (funded); it didn't prioritize very well," he said.

Two grant proposals have already been unsuccessful. The STIP grant is the only one currently pending to fund the projects, which include a paved path from Crossroads to Sisters High School and a path that would ultimately run from Sisters to Black Butte Ranch. The Forest Service, in partnership with the Sisters Trails Alliance, is seeking $712,000 through the 2015-2018 STIP funding process for the Sisters-Tollgate portion of the trail, the total cost of which is estimated at $801,000.

Sisters Trails Alliance president Gary Guttormsen said STA is aware of the project's position in the priority rankings.

"STA understands that the paved path application is still in the running for partial funding though STIP, but it has been relegated to a lower tier of eligible projects," he told The Nugget.

"Out of approximately 14 total STIP applications for Central Oregon, we understand that five others have received top prioritization for funding.

Our application is on the list of approximately nine other projects that could receive money, but only if the STIP program overall is funded to more than the 100-percent level - something that is still apparently possible but so far undetermined.

If over a 100-percent funding level is achieved, it is unclear to what extent, if any, the paved path projects would benefit."

In a letter to Farnsworth and Deschutes National Forest Chief John Allen last week, Sisters-area resident Mike Morgan challenged the legitimacy of the grant application based on questions of ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. The STIP grant application asserts that the trail will be ADA compliant. At a public meeting earlier this month, Sisters District Ranger Kristie Miller said that the Forest Service is using AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) accessibility guidelines but that the trail would not be fully ADA compliant and was never intended to be.

Farnsworth told The Nugget that ODOT looked into the issue and determined that "there's nothing we could find that would cause us to reject (the application) in this process."

Farnsworth told The Nugget that ODOT hasn't delved into the question on this proposal until now because of the low likelihood that the project will be funded through the STIP.

The question of ADA compliance is apparently an extraordinarily complicated and confusing one, for the agencies involved as well as the general public.

"It's an ongoing issue," Farnsworth said. "There's constant change and evolution. It's a moving target for the agencies; it's a moving target for ODOT."

Farnsworth said that the current STIP grant process includes a "conglomeration" of revenue sources, and it is not entirely clear whose standards apply where.

"We would more than likely put the decision-making process on the Forest Service" to meet their own standards of accessibility, Farnsworth said.

Issues of compliance would be worked out in a back-and-forth dialogue before a contract was let to do the work.

"None of those things were required to be resolved in the application process or even to some degree in the selection process," Farnsworth said.

That all may be moot, however, if the application doesn't make it any further. The status should be determined when a draft of the STIP is completed sometime in 2014.

Guttormsen said that, "STA continues to actively research other potential funding resources and may encourage the Forest Service to co-apply for additional present or future grant opportunities."

The Forest Service has reopened public comment on the trails proposals.

To submit comments on the projects written, faxed, hand-delivered, oral or electronic comments can be submitted to District Ranger Kristie Miller, c/o Michael Keown, Sisters Ranger District, Pine Street and Highway 20, P.O. Box 249, Sisters, Oregon 97759. Electronic comments can be sent to comments-pacific

[email protected] Put Sisters Ranger District Paved Path projects in the subject line. Faxes should be sent to 541-549-7746. Hand-delivered comments can be brought to the Sisters Ranger District office between the hours of 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Oral comments can be given by calling Michael Keown at 541-549-7735 or coming in person during office hours.

Guttormsen said, "STA welcomes more public dialogue, information-sharing, and the opportunity for the Forest Service to receive constructive input on the projects in order to help make them even better. However, we should caution the community that since the environmental assessments for both proposed paths have already been substantially completed (and paid for by STA), any major new changes to the routing, scale, or scope of either of the proposed paths could trigger significant cost consequences and scheduling implications."