Progress on the Salt Creek Trail is at a standstill, as key players plan another community meeting about its future.

On Oct. 4, the Goldberg Room at Brown County High School was filled with concerned taxpayers, school staff, government officials and trail committee members to discuss the phase of the trail that will go through Brown County Schools’ Eagle Park.

The trail, a project in the making for more than 10 years, is planned to connect the state park and downtown Nashville. Between the state park and the existing trailhead at the Brown County YMCA are Eagle Park and several pieces of private property.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ phase of the trail is envisioned to run from the Brown County State Park swimming pool parking lot area, around the back of the Eagle Park athletics fields and end on private property near Hesitation Point bike shop and Red Barn Jamboree. It is being funded by the DNR.

This was a special meeting of the school board. Multiple key players in the development of that portion of the trail were invited. Superintendent Laura Hammack told the room that the purpose of the meeting was to gather people together to get facts about the project to ultimately move it forward.

Supporters of Gary and Sheila Oliver made up a good portion of the crowd. The Olivers’ property is where one half of a state-owned bridge is planned to go, which will connect their property to Eagle Park.

The bridges are now part of State Road 46 in Clay County over the Eel River. The Indiana Department of Transportation is transferring ownership of the historic iron structures to Brown County for the trail.

The Olivers and their supporters have been attending school board, commissioners and Salt Creek Trail Committee meetings expressing concern about the possibility that their property will be used for the trail project through eminent domain.

Much debate has occurred over the past several months about whether the county or the state would initiate that action, if it comes down to that.

Some school board members had expressed concern about the path of the trail through Eagle Park because of its proximity to the cross-country course, security of those walking the trail in a wooded area, and the fact that the area floods.

At the Sept. 7 school board meeting, board member Steve Miller Jr. had asked about running it along State Road 46 East instead of along Salt Creek in Eagle Park. Sprunica Elementary School Principal Abbie Oliver asked the same question at the Oct. 4 metting. Gary and Sheila are her in-laws.

“As a mom with little kids, and as a female that goes out there on my own, I want to use it. I am not just saying this because they are my in-laws. I don’t care whose it is. I am cautious. When it goes behind the Y, I am not going there at night,” she said.

County resident Susanne Gaudin cautioned against putting the trail next to State Road 46 East. She said she’s volunteered picking up litter alongside the road and that it’s “frightening” to be near it with all the traffic.

“I can’t imagine putting a public trail along that road. If you want to protect our children and others, that’s not the place to put it,” she said.

Salt Creek Trail Committee Chair Bob Kirlin said the intent of the trail was to follow the creek because of the “beauty, nature and relaxation” it provides.

Bob Bronson was one of the key players at the table for the discussion. He is the chief of the grants section with the Division of Outdoor Recreation for DNR. He has been involved with trail development for 26 years.

“I say probably 90 percent of the trails we do are not next to the road,” he said.

Miller said school district leaders had questions about who would be liable if something happened on the trail on school property.

Bronson said that a state recreational use law protects trail users and landowners.

He also said that of the 6,200 miles of trails in Indiana, there are only two lit trails in the state, while the others are open from dawn to dusk unless an ordinance is passed locally that allows longer hours.

He cited the 60-mile-long Cardinal Greenway and 44-mile-long Nickel Plate trails as having no issues with crime or security. Both trails have no lights and are open from dawn to dusk, he said.

Hammack and Brown County commissioner Jerry Pittman mentioned fencing as a way to provide additional security on the trail, but Bronson said fencing would be torn down by flooding and that it would obstruct water flow, causing water levels around the creek to go up.

Bronson said one of the reasons the state gave money to this project is because it’s on a “visionary system” of having a bicycle-pedestrian trail within five miles of everyone in Indiana.

While Brown County State Park, Yellowwood State Forest and other nearby nature areas have many miles of trails for public use, the Salt Creek Trail is paved.

“What we’re trying to do is create it so everybody can use it, all abilities. From biking, hiking, any ability you have, or disability, you should be able to use the trail,” he said.

High school cross-country head coach Rob Abraham said he had concerns about maintaining the trail if flooding occurs. He said the last time the cross-country course flooded it took two weeks to dry out.

Brown County Parks and Recreation Director Mark Shields said that since the first phase of the trail was completed in the fall of 2013 — from CVS to the Brown County YMCA — it has been hit by two major floods. He said after the water receded, the trail was not damaged and only sediment from the creek had to be removed from it.

Some questions from the audience focused on how much it would cost to maintain the trail and the bridges.

Miller read from a memorandum that was written by Parsons in 2015, the engineering firm in charge of the bridge placement, that stated the cost to maintain the bridges would be $1.4 million over 30 years. The memorandum was reviewed by INDOT.

County commissioner Diana Biddle questioned that amount. “We don’t pay those figures now for every bridge we have in Brown County,” she said.

Bronson said that the county would be required to maintain the trail for a minimum of 25 years. He said the cost could range from $1,000 a mile to $30,000 a mile. The cost is dependent on several factors, including whether it’s a new terrain trail and how garbage will be taken care of, he said.

He said he knows of nonprofit groups who maintain a 20-mile section of the Panhandle Pathway in northern Indiana with the help of volunteers.

Pittman stated in previous meetings that he was against the use of eminent domain. At the Oct. 4 meeting, he said he understood why the trail route was picked.

“I think this trail, in its essence, was originally conceived as being a secluded type trail in the beauty of Brown County, not along a state highway,” he said.

“But on the other hand, the commitment was made early on … that we were not going to force our way across anybody’s property to make this trail happen. I am committed to that original commitment and I will stand by it. You guys have to help me get out of this situation I put myself in. There has to be a solution.”

Biddle said that INDOT was willing to participate in a public information meeting about the trail. She, Hammack and Kirlin will work to set a date for the meeting, which will be moderated.

Miller said he would like to see a timeline for future steps and the history of the trail project at that meeting.

At the county commissioners meeting that morning, Biddle said the purpose of the next public meeting will be a way to “figure out a way to go.”

“Obviously, Gary (Oliver) has his situation. I don’t want to play the he-said, she-said game. If we get all of the players in the room at the same time, we can’t play that game, and we can maybe come to a better path forward on how to get this project completed,” she said.

“The risk of not completing this project is a very substantial financial risk to the county.”

If INDOT is required to repay any federal highway administration money which is being used to build and move the bridges to Brown County, because of actions or inactions of Brown County, then the county would be responsible to pay that money back to INDOT, according to the interlocal cooperative agreement both parties signed at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017. County officials’ estimates for how much that could be have been in the millions of dollars.