Henderson County Rail Trail Advisory Committee August 9, 2023

After Chuck McGrady called the meeting to order, Marcus Jones shared information about the bidding process. Unfortunately, only two bids were received, which was one bid short of the legal requirement. Calls made to companies who did not offer bids has helped redesign the bidding process, resulting in some changes to the timelines. Jones stated that the two bids received were from strong companies but were returned unopened as is necessary to maintain integrity of the process.  

Jones also shared that bridge delivery will be delayed by at least 250 days from initial estimates. Bridges are constructed whole off site and installed locally. This delay will not have an impact on preparation of the rest of the trail. Ken Shelton (member-at-large) asked for a timeline of construction. Jones said that start of construction is still expected this fall though paving may not occur until warmer spring weather.

Development of the Memorandum of Understanding covering security and maintenance of the ET continues. A final draft of this document is possible within the next 30-60 days, said Chris Todd, Henderson County Business and Community Development Director. Annual maintenance cost per mile is estimated at $5 – $10K annually.  Lower per mile costs are possible as the project adds miles. McGrady acknowledged that “Brevard and Henderson staff are fully engaged in this project,” expressing the intention that the two governments intend to share maintenance costs with one contractor, maximizing the option to scale costs across the entire ET.  

Mark Tooley (Friends of Ecusta Trail – FOET) stated that branding and signage work continues. He stated examples of branding will be ready by the next Advisory meeting. FOET is expected to be the “voice of the community” and may offer volunteers to monitor the trail for needed maintenance and general observation of trail use.  Selena Einwechter (member-at-large) suggested that research regarding the actual rules and laws governing public trail use is needed to ensure rule enforcement is backed by official documents. Doug Moon interjected that incident response must be clearly delineated in the MOU. 

Though the path is clear, the timeline remains a bit hazy. The next meeting of this group is set for October 11 at 10:00 A.M.