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Proposed hospital walking path prompts easement, liability and expansion concerns
Summary
A walking-trail committee described a grant-funded trail segment around the hospital; commissioners questioned locating initial work on county property, raised liability and future expansion concerns, and proposed limiting the path to the hospital's west and north sides with a county right to reclaim land if needed.
Members of the Prairie Sage Walking Trail Committee and a Hospital Board representative presented a proposed walking path around the Chase County hospital and described a 25-year easement that would run across county property. The committee said it has spent $35,000 in planning and gathered about $90,000 in donations as part of a grant-match for a $250,000 grant specific to this trail segment.
Commissioners said they were surprised the initial phase had been advanced on county property without Board approval. They expressed concerns about liability for a public trail on county land and about preserving the county's ability to reclaim the easement area if the hospital needs to expand during the 25-year term. Commissioner Jacci Brown questioned why private landowners approached for easements had refused, asking why the county should approve a route when neighbors declined.
The Board proposed narrowing the route to the west and north sides of the hospital and requiring language in the easement that allows the county to reclaim the property for hospital expansion within the 25-year period. Trail committee members said they would take the proposal back for committee consideration and return to the Board when ready.
