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Council declines immediate funding for My Path trail study, asks for more review
Summary
A $12,000 request to hire a planning institute for a regional trail study was presented by Kyle Hann; council members questioned prioritization during pending jail financing and voted to take no action at this meeting.
A request from the Owen County Community Foundation to provide $12,000 for a regional 'My Path' trail planning study was presented to the council but not approved.
Kyle Hann described trail counters and an economic‑impact analysis showing increasing use and grant success; he asked the county to fund the Epley Institute at Indiana University to develop a regional trail plan that would help connect to neighboring counties and state parks. Council members acknowledged the trail’s benefits but repeatedly raised the current fiscal context: the county is evaluating multi‑million‑dollar jail financing and is operating with constrained discretionary funds.
After questions about whether the requested amount was the full cost and whether the study would lead to additional county requests, a motion to take no action on the funding request was made and carried, with one member abstaining due to a conflict of interest (the member sits on the trail board). The presenter said he would stay in touch and share updated usage counts and potential routes.
Next steps: proponents will continue fundraising and planning with regional partners and report counts and potential connection options; county staff suggested revisiting the request when fiscal capacity is clearer.
