Sheepskin trail in Point Marion means power plant plans need revamped
POINT MARION — Representatives with a Boston-based company hoping to develop a hydroelectric power facility at the Point Marion lock and dam say their engineers have gone back to the drawing board after realizing concerns about the impact the project would have on the community.
Representatives from Free Flow Power Corp., (FFP), said at a community meeting in the borough earlier this week that the company has scrapped its original plans to construct the facility after visiting the proposed project site and realizing there had been a serious lack of communication regarding the proposed Sheepskin Trail.
“We weren’t aware of the Sheepskin Trail,” said Lea Tyhach, FFP associate general counsel and director of regulatory affairs, of the original plans that required development along what appeared to just be an unpaved road. “The reception to that was not good.”
Paving of the Sheepskin Trail is set to begin sometime this summer. Once completed, the 34-mile trail will connect Point Marion to the Great Allegheny Passage and the Potomac National Heritage Trail with the Mon River Trail system in Morgantown, W.Va., and create an abundance of recreational, cultural and heritage tourism opportunities, proponents say.
“It looks like in our initial design, we made some mistakes,” said Tom Feldman, FFP vice president of project development. “What we heard loud and clear was, ‘You’re proposing an access road directly on a trail the community has spent a lot of time and funds developing.’ The project won’t go forward unless it is compatible with the community and takes into account recreational users and environmental concerns.”
Initial concerns included the elimination of the park’s fishing pier and the prospect of transmission lines running through the park.
Officials didn’t learn of the plans to construct the hydroelectric facility until January, when the borough received a request for public input from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said borough Councilwoman Victory Evans, after FFP sought licensing from the federal agency.
“I think we’re at a point where everyone understands that the Sheepskin Trail can’t be impacted,” said Donna Holdorf, executive director for the National Road Heritage Corridor, which has been assisting with plans to develop the hiking and biking trail.
FFP representatives who traveled from Boston to attend the meeting said they hope to continue forward by developing new plans.
“There is a great opportunity to make beneficial use of an untapped resource without interfering with the purpose of the Army Corps of Engineers’ lock-and-dam facility, in this case, navigation,” Feldman said of the proposed project, one of several nationwide that would harness the energy of flowing rivers using existing dams built many years ago for critical infrastructure purposes such as navigation or flood control to produce electricity.
Point Marion is one of six communities FFP is considering as potential sites for reduced-cost hydroelectric power production along the Mon River, with four sites in Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia, Feldman said.
The company hopes to begin construction as soon as 2016, and have the facility fully operational by 2018.
Neal Christopher, legislative assistant to Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, asked about any job creation prospects the project might provide.
Feldman said that up to 25 full-time jobs would be created during the 18-month construction phase, and one to three permanent positions would be created as part of ongoing operations. He added that contractors would be pooled from the local labor force, but was unable to describe the bidding process, saying that the Point Marion project was among the first set of projects being developed and that a bidding precedent had yet to be set.
“In order for the community to get behind the project, there needs to be a tangible benefit for the community,” Feldman said, adding that FFP might sponsor a portion of the Sheepskin Trail and maintain it according to the vision of its developers or make a donation to an area parks and recreation organization. “Ultimately, we want to make the community excited about it.”
Also necessary to the plans is the construction of an access road to the facility, so that trapped inorganic debris can be cleared on a daily basis, Feldman said.
Suggestions to share the trail with the access road were quickly dismissed, with some citing liability concerns and others saying that if one motorized vehicle were to be allowed on the trail, others would assume it was okay for them to traverse the path with their vehicles.
Those in attendance did give consideration to running the access road parallel to the trail, however, provided that those plans did not negatively impact the plans of private property owners who hope develop waterfront property into campgrounds.
“There’s only so much width down there and there’s still going to be the same right-of-way and power line access” issues to consider, said David Jordan, who purchased the property between the riverbank and trail as an investment. “I want to be able to build up to my property line. If something can be done without being too detrimental to me, I’d be willing to do it.”
Councilman Gary Reynolds described Jordan’s blessing as “the key” to the project being a success.
All in attendance agreed that the first step in proceeding forward with new plans was to identify property lines dividing county property from private property from Fifth Avenue in the borough to the West Virginia state line.
The Sheepskin Trail is approximately 20-feet wide including the culverts that border the 10-foot, standard-sized trail pavement, said Holdorf, who encouraged continued conversation between Feldman and Jordan.
“Let’s continue the dialog and continue to improve what started out to be crappy,” Feldman agreed.
Other concerns raised at the meeting included the elimination of traditional fishing spots along the river.
Fishermen would not be allowed to use the proposed access road should it run on the riverbank side of the trail. “It’s too big a liability,” Holdorf said. “All it takes is one second for a driver to look away.”
“Without change, there’d never be butterflies. They might have to find somewhere else to fish, and it might even be better. Things do change,” Evans said.
“We’ve made a giant step forward tonight,” said Holdorf in conclusion. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity here. We just need to figure out how it all works together.”