Firefly Trail Inc. is exploring the possibility of adding a spur from Crawford to Lexington.
John Kissane, the Firefly Trail’s development coordinator, seemed to surprise Oglethorpe County Commission Chair Jay Paul and the commissioners with the news at Monday’s meeting, but they unanimously approved his request for their support to prepare a grant proposal to plan the spur.
“I’ve never heard Lexington mentioned before,” Paul said after the meeting.
The proposed path between Crawford and Lexington wouldn’t affect the plan to build the trail from Winterville to Greene County.
Firefly Trail Inc. plans to apply for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant, through the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The project wouldn’t fund trail construction, but would enable planning of the trail along the “most desirable corridor” from Arnoldsville through the Smokey Road Community to Crawford and Lexington, according to a statement from Firefly Trail Inc.
This grant would fund planning, not trail construction. The application deadline is Jan. 30.
Kissane said the organization has “heard for a few years that people in Lexington wished the trail would come over there.” He said Tuesday that he spoke with Ronnie Boggs, who is on Lexington’s City Council, which was scheduled to meet Thursday night.
“We feel like for this grant, which emphasizes safety and connecting communities, this just seemed natural to focus on the cities here and because there’s interest (from Lexington),” Kissane said.
He also mentioned that Firefly board members met with five residents of the Smokey Road Community, who were excited about the prospect of the trail.
“We knew there was interest, but they’re 100% excited about it,” he said.
Firefly Trail Inc. said benefits from the spur would include:
- Increased recreational opportunities for people of all ages.
- Enhanced safety for non-motorized transportation.
- Improved mobility and community connectivity, including for students who walk and bike to school, as well as users of Bryan Park.
- New economic development opportunities.
- Partnership and collaboration among the several communities.
“Should the grant be awarded and the project go forward, prospects for construction funding in the future will be significantly strengthened,” according to the statement.
In other news, the BOC:
- Heard a presentation from Judge Warren Caswell, representing the Northern Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court. Paul said the board had not heard from him before, so it was an opportunity to learn about the court and its responsibilities.
- Unanimously approved Vinh Tran’s request to withdraw his rezone request from general agriculture to intensive agriculture to build poultry houses. The Zoning Board had recommended denial.
- Unanimously approved Eric Dove’s request to rezone Tax Parcel 007 102 from general agriculture to agriculture residential in order to subdivide for family.
- Unanimously approved Sherry Smith’s request to rezone Tax Parcel 009 153 from general agriculture to agriculture residential in order to subdivide.
- Unanimously re-appointed Mary Frey to the Library Board of Trustees and unanimously appointed Beverly Nation to a vacant seat on the library board.
- Unanimously approved moving forward with pursuing iWorq software, which would streamline public works projects, ease reimbursements for FEMA projects and make it easier to grant permits, county officials said. The funding would come from SPLOST.
- Unanimously approved the Handtevy system for EMS. The app assists with protocols in electronic format and automatically adjusts for weight of the patient. Josh Robinson, the EMS deputy director, said it will be especially useful in high-stress situations, where the app will automatically calculate dosages that need to be administered. The cost is covered by a grant for the first year, with a renewal cost of about $3,500 after the first year.
- The consent agenda was unanimously approved. It included PTSD insurance that is now state-mandated.
- There was no public comment.