Donora: Rails to trails payment may be withheld

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

Donora Council wants to delay payment of an invoice until it has a better understanding of the rails to trails feasibility study.

In a meeting Thursday night, council Vice President Jane Ackerman made a motion to withhold the payment of an invoice to D Martinak Planning and Consulting until council can meet with the owner Dennis Martinak and state Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township.

Cook initially pitched the project to Donora in the early months of his first term in 2017.

No council members remain from 2017 and there have been three borough administrators over the years. 

There are members of council still on board from 2019, however, who voted to approve getting grants from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of Community and Economic Development totaling $100,000.

But they were surprised to learn that the Request for Proposals for the feasibility study outlined a potential Mon Valley Coal and Steel Heritage Trail that would begin in Marianna and end in Monongahela — with a possible extension into Donora. 

Ackerman said she and borough Administrator Terri Petroske have been looking for paperwork and records related to the project, but have been unable to find anything. It’s unclear who wrote the Request for Proposals, but Ackerman said council was always given the impression the potential trail was supposed to end in Donora.

“If we had known what this project was, we would have never gone for these grants,” Ackerman said. “Sure, we want to help Monongahela in any way we can, but not at our own expense.”

The 25-mile route follows a Norfolk-Southern rail corridor, and as the RFP was originally written, it was known from the beginning that there is no direct rail line connecting that rail corridor to Donora. 

Part of the feasibility study involved researching the possibility of using the former Donora Southern Railroad line that would connect Monongahela to a potential trailhead in Palmer Park.

But as Martinak explained, more than one railroad trestle bridge between Donora and Monongahela no longer exists, so the infrastructure isn’t readily available. Additionally, some of that rail line runs through private property. 

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.