Jun. 12—LOWVILLE — The idea to transform dozens of miles of railroad track into multi-use recreational trails is not new to Lewis County, but this time, county officials are taking a different approach. They have started the process to take the tracks they claim are abandoned by eminent domain.

The county wants to acquire three sections of track across 44 parcels of land consisting of about 37 linear miles, all belonging to Batavia-based Genesee Valley Transportation Co. through its railroad subsidiaries, the Lowville and Beaver River Railroad and the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern Railroad.

Unlike the last time the county was close to buying two spurs of the track to turn into a recreation trail in 2012, this time the railroad company and the county could not agree on a price and GVT is not interested in selling.

Just like last time, however, landowners with property cut by the tracks have been vocal against the county's rail transformation plan in public meetings.

"I can tell you that the landowners are not in favor of doing that for many reasons," Timothy Newton said during the Lewis County board's May meeting. "No one seems to be able to answer the question of who would be liable if they went off those trails and went onto private land. Nobody wants to deal with that."

Mr. Newton, who has been renting land from Herbert D. Yancey since 2004, spoke on behalf of a group of about 15 people — either track-adjacent landowners or others who rent and work farmland hosting railroad lines between Lowville and Carthage — during the public comment period of the meeting.

"We're in favor of doing something good for Lewis County. We really support that but most of them (landowners) don't want it in between, in their backyard or going in the middle of their land," he said. He summarized landowners' concerns as "liability, trespassers and people that just disrespect the land."

Second-generation dairy farmer Brian R. Reape also spoke during the May meeting and had lobbied against the rails-to-trails plan 20 years ago.

"Almost weekly I have people go past my posted signs and have to ask them to leave. You would be putting a trail in the middle of our lands that would be hard for us to manage. We'll call it a hardship for us to do business as we're doing business now," Mr. Reape told legislators. "My family's been there for 75 years and I plan to be there a while longer."

Other landowners agreed with Mr. Reape about trespassers during interviews following the meeting. They anticipate the situation would be made worse if people were able to cross their land on trails because there would be nothing to stop them, leading to liability issues for any damage done to their property or, potentially, accidents or injuries that happen when people leave the track.

Mr. Reape began his address to the board noting agriculture's contribution to the county's economy — about $271 million in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's data — which he felt was not brought into discussions enough on issues that impact farmers. By the end of his remarks, he gave a more personal account of local farmers' narrow profit margins, of which "every nickel goes back into the county (economy)."

His frustration, bordering on anger, was evident as he finished his comments.

"There's no way we can absorb any losses from what you're trying to do with this. We can't. We're not going to put up with this. It's just not going to happen. That's all I have to say," he said.

While some landowners interviewed said they would be less concerned if the trails were only to be used for hiking or bicycling, others said it would still be a disturbance.

"Cows are skittish," Mr. Reape said in a subsequent interview. "So yes, the motors will scare them but so will people even if they stay on the track. I had a cow that chased after a woman pushing a stroller where I used to graze them. That's why I moved them here where no one would be walking by."

He added that stress on the cows can also cause them to produce less milk.

Joanne and Rod Dicob own about 168 acres off Route 812 along both banks of the Black River, including both the longest transom bridge in the county and the steal girder bridge across the Black River at the foot of their property in front of their house.

While pointing out the distance from the back porch where they enjoy their view of the valley below, they recalled sitting on the porch one day when kayakers coming down the river during an event stopped at the sand bar on their shore and walked onto their property to relieve themselves mid-paddle for lack of a bathroom facility.

"How will the county stop that?" Mrs. Dicob said. "I already volunteer my land for snowmobilers but when I started it was just for the local riders. Now it's not just them and they don't stay on the trail. How will the county keep all the people on the trail from coming onto my property and doing whatever they want?"

Mrs. Dicob said although it's been longer than she can remember since the last train came down the tracks, it never bothered her or her family when they did because it was on a regular schedule and no one was getting on and off the train — it was just passing through.

The landowners have many questions about what the county will do to protect them. What will be done to keep people on the trails? Will there be fencing or tree lines? Will there be increased law enforcement or cameras along the trail? What kind of signage will be put up to discourage people from roaming around on private land or from driving ATVs on the trails late at night near homes? Will there be portable toilets placed along the trails and maintained by the county?

"They're good questions that we're eager to work with them to answer but there's no way we can answer them right now," said County Manger Ryan M. Piche. "We are open minded. We want to work with landowners. We absolutely need to talk about situations where the trail is too close to property they want to protect. We have to look at this on a case-by-case basis, but I think the message we want to get out to everybody is that we're not at that level yet. We're just getting a survey done."

When asked if landowner concerns and suggestions will be taken into consideration during the planning process if the eminent domain bid is successful, Mr. Piche's response was positive, but frustrated.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. We want to do all of those things. We should do all of those things. It's good government to do all of those things. We've offered to talk about all of these things with the landowners but they haven't responded to that," he said.

Mrs. Dicob sent an email to Mr. Piche at the end of last year when she learned of the renewal of the county's rails-to-trails efforts to which Mr. Piche responded with an invitation to her and the other landowners to come to his office and talk through their concerns.

She acknowledged she did not respond or tell the other landowners, upset that no one from the county was willing to speak to them about her email exchange with Mr. Piche.

"I didn't tell the others about it because I felt the county's mind was made up and it was futile to go there and talk to him," Mrs. Dicob said.

For her, there is no acceptable compromise that would result in a trail on the railroad tracks and bridges that run through her property because to put a trail across the land is not what her ancestors who purchased the land intended.

Mr. Newton said he and Mr. Piche had a conversation during which Mr. Piche had extended the same invitation to set up a meeting with the group of concerned landowners, but Mr. Piche said he has yet to hear back and other landowners did not know the invitation had been extended.

The skepticism landowners along the northern tracks have for the county's assurances that their concerns will be addressed has myriad sources. They thought the trail problem was over in 2012 when the board voted it down despite having secured a grant to pay for the tracks. The nay votes were because motorized recreation vehicles would not have been allowed on the resulting trails, unrelated to landowner concerns.

No one from the county had contacted landowners who would be impacted by the change when the plan resurfaced despite being aware of their concerns about the switch from tracks to trails.

The county's intention to acquire the track through eminent domain had not been discussed publicly by the board. A number of land owners said they found out through channels at GVT.

County attorney Joan E. McNichol said that the board's discussion of eminent domain took place last fall in an attorney-client privilege session that is not subject to state Open Meetings Law.

Although there are people who own land next to the tracks in favor of the trail expansion, none of them have been to public meetings to share their points of view and would not speak on the record.

People against the trails also attended and spoke at the General Services Committee meeting in mid-May during which Mr. Piche gave a presentation about rails-to-trails both in general and specifically about the county's current intentions.

During the county's June board meeting on Tuesday, in addition to Mrs. Dicob, Larry L. Pacola addressed the board on behalf of landowners along the tracks and called into question the accuracy of the often-cited Jefferson Community College survey released in May that queried roughly 500 county residents about the conversion of the tracks to mixed-use trails for both motorized and non-motorized recreation. The survey found 80% of respondents were in favor of using railways to expand the trail system with, specifically, multi-use trails combining motorized and non-motorized recreation.

The 2021 county-wide survey conducted by JCC found a higher percentage of residents — 87% — who wanted more walking, hiking and bicycling trails, compared to 74% who wanted more ATV and snowmobile trails developed.

"Myself and some fellow landowners obtained nearly 400 signatures of landowners and Lewis County taxpayers that are opposed to it," Mr. Pacola said. "Personally I talked to 40 people and I didn't find anyone interested in this trail system. I understand what you're trying to do for the community, but we do not want it on our land."

He left a bright yellow folder thick with the signature-filled pages of the petition for the board's consideration.

During the previous meeting, board Chair Lawrence L. Dolhof cited an existing conversion as an example of how the new trails would work. About 4.1 miles of multi-use trail was converted from its original function as a railway from the village of Lyons Falls to Burdick's Crossing Road in the town of Greig.

He and county Real Property Director Candy Akin, who lives near the Lyons Falls trail, responded to concerns for walkers on multi-use trails with ATVs going through at high speeds. They said they have witnessed riders slowing down when walkers or horses are on the trail and that there haven't been any accidents with walkers and ATVs since the 1990s when the trail was created.

During each county meeting, at least one legislator pointed out that some trails will be reserved for non-motorized recreation only.

"It is still very early in the process," Mr. Piche has said on multiple occasions, estimating that it could take five to 10 years to convert all of the rail that ultimately gets designated for trail. Although planning may be done as a whole, implementation of the plan will happen incrementally as funding is secured and solutions to challenges are found.

Communications with landowners are not, however, the county's only challenge.

A straight purchase of the tracks along the lines of the deal negotiated in 2012 was preferred by the county, but the attempt to do that didn't get far.

"We tried very hard to meet with GVT and we've made offers to them based on the reduction of tax assessments on all of their lines and I think we've made very generous offers," Ms. McNichol said. "GVT refused our offers, so this (eminent domain) is the only option we've had."

Ms. McNichol declined to provide the exact amount offered to the company for the parcels.

According to information provided in Mr. Piche's presentation, GVT's rail property assessment for the 14 parcels in the Lowville-Carthage spur totals about $253,000, while the 20 parcels in the Lowville-Croghan spur have an assessed value of about $126,000, bringing the total value of both spurs that were included in previous rails-to-trails negotiations to $379,000.

The 2012 deal involved the county paying $425,000 for the 10-mile Lowville and Beaver River Railroad from Lowville to Croghan and $1 for the 17 miles of Lowville Industrial Track from Lowville to Carthage. GVT would have removed and kept the metal rails and ties from the latter track for the conversion to trails and the Lowville and Beaver River line would have remained intact for use by the Railway Historical Society of Northern New York, based at the railroad's former depot in Croghan, for the scenic railroad that has now been in discussion for 30 years.

With the new addition of the rail from Lyons Falls to the county line — 15 parcels valued at about $146,000 — the total assessed value for all three sections of rail the county seeks to own is about $525,000.

Ms. McNichol said the assessments were lowered in 2015 or 2016.

According to GVT's Vice President of Strategic Planning C.D. "Charlie" Monte Verde, even if an offer had been at an acceptable level, the discussion still would not have progressed because their perspective has changed.

"When it comes down to it, we are interested in developing these corridors. We're not interested in selling them," Mr. Monte Verde said.

That is a different approach than the company has taken for more than 20 years, during which the only maintenance on the railways and their easements has been by the Railway Society.

Mr. Monte Verde acknowledged that the company could have done more up to this point to find industrial customers in the county interested in using the railroad, but they are now better positioned to do so and have applied for a federal rail safety grant that will be used in part for "design and engineering work for elements of some of our inactive properties in the area."

He stopped short of committing to such work for any Lewis County lines.

"Although the Lowville-Carthage and Lowville-Croghan lines are inactive, they are not 'abandoned,' as described by county officials," Mr. Monte Verde said.

Ms. McNichol, however, said the county "received notice from New York state that some of these lines were abandoned in 2017 or 2018."

"The state is under obligation to notify local municipalities that could have a public purpose for the tracks," she said, which reignited the rails-to-trails movement for county leaders.

"We know that most of these lines have been abandoned as far as use," she said. "You can tell by the size of the trees that are growing right in the middle of the tracks."

The most recent map of "active" railroads, dated 2019 on the state Department of Transportation's website, indicates all of GVT's lines in the county are active.

Mr. Monte Verde said his company does not anticipate the county's eminent domain effort will be successful.

"We have communicated to the county that a local government cannot use eminent domain to take ownership of privately held railroad property. As a railroad, we are an essential element of interstate commerce and are governed by the (federal) Surface Transportation Board. We are confident that this will oppose any efforts at overreach against us as a private landowner," Mr. Monte Verde said. "We are confident in our position and ability to prevent this adverse-acquisition attempt by the county. We will do what we need to do to see this defense through."

The county is also confident in the appropriateness of its actions to acquire the tracks and some employees were under the impression that the eminent domain bid for the tracks submitted in January was already completed.

On March 24, the state police were contacted by GVT's superintendent for the Lowville and Beaver River Railroad because the county highway department was digging up the section of track that crosses East Road in the town of Lowville. The highway department stopped digging after the department head was informed the county does not own the tracks.

Ms. McNichol said GVT has filed a "notice of claim" to replace the rail. She did not comment on whether the county intends to replace the track or wait until the eminent domain process is complete.

During their Tuesday board meeting, legislators took the next step in the process by approving $115,000 of the $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money set aside to improve recreation opportunities in the county. The money will be used to hire C.T. Male Associates, Latham, to conduct a survey of the railway lines and related structures along the three targeted railroads.

Ms. McNichol said if there are no delays or legal hiccups, the surveying will take about six months, after which assessed values will be assigned to the property. According to GVT's website, the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern Railroad consists of 124 route miles of track in Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Oneida counties, with their main interchange locations in Carthage and Utica — the line's base and railroad yard.