BELLWOOD -- Antis Township supervisors recently voted to exercise a $148,000 purchase option on 92 acres between Lower Riggles Gap Road and northern Juniata -- land to host the southernmost portion of a trail the township wants to build from Bellwood to Altoona.
It is Phase 3 of a project whose other two phases are still being planned.
The seller is Antis Salvage, a company that formerly cleaned and refurbished railcars on the property, which is about 1.6 miles long and about 230 yards wide on average, according to rough calculations based on a map provided by Township Manager Lucas Martsolf.
Supervisor C.J. Caracciolo abstained from voting at the recent meeting and recused himself from all discussions and negotiations on obtaining the Phase 3 ground, because of a family connection with Antis Salvage.
A $74,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources paid for half the purchase cost, while the township paid the rest.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development paid $31,000 toward environmental assessments of the property, with the township paying $14,000, according to a memo from Martsolf to the supervisors.
Thus, the total investment so far in the ground is $194,000. The supervisors voted 4-0 in April to enter into the sale agreement, according to the memo.
If the supervisors would have chosen not to exercise the option, the township would have had to return the $105,000 invested by the state and would have forfeited the $14,000 it spent on environmental assessments, the memo stated.
While the Phase 3 ground wasn't originally in plans for the trail, officials became aware that it could make sense to add it when it considered obtaining the ground for Phase 2.
Phase 2 runs between Becker Road and Lower Riggles Gap Road.
The Phase 3 ground was owned by the same party and a trail -- in places an unpaved road -- already exists through the property, which will reduce ultimate development costs, according to the memo.
The environmental assessments determined that while there are detectable levels of metals and other contaminants in the ground, in groundwater and in sediment in a creekbed, based on borings in areas thought to be most likely a problem, none of the concentrations rise to levels that would require a cleanup, according to a township summary of the environmental report.
"The findings of the report are good news," the summary states. "The presence of a chemical or toxic metal in amounts below Act 2 thresholds should not prevent a site from being utilized."
Still, the report recommends removal of a large batch of railroad ties, because of the creosote in which the ties are soaked.
Old railroad cars and almost all of many truck trailers have already been removed from the site.
The environmental assessments satisfy the township's due-diligence obligation before its purchase of the property, the summary states.
The assessments "also alleviate a long-standing environmental concern in the township," assuring residents that the trail use that is contemplated won't disturb "the low levels of chemicals deep beneath the surface," the summary states.
Potential funding for trail development on the property could come from a PennDOT set-aside program.
In 2017, that "highly competitive" program provided $876,000 for construction and inspection of the Phase 1 portion, the memo states.
DCNR is paying for Phase 1 design and engineering costs, according to the memo.
Phase 2 construction funding hasn't been secured yet.
The eventual application for funding of Phase 3 development could be a "multi-municipal effort," according to the memo.
Cooperation between municipalities and the connections that the trail will make between those municipalities should enhance the appeal of the trail project for funding agencies.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.