The Altoona Water Authority Thursday approved an agreement under which an off-road motorcycle group can build a trail network on authority land in the Sugar Run area, despite opposition from neighbors — one of whom spoke against the project prior to the decision.

Because of the neighbors’ concerns, which include noise and the potential for compromised privacy, trespassing, fire danger and devaluation of high-end properties, the authority will suggest that the West Central Pennsylvania Off-Highway Motorcycle Association develop its network slowly, in stages, with the parties gauging its effect on residents as things proceed, authority general manager Mark Perry said Thursday.

Still, the network shouldn’t create the kind of issues the neighbors are worried about, as the motorcycles themselves aren’t very loud, won’t be going very fast and are equipped with spark arresters — even as association members have shown themselves to be responsible in their presentations and in conducting cleanups in the area, and even as the network will include a buffer to avoid trespassing and privacy violations, said Perry and others.

The network won’t be “a speedway,” but more of an “agility course,” Perry said.

Moreover, in creating the trails, the association will use only hand tools, nipping stray branches but not removing whole trees, to form a narrow trail unsuitable for four wheelers, which will be prohibited anyway, Perry said.

The trail may take two or three years to develop, said authority land manager Katie Semelsberger.

The agreement will allow either party to back out at any time, she said.

Significant opposition to the project emerged at a public meeting dedicated to the trail proposal in September, with one neighbor threatening a lawsuit.

“It’s not a NIMBY (not in my backyard) issue,” said Longview Drive resident Greg Drew on Thursday.

He doesn’t have a problem with the motorcycle association per se, Drew said.

But the proposed creation of a trail network has been “a bit of a surprise” to people like him, who had moved to the area never imagining such a thing might happen.

He’s wondering “what it means for us in (terms of) noise and destruction,” Drew said, adding that any noise in the area tends to “reverberate up through.”

He’s not sure that a trail network is the best use of Water Authority property there, he said.

And while he’s aware there will be rules and regulations for the network, he is concerned about oversight.

It would seem there should be plenty of alternative trails in other places that association members could use, Drew said.

The project for the authority represents an opportunity to open public ground for public uses, according to a written statement that Perry provided after the meeting.

“The City of Altoona owns thousands of acres of public watershed, and we wanted to expand recreation opportunities to a broader audience that otherwise do not have the privilege to enjoy them to the fullest,” the statement reads. “Public spaces are intended to serve the ENTIRE community, not just a select few.”

The Game Commission will patrol the area on the authority’s behalf, as part of a partnership that covers other parts of the watershed also, helping provide the oversight that Drew spoke of, according to Semelsberger.

Years ago, riders had plenty of trails to use, but that’s no longer true, association President Seth Long told the board, when he first spoke publicly about the project.

The area within which the network will be built is between the mainline tracks and Sugar Run Road and comprises about 600 acres, although the network itself will not occupy nearly that big an area, Semelsburger said.

Board member Jesse Ickes cast the only dissenting vote.

“The authority has put in a lot of work” on the project, Ickes said afterward, when asked to explain. “(And) I believe the group will carry out (its responsibilities) well.”

But he has concerns about motorized vehicles in the woods, concerns that include the noise they’ll make — and which “dovetail” with the concerns of the residents, he said.

His opinion would likely be different if bicycles were the vehicle to be used, he said.

He’s also concerned about potential liability if someone gets hurt.

The authority specifically disclaims liability for any potential accidents, as trail users will ride at their own risk — although lawsuits are always possible, Perry said after the meeting.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.