The Mennonite Village’s narrow walking path along Oak Creek starts here. In the future the Village will have to build a 10-foot-wide multi-use path on its property, the council decided.
On Monday night the Albany City Council heard about two hours of public testimony that building a public “multi-use path” in the Mennonite Village retirement community was a bad idea. Then the council voted to require the path to be built anyway.
At issue was a land-use permit the Mennonite Village sought to carry out its long-planned expansion with the construction, in three phases, of 98 duplexes on land north of Oak Creek and west of Interstate 5.
In line with various city plans and a 2018 annexation agreement, the city permits require the village to build a “10-foot-wide Oak Creek Loop Trail and connector to the Albany Lebanon Trail multi-use trails with each phase of development.” (There is no Albany Lebanon Trail, and nobody is planning to build one.)
For safety and other reasons, Mennonite Village residents oppose having to build paved public trails near their homes, and they unanimously told the council so on Monday.
The city staff, however, insisted that the trails are part of adopted city plans and dropping them in the face of opposition would set a bad precedent.
Councilman Michael Thomson was alone in voting against approving the development plan with the trails included. In all the public testimony, he noted, nobody spoke in favor of the requirement.
The proposed trails were part of the South Albany Area Plan prepared in 2012. If Mennonite Village residents were aware of the planning process and its implications, I don’t remember this being mentioned in the newspaper coverage.
Now that years have passed, in retrospect this trail idea seems kind of unwise. The route leads nowhere except from Columbus Street to the freeway and back. Crossing to the south of Oak Creek to make an actual loop would require construction of a bridge. No way will the city or anyone else ever pay for that.
What Monday’s council action showed was that city plans are the law, even if they no longer make sense, and to the council majority, what the people most affected by city plans have to say about them doesn’t matter all that much. (hh)
Yep. That’s what it seemed to show.
Wow! Two hours of opposition testimony is. Zero in favor and the city council still approves.
Thank you Michael Thomson for listening. Same on all you others!
VOTE!
Somebody people voted for these council people. They did not just appear from space ships. Were there no competition for council seats or choice of whom to pick with debate and conversations in community. Or perhaps they came from outer spaces and we did not see them arrive. Interesting how this choices work.
The trail to nowhere. They are afraid that other contracts in the future will have same requests. Council stated we can put up signs to keep people out. ( WOW) It will cost every resident of the Village now and in the future. Such egos that the council has to refer “A contract is a contract”
They did not take into consideration changing times. Why do the villagers have to pay for the trail when the homeowners along Periwinkle Creek Trail did not.
I guess it is time for the people of Albany to elect representatives that actually represent what the majority want.
Sadly, our City Council seems to value their grand plan over the people. Examples: Downtown lighting and pavers over road repairs, pathway to nowhere over senior safety.
It appears the City Council has forgotten they were elected by the people to serve the people. Seems Albany City Council has become self-serving and not listening to the people who voted them into office.
“Solicit community input,
A false sense of inclusion
When the study results
Are a foregone conclusion”
Welcome to Albany
What’s the point of having a city council if the city staff makes all the decisions anyway?
Typical of the Dems who were elected–overbearing and my-or-highway. Now comes the lawsuit over eminent domain. Taxpayers will foot the bill for that too. Thank you Michael
for using common sense by listening.
Typical of this Councils…”Lett’em Eat Cake” attitude to public opposition to their gilded aims…
The Albany City Council continues to demonstrate their are slaves to their ideology and do not have common sense. Bicycles traveling on the same path as senior citizens is foolhardy. I walked that path many times with my 90s father and know it well. Accidents will happen. Build the bike trail on the other side of Oak Creek
This gives me a warm/fuzzy feeling, the Council is standing up for keeping your word when you make a deal, NOW, it is time for the Village to come back with proposals to ameliorate the problems, make changes at their own expense to make it safer and negotiate with the City for a better outcome.
Good for you Council.
Where have you been. Our lawyer did give alternatives. Plus NO ONE spoke in favor of the plan.
Just because somebody offers a different path doesn’t mean that anybody else has to accept it.The village made an agreement and it’s up to them to make a new one. One that.\nMakes up for the millions of dollars of value.They got by making the deal to begin with.
It is always a problem for the general population when a previous agreement does not meet changing times. It is true in Albany city council as it is in the originalist approach to our Constitution.
You know David, the solution to an “originalist approach to the Constitution” is in the Constitution, it is called an amendment, you know it has been done a number of times. This is no different, you want a change, propose one to the folks that are in power, get support for it and get it changed, if you agreed to do something in order to get an outcome you want and millions of dollars of benefit for you, live by your word, or come up with a solution that works for everybody, not just “I shouldn’t have to do it because I have come up with a problem that makes unthinking people feel sorry for somebody”
You can vote out city council people, but city staff runs the show, with a lot of DEI and woke policies, and they tend to make the city council feel like very important people and then get their way, its city staff that’s the problem, BIG TIME
Forgot to add this in, we need to elect
A mayor that does not limit people to 3
Minutes to get their point across, not been a good thing to limit democracy
I have an Albany address but don’t directly live in Albany (Millersburg). I have know people who have been residents at the Village even though I am not familiar with walking trails. From what article sounds like their village could become very public open which makes me wonder how safe are these venerable senior citizens. Potential liability lawsuits in the future?????
Where’s Ray K. with his sprinkling of “Balderdash” and Hog Wash.”
Too bad there isn’t a referendum process for ill-fated or ill-advised decisions such as this.
How about claptrap or bilge? In this rare instance, I concur 100% with Rich Kellum.
Mr. Quinn is correct that the city staff spoon feeds the city councilors information that supports the city’s goals. The elderly people living in the Mennonite Village have paid for and are still paying for their share of what they are receiving.
Mr. Kellum the city has always kept their word when it benefits them. They spend more taxpayer’s money covering up deals that work in their favor than fixing actual problems or issues.
What is going to take for people to realize that all we are to the city is human ATMs. Shut up and pay up.
Jeeze people on here are really ruffled by this. This has nothing to do with DEI or woke policies as some of you all love to harp on, but rather just a city council doing their best to stand right by their decision. The Mennonite Village will still expand and people will still want to buy in that community, I don’t think this trail will really affect their business. We will see how it plays out, but alas people will never be happy with whoever is in power.
I support the council’s decision, and I don’t think it has anything to do with DEI or “woke” policies, as some commenters are suggesting. This is simply an issue of long-standing land-use planning and the city applying the same rules to every development.
The requirement for a multi-use path wasn’t dreamed up last week—it was written into the South Albany Area Plan back in 2012 and reaffirmed in the 2018 annexation agreement. Whether the particular route feels useful or not, the city can’t just abandon adopted infrastructure plans every time a development reaches the construction stage.
I understand why residents don’t love the idea. Safety and privacy concerns are valid points. You can disagree with the usefulness of the trail, but calling it DEI or “woke” is just mislabeling a straightforward planning requirement.
My kiddos pointed out that some of the council, mayor and attorney should be more concerned about the well being of of the elderly because they are going to be in care homes in a few years. They are not like Mr. Hering, they are old lol. They were being serious about it. Kiddos know what is right and wrong, no matter what you can legally manipulate to get what you want.
I think this the public path is a great idea. I also think it makes a lot of sense to allow it to merge with Freeway Lakes Park and maybe then the county will make badly needed improvements there.
As far as the MV, I have accessed this path on a regular basis over the past few years and most of my encounters with the residents there have made me feel unwelcome, so that’s my take…