ATHENS, Ohio — The Athens County Commissioners will not pay a reduced 2024 membership fee requested by the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia council of governments, the agency that manages the Baileys Trail System.
The decision jeopardizes the county’s membership in the council of governments and, by extension, input on ORCA’s direction.
ORCA notified the county last month that it needed to pay a reduced membership fee of $30,222 or an “official resolved statement of intent to pay and timeline for payment” by Nov. 18.
Until ORCA adjusted its membership fee structure earlier this fall, the county had been asked to pay $90,000 annually for membership dues. In January, the commissioners removed the dues payment from the county’s 2024 budget.
By reducing the amount asked of the county, ORCA had hoped to revive the question of the county’s 2024 support. While Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel previously told the Independent he would support the commissioners paying the reduced fee in 2024, Commissioner Charlie Adkins previously said he would not.
The commissioners spent only about a minute considering ORCA’s recent invoice at their Nov. 12 meeting.
At the meeting, Commissioner Lenny Eliason said he didn’t think the commissioners could do anything “until we get our budget done.” He told the Independent after the meeting that he thought the discussion pertained to next year’s membership fee.
After Eliason’s comment, Chmiel told the commissioners, “I had another idea I was going to try to present to the ORCA board. Because we gave them $243,000 ARPA dollars last year, I was going to see if that would hopefully cover us for this year.”
The discussion then moved on.
While ORCA Director Jesse Powers said the county’s membership status would ultimately be up to the rest of the board, she said, “It seems that the reduced rate would be enough to allow them to pay membership.”
“To come back after the fact and ask for that ARPA investment to cover more than what it was originally provided for doesn’t seem like that’s something that’s been applied to other jurisdictions that have received ARPA investments from Athens County,” Powers said. “So I’m not really sure why that’s being asked of us.”
Alison Pierson, clerk for the Athens County Commissioners, told the Independent the county cut a check for $234,240 to ORCA in August 2023. Records obtained by the Independent show that the ORCA had requested that amount to support staff costs.
Chmiel told the Independent, “I do want to make sure everybody knows that I like the Baileys project. I ride my bike out there. I think it’s great. I just do think there’s some issues that need addressed. I’d like to try to — if I could be at the table — maybe try to, diplomatically, have those things addressed.”
Chmiel previously told the Independent that he felt ORCA had over-promised and under-delivered on what the Baileys Trail System would bring to Athens County.
In conversations with the Independent, Powers cited impact assessments to object to the commissioners’ issues with ORCA.
Even if the ORCA board accepts Chmiel’s proposal to apply the county’s ARPA funding for its 2024 membership dues, it’s unlikely to buy the county much more time on the council of governments.
The county’s 2025 dues payment will be required by the end of the first quarter of next year, per ORCA’s recently updated bylaws.
Adkins previously told the Independent he opposes ORCA membership. Eliason, meanwhile, also suggested he would not support a 2025 membership fee.
“I think ORCA is in a different spot, and we’re not in a position to be investing in Southeast Ohio as opposed to Athens County,” he told the Independent.
ORCA’s board members include representatives only of Athens County jurisdictions, although ORCA is currently in negotiations with Ross County about joining the council of governments as a paid member, Powers said.
ORCA extended an initial invitation for other counties to join as partners (rather than members) at no cost, with services to those counties provided by a consultant and funded by a grant.
Adkins and Chmiel also voiced concerns about ORCA’s regional focus in prior conversations with the Independent. Powers said she doesn’t know what to make of those concerns.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Powers said. “To me, as a professional working in rural development, I’m still confused by that.”
She said additional members from across the region would reduce the financial burden on individual members.
