ATHENS, Ohio — The organization that is developing the Baileys Trail System is at risk of losing nearly $200,000 in annual funding after the Athens County Commissioners opted not to continue its financial support this year.
At the commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, the Athens County Commissioners declined to renew its $90,000 annual membership fee in the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia. ORCA, based in Chauncey, is a council of governments spearheading the Baileys Trail System.
The city of Athens also is an ORCA member, paying the same dues as the county. However, the city’s membership is tied to the commissioners’ support, so it is uncertain if the city will remain a paying member of ORCA. ORCA could lose out on $180,000 next year if the city decides to follow the commissioners’ move.
Athens Mayor Steve Patterson told the Independent that Athens City Council would have to amend the ordinance authorizing the city’s financial support “to where it isn’t tied to the county’s membership.”
The commissioners’ decision is part of nearly $400,000 in budget cuts to county expenditures this year. Commissioner Charlie Adkins said “almost every department” in the county cut their budgets this year, including the sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices.
Commissioner Lenny Eliason told the Independent, “We don’t have the funds available in our budget to do it this year. … The council of governments needs to stand on its own. It can’t be a subsidy from the county and the city.”
The county has paid $270,000 in annual membership fees to ORCA since 2021, and gave it an additional $234,240 last year as revenue replacement through its American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Commissioner Chris Chmiel said he was in favor of continuing county support of ORCA.
“We didn’t vote to leave ORCA, we voted on our budget,” Chmiel said. “I was hoping that there could have been a conversation — we could have had the executive director in.”
ORCA Executive Director Jessie Powers told the Independent that the organization did not anticipate the commissioners’ budget cut.
Chauncey Mayor Amy Renner said the commissioners’ decision to withdraw funding was “disappointing” and that the county saw the village as “expendable.”
“The smaller communities, we don’t have the financial capacity to provide a membership fee to ORCA,” Renner said. “When this membership structure was designed, that was what — everybody had that in mind, the members of ORCA — and so we rely on the county and the city of Athens for that extra level of advocacy that’s needed to support ORCA.”
Eliason is a member of the ORCA board; Patterson is its chair and Renner is vice-chair. Other board members are Tom Cangemi, Nelsonville city manager; Jay Kline, Buchtel Village Council member; and Tim Warren, president of the York Township trustees. ORCA also has a board of advisers comprising representatives from local government, businesses and nongovernment organizations.
Patterson said that the city agreed to an annual contribution to ORCA on the basis that the county would contribute as well.
“So having learned that the county this year is not paying their membership — it puts the city in an interesting position to where by legislation, we too would not be paying,” Patterson said.
Ordinance 0-110-19 authorized financial support from its Transient Guest Tax (general fund) to ORCA through Dec. 31, 2040, “provided that the proceeds of such tax are sufficient, legally available, and lawfully appropriated for the purpose.”
However, the ordinance also states that “said authorization shall be contingent upon an agreement for the same level of financial support,” through the same period of time, from Athens County. The city gave ORCA $90,000 in 2023, 2022 and 2021.
An uncertain future
For nearly 10 years, the Baileys Trail System development has been touted for its potential to boost the local economy, especially in Chauncey. Eliason described the Baileys project and its trailheads as “helpful” to Chauncey, and Patterson said the project “has been positive for Athens and Athens County, as well as the other municipalities — in particular, Chauncey.” However, Adkins said he is unaware of any major impacts the Baileys has had on the village.
Renner said that the project is indeed making a difference in Chauncey. With “proposed growth and the new traffic coming in, we’re able to make a much stronger case for infrastructure investment,” she said. “And so we have acquired over $14 million so far in grants for infrastructure.”
For Renner, the trail system is “an incredible opportunity to help these smaller communities and the county build more sustainable economies.” She sees it as “an investment for the future.”
“To me, it’s a no brainer,” Renner said. “I’ve worked very closely on this project, I know how awesome it is, how incredible it is, how transformative it is to Chauncey. It’s been life-changing for us the amount of infrastructure investment that we’ve gotten from this project.”
It’s difficult for small towns — like Chauncey, with only about 1,000 residents — to make their cases before the state and other grantors because of the highly competitive nature of the industry.
“And when you’re competing with other communities, who are also small and distressed, it’s unfortunately, sometimes just not enough to not have that extra push that the Baileys gives us,” Renner said. “I think it’s been a really compelling story, for funders, to see this transformation that’s underway and to want to be a part of that. And to see that we’re really being proactive to try to become more sustainable and not continue to need that kind of support in the future.”
Renner, who has sat on the ORCA board since 2020, said she feels strongly that “the membership fee is more than justified in the benefits that the Baileys system provides Athens County and its residents and that it has an excellent return on investment.
“It’s really remarkable what staff have accomplished in such a short period of time,” Renner said. She’d been a part of the project on behalf of Chauncey since 2017, despite it being talked about for decades, she said.
“I’m really proud of the staff and the work that has been done so far,” Renner said. “We’re like leaders now, in a region, on outdoor recreation as an economic catalyst. And it feels like the momentum is being threatened now.”
Impact on ORCA
According to ORCA’s website, “Member Jurisdictions pay or donate membership dues, based on population density, to sustain ORCA’s development and management of the Baileys Trail System.”
Membership dues go toward “anything that’s supporting the organization,” including staff, and in the past trail construction, Powers said. However, “Membership dues don’t support the full overhead of work of staff,” she said, so the organization uses grant funds to cover the full cost.
ORCA will be OK for 2024, Renner said, “but it’s definitely adding a lot of unknowns about the future of ORCA after this year. And that’s really concerning for us and Chauncey.”
Much depends on what the city of Athens decides to do, Powers said.
Although located in Athens County, the Baileys Trail System “has the potential to diversify and strengthen SE Ohio’s economy,” according to an FAQ on the trail website. Because of the expected regional economic impact, ORCA has invited 16 southeast Ohio counties to become members.
“We can start to build those relationships to expand ORCA membership and to think about how we can sustain our operations long term without being solely dependent on — we’re not fully dependent now, but primarily dependent — on membership dues from the city and county,” Powers said.
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