Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: Okay. You're live. I'm happy to sign. So this is, Senate Transportation, and we're back live with, the rails trails budget, and you could give us your name and Sure. Thank you.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: For the record, I'm Jackie Cassino. I am the Agency of Transportation's Rail Trails Program Manager. The agency is responsible for 145 miles of rail bank trails across the state. This is inclusive of four trails. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail being the longest in the state and the longest in New England, but we also have the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, the BP Spur Rail Trail, as well as Delaware Hudson Rail Trail. These trails run through 31 towns across the state of Vermont. We cover 27 trailheads, 90 bridges, and seven thirty eight culverts. Rail Trail use is diverse and growing, I'm happy to say. We're averaging around 30 events annually that can draw in hundreds of visitors to these towns. We have permanent counters along all four trails, and although trail user volume varies, just looking at some of the daily trip counts, the LVRT in Morristown averages around 200 daily, around 75,000 annually in terms of trips. The BB Spur, for example, in Newport typically averages around 160 trips daily and up to 10,000 trips on an annual basis. So there's certainly some busy areas along our trails. We have various businesses operating along our trails, across our trails and adjacent to our trails. We, at this time, have four sixty one individual businesses that are registered with our Trail Friendly Business Program. We completed annual user survey. This year we had around four thirty one Trail users completed that survey, that's an area where we can dive into and get some additional information in terms of spending profile information, origin and destination, things like that. And I think it's always important to hit on that the economic impact of these trails cannot be overstated. They're a key accessible component of Vermont's outdoor recreation network, and they provide a key contribution to state tourism. So they directly contribute to local economic activities through lodging, purchasing of food, fuel, and gear. And just for a snapshot in time, the Northeastern Vermont Development Association in 2023 released an economic impact study just on the LVRT in Caledonia County, and that projected $4,700,000 in annual sales associated with the trail and the creation of up to 75 jobs in that region.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: Go ahead. Back on the last slide. Sure. Of the 145 miles managed, are they all banked?

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: They are. Either through state or federal process.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: Okay. And so the 12 that are banked but not are are they are those trails or do

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: They are trails. They are. So and they are trails that we either the agency of transportation has an agreement with the municipality to manage. An example of that would be the Bennington Rail Trail, or the state has an agreement, for example, with Forest Parks and Rec for the Colchester Causeway, and that line is rail linked as well.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: And when it's banked, that means it's possible that it could switch across.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Correct. We are essentially the state of Vermont is acting as a trail sponsor holding that line in perpetuity, and right now they are primarily recreational use. But if a train or a company was to come back and it was deemed up highest and best economic value for that train to run, and for that line to be reinstated, then that's how that process would work.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: And is the state opposed to operating or managing rail trails that are on rails that have been thrown out?

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: That's an interesting question, and I have to check-in with the folks above me and ask that. I'm not sure at this time. Typically, for the trails we manage, they are trails that the land is owned by the state, so

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: it's in our hopper. It's a great question. Okay. Sure.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Looking at how this program functions within the agency and key folks outside of the agency, we're a team of four staff and we cover 145 miles across the state. We do have the opportunity to hire typically up to two additional field staff during our peak field season, which is summer through fall. And then we do we are very fortunate to partner with organizations like VAST or the Men from Magog Trails Group to groom our trails during the winter. That's not something we we we do. That's a service they provide. We have agreements with them that stipulates how and when they can do that, and that ensures accessibility for trail users year round. We're also very fortunate to partner with our regional planning commissions. So we have contracts through the agency's TPI program on an annual basis to develop a work plan with them, and that enables us to have their assistance on a variety of tasks that we just don't have capacity to undertake. For So one example of those seven thirty eight culverts, that was my staff and RPC staff last year that were doing that work. Additionally, a critical component of what the Regional Planning Commissions do is to help stand up these rail trail councils. There's a rail trail council for every rail trail that the agency is in charge of. The primary functions of these councils are to really support engagement with our trail towns, to coordinate volunteers and local initiatives, to assist in trail promotion and outreach, to encourage educational programming, provide eyes and ears on the trail through its membership. And another key charge of these Rail Trail Councils is to ensure the implementation of their trail management plans. So we are required to have a management plan for each of these four trails based on our federal funding source, and that is something that really acts as a roadmap for not only for the agency, but for the Rail Trail Councils over the next three to five year timeframe. Switching gears and looking at our priorities over the next year, the program, as you all know, is still relatively new to the agency, having been established in 2022. Our focus over the last three years has really been emergency response and recovery, as well as establishing programmatic foundations. It's been a bit like driving a bus while putting the wheels on. And our program goal is to continue to work towards right sizing our program, to developing our appropriate systems and to manage these assets. Upcoming year priorities include asset management and integration into the agency system. We're just wrapping up management plans for the last three trails to work on completing what I call our special funded projects that were funded primarily through a one time source of funds, whether it was an earmark or carbon reduction program funds or transportation funds, to continue to work to wrap up our emergency projects, and a variety of other things that have been identified as priorities by the Rail Trail Councils. Looking at our proposed 2027 budget, the major buckets for us include operations and maintenance, capital projects and staffing. And just diving a little bit into what that means for the Rail Trail program under operations and management, that really includes small scale projects, whether it is end to end mowing, heavy brush cutbacks, small culvert replacement, bridge redecking, those sort of things. Anything that, you know, in terms of emergency recovery that's not covered by FEMA. It also includes equipment maintenance and purchasing, trail monitoring enforcement. So we do partner with our game wardens when there are enforcement issues along the trails, continuing asset inventory and inspection. And then we are also responsible for the marketing and promotion of these trails. So we do have a marketing budget for for that.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: I can't remember. We talked about this last year. I think it was last year. What's allowed on the rail trail? I can't remember hunting. Talking about hunting and fishing. They are allowed or they are not allowed.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Yes. So you can hunt and fish from the trail and use the trail as a sort of like a corridor to get to land to do those activities, but not permitted on like the 10 foot core of the trail itself, if that makes sense. Yeah.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: And we did have some changes about distancing from all trails with traps a few years ago that we spent missing them.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Then we had rail

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: trails. You would have a certain

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Exactly. And we only trap for nuisance animals and it's something that we do partner with the wildlife biologists within fish and wildlife and really look at a variety of treatments that we can undertake first before going to trapping. So we've had a lot of success with things like fever vaples. So when we can do that, that's obviously our preferred method.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: What did I think we do that? A year or two ago?

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: Yeah. I remember having a lot of talk about that there was something weird about the fishing part or something with the Yeah.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: That was what I was

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: gonna ask is I was in fish and natural resources, so at some point when we did a bunch of traffic

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: So it wasn't it wasn't traffic. It was about It

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: was about fishing that we did something slightly different than that. Maybe it was just

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: the wording was weird. Yeah. Way you talked about it.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: I think we probably included, and then it was recommended to get pulled out from the statutory changes because fishing and hunting and trapping are in another part of state statute. Have to go back and and

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: So if you step two feet off the trail, you can hunt. But if you're, like, standing on the trail, you

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: can't Right. You cannot, like, discharge a weapon. Right? You're staying on

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: the Or if you're, like, on a trail bridge, you can't fish off that. Oh. You could go around the edge of the river.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: Oh, it's a really good nuance. I should

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: I think that's why they too. Did it. Yeah.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: I think that that's why the issue is staining of the Right.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: That is a permitted use.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: That's you know, be able to fish on the trail.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: So I have go back and double check the exact language. I apologize.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: There are a bunch of bridges across the Lemuel. They are Perfect. You know? And you're on that thing.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: And what did some for ATVs to a Lampunga before you could

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Alongside.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: Travel a little bit to get to another trail or something?

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Yeah, so we do have crossings. Typically the private crossings for farm use or residential use and vehicular uses around the cross typically don't permit motor vehicles to go up the trail. We're happy to work with FASFA and others if there's ever a need for additional trail crossings to connect to their trails. It's very similar to what we would do with FASFA. We're continuing to work with community groups or organizations like the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and Lamoille County in particular. They are interested in additional fishing access spots along the LVRT and potentially the MVRT in Franklin County. So lots of where we can co locate these sort of programmatic uses. That's certainly what we're trying to do. Alright, getting back to the budget. Capital projects, I'll go into a little bit more detail in the next slide and that can obviously vary every year just depending on the projects that we have on deck. And then staffing costs are reflected here as well. So the majority of our programmatic funding derives from federal funding sources with an 80 federal contribution. And funding to support our activities has historically come from four primary sources: surface transportation block grant funds at 80%. We've been very fortunate to be a recipient of some congressional direct spend funds or earmarks at 80%. And then the carbon reduction program for projects that are eligible. So for example, the Osiskoit Valley Rail Trip this year should begin construction on an extension project from its current westernmost terminus in St. Albans and will go further into the downtown of St. Albans and marrying really what the city has invested in to increase shared use path and bike ped facilities from the downtown. If you think about it, that trail is 26 miles and trail users will have the opportunity to go from Richford all the way to Downtown St. Albans. Our planned twenty twenty seven projects are on this slide. They include a number of projects that are funded via other funding sources such as earmarks, carbon reduction program. And again, we've been really fortunate to have access to these funds for the building out of the trail system. And again, moving towards more of an asset management lens for these trails, it's really critical for us to continue to think about sustainable sources of funding moving forward. So the first block of projects on this slide highlight projects that were primarily funded through earmarked funds, and they include trailhead improvements. The second tier there looks at the St. Alden's Extension project, which I just spoke about. And then the third tier is looking at a number of community facilities, trailheads that were funded through the one time appropriation of transportation funds. And a lot of these went out through a community grant program over the last three years.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: Is there some place I can get some detail on these projects?

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Definitely, I'm happy to provide that. Oh, and it's in the the book, I think. It is. I'm happy to provide yeah. Think it it's not

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: in there. It's really it

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: has a pretty bare minimum. Yeah. I'm happy to provide

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: some of page those. Here in

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: Oh, there

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: are a few projects in.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Yeah. So we've been very fortunate Yeah. For all a number of

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: our The There's

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: a price point that

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: I might wanna write an article to his local paper about

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: Windsor County has a lot of stuff that could be raped.

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: That could be real true.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: Be real true. We could bank some things for

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: our children. You have to start banking.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Yeah. That's Are

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: they are they they still attract some? Is there anything?

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: We've got one well, there's one that runs I don't know.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: The West River Trail. Yeah. It's pretty popular. It's managed by a nonprofit. It's from a rail bed. It's a small rail bed.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: Yeah. It's every field

[Andrew Perchlik (Member)]: Probably not.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Tuna. Don't Tuna. Right?

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: I like this. Yeah. If I could get Of course. High verge, low kick Definitely. It would be Yeah, and you know,

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: we anticipate all of these projects will be completed by the 2027, which is really exciting. One of the projects that the Rail Trail Council is very excited about, as well as our historic preservation office, is the building out of an accessible path to the Fisher Cutter Bridge in Mulcair, which is the last remaining historic rail bridge in the state. It's one of eight left in the country, so it's really exciting. Right now, it's really segmented. There's a great parking area. Can't actually get up the trail that's to the bridge as well. Out to mid right now and it should be completed by June, so it's exciting. And that was it for my slides, but I'm

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: happy to take any questions. Folks, go ahead.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I don't really have any questions. I guess I just want to comment that I'm really grateful for the work that you do. The rail trails have been just such a success, I think, over the last few years. It's been incredible to see the partnership and the outdoor recreation that's been motivated by it. And I know during COVID, there was this, I think, big people were flooding the rail trails. So it's nice to see that although perhaps participation or use of that has started to stabilize, it's still growing. So we're still seeing interest. So Yeah. Well, I'll ask one question. So the vast network. Mhmm. Yeah. The snowmobilers. How does this relate? Because we had some there was some debates at one point a few years ago about usage. So how is that? Folks have to pay, they have to get there.

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: We just in time to increase

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: the fees. You have to get your VAST network passed. Then can you go on any of the how do your trails overlap?

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: Sure. Yes. So we have a master license agreement with VAST for three out of our four trails. So each trail except for the BP Spur. For the BP Spur, we have a master license agreement with them for Mayagog Trails, which they own a pretty extensive network right adjacent to the BP, but also you utilize the BP as well. So those stipulate when they can be on the trail, when they can groom, how communication works, how post season we can see the asset inventory, see the impact primarily to the bridge decks. And how that works is before the bass season, we communicate with the local clubs, and then during their they're allowed to be on the trail and put up their signs about a month ahead of their season start. And typically each of our Rail Trail Councils has at least one VAST member on it to continue And that line of then we're just really fortunate that between the Minformaga Trails Club and VAST, they groom these trails so they're accessible. I mean they are ADA accessible trails, that's part of the state's ADA outdoor rec network, and we would not be able to meet compliance if we didn't have them groomed by these clubs during the winter. So in general, it's worked really well. It is very rare, if ever, that I receive complaints. We do have lower speed limits often set in our downtowns and villages when communities ask for that. The same thing for the BB Spur. That is not used as a feeder trail or a quarter trail. The vast trail network goes across that trail to continue on to their larger network and there's a handful of residents that have access to get back to their homes. So it's a handful of sleds that might go up there. And then, you know, again, if there's ever any concerns or complaints that we would receive during the winter, we would reach out to VAST. They do have a safety committee. They work with law enforcement to go out and patrol areas if there's repeat issues. In general- It's a great work. Very well.

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: I think it's actually quite a really, it's quite tremendous. So thank you for a lot of work. Thank you.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks. Thank you all. Oh. The

[Rebecca "Becca" White (Vice Chair)]: last item on our agenda. This was my pitch.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: We already But just the last item. Did I miss something? I

[Jackie Cassino, AOT Rail Trails Program Manager]: told them.

[Richard Westman (Chair)]: Right. We're we're I thought it was go up. I guess, please.