Fayette County Commissioners vote to use Eminent Domain to extend Sheepskin Trail
Fayette County Commissioners recently voted 2-1 to use Eminent Domain in order to purchase private property to continue with extending a recreational trail project in the county.
Negotiations with the property owner, Brian Krupa, have been ongoing since March 2024 in order to extend the Sheepskin Trail through his property in Springhill Township.
"We are trying to improve the quality of life in the county by providing more recreational opportunities for citizens while also attracting businesses," Commissioner Vincent Vicites said. "We're trying to make Fayette County a better place to live."
The Sheepskin Train currently travels over 30 miles from Dunbar to Point Marion.
The county said the extension is the next phase of the project, and the use of Eminent Domain is a last resort.
"We offered $4,300 for an approximate 50-foot-long strip of the abandoned rail. We are one year into the process. Grants have been secured for this section," Commissioner Scott Dunn said.
According to Dunn, all other property owners came to an agreement with the county without invoking Eminent Domain.
Vicites said the grant money the county received for the project must be used by a certain date/time or they will lose it.
"We had to do this (Eminent Domain) to finish that segment of the trail," Vicites said.
While all three Fayette County Commissioners voted unanimously in 2019 to use Eminent Domain, Commissioner Dave Lohr said he's changed his position on the matter since then.
"The trail is a good thing. It's not that it's a bad thing. And if people have heard that I'm against the trail, it's not that I'm against the trail. I'm against the cost of the trail," Lohr said.
Lohr said it costs between $600,000-$700,000 to complete one mile of the trail.
"So, in rough estimates, it'll be about a $20 million price tag to finish the trail to connect it from The Gap to Morgantown. That's my issue," Lohr said.
"The reason I voted against it is because eminent domain, in my book, is something that is needed. When I say needed, I'm talking about a railroad. I'm talking about a highway, infrastructure such as water, gas, broadband," Lohr said.
Vicites said the section of property that the county has worked to come to an agreement with the owners on is considered a right of way.
"It's just a sliver of property. We have no other option. We can't go on the road," Vicites said.
Those who currently live on the property are tenants and told KDKA-TV that the trail would go right through their front yard.
"We need some kind of privacy with it. I mean, they're gonna be right walking right where he plays," Salenia Waggett said, who rents the property.
Waggett said her 13-year-old son plays outside and has a basketball hoop right where the trail would go.
She said she's also concerned about their safety.
"You go on the trail, and there are people that are on the trail that are high. Last summer, there was someone, a homeless person, just sleeping on the side of the trail. You don't know what you're going to be faced with," Waggett said.
KDKA-TV reached out to Krupa, the property owner. He didn't want to comment and referred us to his wife, State Representative Charity Grimm Krupa.
She told KDKA-TV that her husband is not anti-Sheepskin Trail but stressed the language in the agreement between her husband and the county needs to be "crystal clear" and not put him in a liability.
On Facebook, Rep. Krupa said, "Language that would clearly identify and establish where the easement is and the exact width of the easement. This language would protect the county just as much as the individual property owner."
She goes on to say that the current language in the agreement "will indemnify the property owner if somebody gets hurt on the trail. Why should the landowner be at risk of being sued when somebody gets hurt?!" She posted on her social media.
Rep. Krupa told KDKA-TV that she wonders if the Eminent Domain is in political retaliation.
"I've taken a hard stance on the commissioners' tax increase," Rep. Krupa said.
Vicites said he hopes they will continue to negotiate and not have to continue Eminent Domain.
Commissioner Dunn echoed that, saying, "We would much rather solve this amicably without the use of eminent domain."
Meanwhile, Commissioner Lohr said he will agree if the cost comes down.
"There's a township that's looking to put a few miles in themselves and the price is coming in around $15,000 when they're doing it themselves. Now what's the difference?" Lohr said. "If you can get all the townships together to do the trail and do it for that kind of money, I'll sign off every day of the week but not at the cost that it's coming in at."
