Thursday, May 28, 2009
News Three Forks Heritage Alliance files lawsuit against PATH over DeKalb trail
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Thu, May 28, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Another shot has been fired in the ongoing dispute between a DeKalb County civic association and the nonprofit PATH Foundation over a one-mile multi-use trail north of Decatur.
On May 19, the Three Forks Heritage Alliance and three of its members filed an $8 million lawsuit in DeKalb County Superior Court against the trail builder, claiming it should return money it's received to construct several projects in the county, including one that connects Medlock and Mason Mill Parks.
A press release from the alliance announcing the lawsuit claims that "monies paid to PATH on this and at least seven other projects should be returned, in whole, to the DeKalb County coffers, which currently has a $64 million deficit."
The construction of the South Peachtree Creek Trail in 2008 sparked a bitter dispute between nearby residents, county officials and the PATH Foundation. In Aug. 2008, a DeKalb County Superior Court Judge ruled the contract between the county and PATH to construct the trail was "null and void" because bids were not solicited to build it.
The alliance's most recent lawsuit asks the judge order PATH to repay funds it was paid to build the trail, legal fees related to the court case, and funds the county paid to conduct a tree revegetation study of the trail's area. It also seeks repayment of county funds paid to PATH for several other DeKalb trails it built.
"There are more than 75 professional trail builders throughout the country; three of which are located in Georgia," Three Forks' President Bill Gowen said in a press release. "Had they been afforded the opportunity to bid on one of the many trails, which were simply 'handed over' to the PATH Foundation, the environmental and excessive financial burden to taxpayers might have been substantially reduced."
PATH Executive Director Ed McBrayer told CL that the foundation's lawyers are reviewing the lawsuit and will respond accordingly.
(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)
Comments (10)
Showing 1-10 of 10
So, PATH will also drag in the county into the lawsuit and make the defict even higher with on going litigation... how smart.
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WTF? Hiking/Bike paths and connections between PUBLIC parks are good for the county. Just because you live near the park doesn't mean that it is just your park. 3 Forks just doesn't want to share their public parks with the rest of the city and they are still sore about it.
Yes, the PATh Foundation's Ed McBrayer is a pompous, know it all, arrogant jerk who's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. But the Three Forks Alliance has some lunatics as members. Batshit crazy lunatics who take NIMBY-ism to a whole new level. Connecting these two parks is and was a great idea. The trail is lovely and a fantastic amenity to the surrounding area and all DeKalb residents. The judge needs to throw this out and the Three Forkers need to crawl back to their homesteads.
To the previous posters: 1. Blame PATH and DeKalb politicians (Walldorf, Rader, Gannon, and B. Ellis) for wasting our tax dollars--not Three Forks. Do we blame crime victims for the cost of prosecuting criminals? That is "Settlement Loans" logic. 2. Bike/hike trails ARE good for the community --but obeying development codes and the PUBLIC BID laws are good, too. PorPath, do you believe PATH, Inc. should be exempt from county codes? And btw, this trail does NOT connect to Mason Mill Park and stops well short of it. Do you know what you're talking about? 3. Funny how citizens are called "crazy Nimby's" if they have the guts to ask a court to make government and a corporation obey the law. Much of the trail -literally- is in their back yards, not like the Silver Comet or Stone Mtn trails which are on old rail lines. In sum, the posters above are the flip side of the NIMBY coin: they want the bike path / land fill / shopping center etc. but put it in SOMEONE ELSE'S back yard. "Just give us our bike path and don't ask questions..." Gimme, gimme, gimme.
The PATH Foundation (and Dekalb County) broke and violated COUNTY and STATE LAWS. What part of "broke", "violate" and "laws" don't you understand? here are some definitions for clarification: “Broke” (v.) past tense of “break”, def. to infringe, ignore, or act contrary to (a law, rule, promise, etc.); violate–verb, to break, infringe, or transgress (a law, rule, agreement, promise, instructions, etc.); LAW–noun, The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system; the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people; If one breaks the law... there are consequences and repercussions - the 'buck' has to stop somewhere!
PATH to Hell says "this trail does NOT connect to Mason Mill Park and stops well short of it. Do you know what you’re talking about?" PATH To Hell is wrong - the trail is predominantly IN Mason Mill Park, it simply does not yet connect from the bridge up the hill to the tennis courts - but it will in the future when after this frivolous lawsuit is gone. Mason Mill Park is all of the land east of the RR tracks and north of the creek, that is not private property.
Hey.."get it straignt" why don't you contact CSX and find out that they've not given permission to go over, under or through their 'right-of-way' (and cross the RR tracks into the other part of Mason-Mill); And, this is after almost two years of PATH and the idiots at Clairmont Heights Civic Ass'n. claiming that permission has been granted to cross the tracks... OOPS NO PERMISSION!!!...It has NOTHING to do with the lawsuit!!! Let me once again remind you that PATH STILL broke STATE AND COUNTY LAWS!!
Am I missing something? As I'm interpreting this article, it is not about the virtues of trail placement vs. no trail, but rather about a non-for-profit organization that defied a courts ruling, knowingly participated in conflict interest business practices, and allegedly ignored environmental state and county laws. Does behavior create an opportunity for other non-profits will do the same? Are non-profits exempt from the same laws that for profit companies and citizens are required to comply with? It just so happens that the non-profit in this instance is the PATH Foundation. What if the Girl Scouts knowingly contracted the production of their cookies with a factory that was failing health code inspections and under a court order to cease manufacturing? Hey what about a non-profit’s Board of Directors? Surley the PATH’s Board of Directors are aware of the court ruling. Given that a number of the Board members hold significant positions at or solicit donations from high profile corporations such as: Coke, Home Depot, Georgia Pacific, ING, LaFarge, NIKE, Turner Broadcasting, and Cox Enterprises one would think they would be sensitive enough to ensure that the courts ruling would be fully complied with once it was signed by the judge. Or is this standard business fair for the likes of these companies, which is why they failed to notice what was happening between the operation and Dekalb County? What are the responsibilities of the Board of Directors vs. the Executive Director of a non-profit? It would be interesting to get the perspective of the Board Members and Corporate Donors on this situation.
I agree, their corporate donors should evaluate the situation. With so many community not-for-profits feeling the financial crunch there are plenty of law abiding organizations that could use funding.
Naturelover - are you sure about the CSX non approval? I recently spoke with someone that works for the engineering company that is currently designing the bridge over the tracks - maybe it needs to be designed before CSX gives final approval, but it is being designed so that the trail will connect up the hill to the tennis courts. Not sure how CSX fits in but it sounds like progress is being made to complete the trail segment.
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