A windfall of nearly $100,000 in escrow money will not only help fund the development of the village’s section of the Old Plank Road Trail, but also may provide for some extra enhancements.
Village officials said Monday that Penn Central Railroad, the company that sold the land to the village in late 1993, forfeited the money because it was unable to obtain easements for the village within the six-month deadline.
When the village bought the land to develop its section of the $1.8 million recreational trail, to run between Park Forest and Mokena, the land did not include a 200-foot right-of-way beneath the Metra/Illinois Central line’s overpass.
Penn Central promised to obtain perpetual easements for the village within six months and posted the $100,000 escrow to guarantee its performance.
After Penn Central was unable to follow through by the deadline last year, the village received the escrow money and pursued the easements on its own.
Monday the Village Board authorized easement documents, which will require only a $100 payment to Metra and a $1,500 payment to Illinois Central.
“Obviously, this is a very good deal for us,” said Rita Miotti, Matteson’s director of administrative services and the current chairman of the Old Plank Road Trail Management Commission, the intergovernmental agency that is overseeing the path’s development.
Miotti said all the money will be used for Old Plank Road Trail expenses, and part of the funds are being considered for use on path enhancements such as parking and rest areas, as well as elevated platforms for prairie overlooks.
The $1.8 million project is being financed with a $1.4 million federal grant and contributions from the state and the local governments of the towns through which the path travels.
The first 12-mile section of the trail from Park Forest is scheduled to open next year.
