NEW BERLIN — As the salvage work clearing a nine-mile path for the Union County’s Rails to Trail project linking Mifflinburg to Lewisburg nears an end, and design and development begins, many Union County citizens Wednesday night expressed concerns about the overall cost of the project at a time of economic downturn.

At an informational meeting called by Lewisburg Area Recreational Authority officials, a crowd of about 75 people at Burkholder’s Gym in Buffalo Township was almost evenly split between those for the project and those who had strong reservations about it.

During the opening agenda, Trey Casimir, LARA’s board chairman, updated attendees on the coming design phase of the project. He said the recently acquired $3.7 million in state grant money could only be used for construction of the trail.

“We have also applied for an additional $500,000 in grant money to cover the design phase of the project,” he said. “The $3.7 million grant is PennDOT money. We can’t use any portion of it to pay a design firm. That funding has to come from another source.”

Plans eventually call for the trail to cross Route 15 and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and extend into Montandon.

As Rails to Trails enters its next phase, one resident, Lee Spangler, of Buffalo Township, called the projected overall $11 million-plus cost of the Rails to Trails project “state-sponsored robbery. Speaking as a landowner,” he said, “this deal was made behind closed doors, without representation by landowners.”

He was joined by others in the audience, including Nancy Nise, of Black Run.

“I’m not from Lewisburg or Mifflinburg,” she said. “But I am a Union County resident, and I don’t know anyone outside of those towns who is in favor of this project. You say it’s going to cost $12 million. No it’s not. It isn’t going to stop there. Costs will keep going up, all for this little pet project for people in Lewisburg. There are a lot of people who think our tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere.”

Brian Auman, of East Buffalo, disagreed. He called the Union County project the most important thing anyone can do for the economy of the Valley.

“This trail is the kind of project that attracts people to the area. As this becomes a high-tech economy,” he said, “trails like this attract people and companies to communities.”

An unidentified woman also defended the trail in a most emotional fashion.

“People think this money is frivolously being spent just for recreational purposes. It’s not,” she said. “I am someone who does not use a motorized vehicle to get to work. This is a PennDOT transportation project. I will be able to get to work using this trail. And there are many people like me who will use this as a way to move from town to town.”

Casimir also addressed the questions of those who wondered whether it was appropriate that the state give millions towards a trail project while threatening to close R.B. Winter State Park.

“The two funds are not connected,” Casimir said. “My family and I spend a lot of time at the park. We love it. And if we could divert some of the funds we received to help save the park, I suspect LARA would have considered it. But the funds for construction of the trail, ultimately, is federal money, and if we don’t take it, someone else will, perhaps a project in Williamsport or Pittsburgh. The grant money we received has nothing to do with the proposed park closing.”

Other issues that concerned those in the audience were insurance costs.