LARA admits it has no money to finance the rails-to-trails and is counting on proceeds from sale of the rails and federal grant money to finance the project.

Given the present state of the economy, will the federal government be in a position to provide all the necessary money? Where will the money come from for the continued operation and maintenance of the trail with regard to safety hazards, littering, protection issues, bathroom facilities, etc and who is assigned to do it? If there is a shortfall and the project cannot be completed, what happens?

All this is certainly a lot for an organization that has no money and possibly continuing debt from other projects in the area to assume. Here's a novel idea, perhaps local taxpayers will be called upon to underwrite the expenses not covered by any other means or even assist in a "bail out."

Residents should also be concerned about crime and the patrolling of the trail. Who is assigned to see the rules of the trail are obeyed and enforced? If you don't think these are legitimate issues, go to google.com and type in the query box "bike trail crime" and read the results. Does LARA have a plan in place to address these concerns?

In addition, there are privacy issues and issues of safety for trail users where the trails cross both public roads and private driveways. There are a lot of unanswered questions for a project costing more than $1 million, and LARA should have to respond to them before removing any rails. Is this trail that benefits a few the best use of financial resources?

We do not have the option of voting either for or against the trail -- that has already been determined for us. Ultimately, all we have to do is help pay for it, like it or not.

Don Fogle, Lewisburg