I seem to recall a few years back the City of Vernon indicated that they would restore the BX trail when the extension of 20th Street was completed.
During that road construction a sand gravel walkway was installed from Rona to the BX boardwalk to the north. The trail and boardwalk ran alongside the cat tails and provided a pathway through the natural wetlands.
Recently I walked the trail, at least I tried to.
The entire field adjacent to the Rona store has been scraped clean. There's not a bit of plant life left.
What used to be covered in cat tails, shrubs and natural grasses is now gone and backfilled with dirt.
There is no access to the remaining boardwalk, which unfortunately has a lot of decayed boards creating a tripping hazard. You could make your way through by selecting the undamaged boards to walk on.
We have lost what used to be a very nice walk right up to the frontage road.
As the city grows and expands there are fewer and fewer wetland trails available for nature walks.
This trail is a treasure. A beautiful creek, mature trees, abundant wildlife and the soothing sounds of nature.
Now in its place, a sign on both sides of the BX trail advising that rezoning is being applied for in order to allow medium density residential and commercial development.
This is a wetland in a designated floodplain.
Will the City of Vernon be financially responsible for future flood damage, resulting from a decision to approve this application?
I would suggest the city restore the wetland to the nature state as they had originally led the public to believe they would.
Dennis Smith
