Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Source documents Testimony — Brett Bellas, Ashtabula County Metroparks, on HB 379 (October 8, 2025)

Testimony — Brett Bellas, Ashtabula County Metroparks, on HB 379 (October 8, 2025)

Summary

Testimony on HB 379 from Brett Bellas, Executive Director of Ashtabula County Metroparks, dated October 6, 2025 and headed October 8, 2025, to the House Development Committee. The testimony requests support and approval for the Ohio Rail Development to gift the currently leased land to Ashtabula County Metroparks, stretching from the Trumbull County line through Ashtabula County. It states that Ashtabula Metroparks has leased and improved the old rail bed and converted it to a twenty-seven mile linear park over the last 20 + years. It also requests approval to convey the property to the Ashtabula County Metroparks and Trumbull County Metropolitan Park District.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Testimony — Brett Bellas, Ashtabula County Metroparks, on HB 379 (October 8, 2025).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-10-08-development-testimony-testimony-11046-34823e635d/, SHA-256 d4d169f151d05ccd839c31aab5c08fad2968c63f5a31a0b3ea2edf44101be164.

Full text

                                      Ashtabula County Metroparks
                                       4338 W. Lake Road Bldg. B
                                         Ashtabula, Ohio 44004
                                            (440) 576-0717
                                     www.ashtabulametroparks.com
                                            October 6, 2025


House Development Committee Members
77 South High Street, Columbus, OH 43215
Testimony on HB 379
October 8, 2025

Thank you, Chairman Hoops, Vice Chair Lorenz and Ranking Member Brownlee, for the opportunity to
provide testimony for HB 379.

We are testifying to you today requesting the support and approval to the Ohio Rail Development to gift
the current leased land to Ashtabula County Metroparks that stretches from the Trumbull County line
through Ashtabula County. Ashtabula Metroparks has leased and improved the old rail bed from the
Ohio Rail Development and converted it to a twenty-seven mile “linear park” over the last 20 + years.
This trail continues to attract walkers, runners, bike riders, snow shoeing, snowmobiling, birders, and
nature walkers.

We continue to prove that the Ashtabula County Metroparks have been good stewards of the land by
keeping it maintained and usable for patrons during all four seasons. We have continually made
improvements over the last 20+ years by installing parking lots, overlooks, shelters, bike fix-it stations,
benches, along with many other assets. This trail continues to be heavily used not only by our Ashtabula
County residents but also brings tourism to our county.

We request the support and approval to convey the property to the Ashtabula County Metroparks and
Trumbull County Metropolitan Park District.

Sincerely,
Brett Bellas
Executive Director
Ashtabula County Metroparks
4338 Lake Road West BLDG. B
Ashtabula, Ohio 44004
bbellas@ashtabulametroparks.com
440-576-0717
440-805-9615

File and source

File
2025-10-08_development_testimony_testimony-11046.pdf
Size
153,352 bytes
SHA-256
d4d169f151d05ccd839c31aab5c08fad2968c63f5a31a0b3ea2edf44101be164
Our copy
2025-10-08_development_testimony_testimony-11046.pdf
Original
No public link identified.
Back to top