Session of 1999
Substitute for HOUSE BILL No. 2490
By Committee on Environment
2-24
9 AN ACT relating to certain recreational trails; concerning certain
10 requirements relating thereto; providing penalties for certain acts;
11 amending K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 58-3212 and repealing the existing
12 section.
13
14 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
15 Section 1. K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 58-3212 is hereby amended to read as
16 follows: 58-3212. (a) The responsible party, at all times after transfer of
17 the deed to the responsible party, shall:
18 (1) Perform the duties imposed by K.S.A. 2-1314 and amendments
19 thereto along the recreational trail;
20 (2) provide for the safety, use and accessibility of existing easements,
21 utility facilities and access licenses along the recreational trail;
22 (3) provide for trail-user education and signs regarding trespassing
23 laws and safety along the recreational trail;
24 (4) provide for litter control and the enforcement of laws prohibiting
25 littering along the recreational trail, including but not limited to trail-user
26 education and signs about laws prohibiting littering and the provision of
27 trash receptacles and the cleanup of trash and litter;
28 (5) develop and maintain the recreational trail in a condition that does
29 not create a fire hazard;
30 (6) designate the recreational trail for nonmotorized vehicle use with
31 exceptions only for motorized wheelchairs and maintenance, law enforce-
32 ment and emergency vehicles;
33 (7) prohibit hunting or trapping on or from the recreational trail;
34 (8) provide for law enforcement along the recreational trail;
35 (9) grant easements to adjacent property owners to permit such own-
36 ers to cross the recreational trail in a reasonable manner consistent with
37 the use of the adjacent property and with K.S.A. 66-301 through 66-303,
38 and amendments thereto;
39 (10) (A) maintain any existing fencing between the trail and adjacent
40 property; (B) maintain any future fencing installed between the trail and
41 adjacent property; (C) install between the trail and adjacent property
42 fencing corresponding in class to that maintained on the remaining sides
43 of such adjacent property; and (D) on request of an adjacent property
44 owner, pay one-half the cost of installing fencing between the trail and
45 such property owner's adjacent property with a fence of the class re-
46 quested by such property owner, if not all remaining sides of such prop-
47 erty are fenced; and
48 (11) (A) maintain the trail; (B) maintain all bridges, culverts, roadway
49 intersections and crossings on the trail, essential to the reasonable and
50 prudent operation of the trail or needed for drainage, flood control or
51 the use of easements for crossing the trail between adjacent properties,
52 or cause maintenance thereof by other parties that have assumed con-
53 tractual responsibility therefor; and (C) install and maintain any warranted
54 traffic signs on the trail.
55 (b) If the responsible party is not a governmental entity, the respon-
56 sible party shall file with the county clerk of each county where a portion
57 of the recreational trail is or will be located a bond or proof of an escrow
58 account in a Kansas financial institution, as defined by K.S.A. 16-117 and
59 amendments thereto, payable to the county. The bond or proof of an
60 escrow account shall be filed at the time of transfer of the deed to the
61 responsible party and annually thereafter. The bond or escrow account
62 shall be conditioned on the responsible party's performance, and shall be
63 in an amount agreed upon between the responsible party and determined
64 reasonable by the county commission as sufficient to fully cover the an-
65 nual costs, of:
66 (1) Weed control along the trail, as required by subsection (a)(1);
67 (2) litter control along the trail, as required by subsection (a)(4);
68 (3) maintenance of the trail in a condition that does not create a fire
69 hazard, as required by subsection (a)(5);
70 (4) installation and maintenance of fencing between the trail and ad-
71 jacent property within the county, as required by subsection (a)(10); and
72 (5) installation and maintenance of signs along the trail, as required
73 by subsections (a)(3), (a)(4) and (a)(11)(C).
74 If separate bonds are submitted to or escrow accounts established for
75 the various counties through which the trail transverses, the annual costs
76 listed above shall be only for that portion of the trail located within the
77 particular county that is the holder of the bond or beneficiary of the
78 escrow. A responsible party may submit a single bond or escrow account
79 with multiple counties respectively as coobligees or cobeneficiaries, but
80 in that event the annual costs used in computation of the bond amount
81 shall be for the entire trail length.
82 (c) If the responsible party is not a governmental entity, the respon-
83 sible party shall file with the county clerk of each county where a portion
84 of the recreational trail is or will be located, proof of liability insurance
85 in an amount agreed upon between the responsible party and the county
86 commission as sufficient. Such proof shall be filed at the time of transfer
87 of the deed to the responsible party and annually thereafter.
88 (d) The provisions of this section shall apply to all recreational trails,
89 regardless of when approval to enter into negotiations for interim trail
90 use is or was received from the appropriate federal agency.
91 (e) The provisions of this section may be modified or supplemented
92 by any city governing body for recreational trails within the corporate
93 limits of such city in the manner provided by K.S.A. 12-137 et seq. and
94 amendments thereto. If a city governing body adopts requirements in
95 addition to those provided by this section, the city shall pay all costs of
96 compliance with such additional requirements.
97 New Sec. 2. (a) Any responsible party, other than a governmental
98 entity, who violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this
99 act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be pun-
100 ished by a fine of $100 per day for each day of violation or noncompliance
101 up to a maximum of $1,500 for each count.
102 (b) Nothing in this subsection shall invalidate any other remedy avail-
103 able under law.
104 (c) This section shall be part of and supplemental to K.S.A. 1998
105 Supp. 58-3211 through 58-3216, and amendments thereto.
106 Sec. 3. K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 58-3212 is hereby repealed.
107 Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
108 publication in the statute book.