Letters of support accompanied all of the 15 proposed Lewis and Clark Legacy Trail projects that a committee will evaluate today to help the state Transportation Department decide which should get some of the available $1million in federal money.

But only one of the projects received letters of opposition, too - Mandan's Crying Hill.

The $421,000 Crying Hill project proposes a 1.8-mile trail to connect historic Crying Hill - considered sacred by some American Indians - and Fortification Hill. It received five letters of support, but also received five thumbs-down letters from Mandan residents - three from the same address in the 1400 block of Third Street Northeast. A main concern was the impact of altering the area's current natural state by paving paths.

"A trail, no matter how intended, would effectively destroy it," wrote Christopher Scott of 1410 Third St. N.E.

Deborah Holter, who lives in between the two hills and opposes the project for several reasons, is concerned about the trail's location. Holter's house is surrounded on three sides by prairie grass and she has only one neighbor, to the west. She said it's her understanding that part of the proposed connecting trail between the two hills runs right up her access road and right by her house, obstructing access to her home. She said that though trail planners talked about revising the route, they didn't.

But an aerial photo with the route superimposed on it, provided by Ben Kubischta shows the route has been revised. Instead of passing by her home, the trail veers off into a gully area and then continues toward Crying Hill. Kubischta is transportation enhancement coordinator for the state Department of transportation.

At its closest point, the trail now is about 200 feet away from her home, said Bob Shannon, an engineer with Kadrmas Lee & Jackson, the firm that prepared the Crying Hill proposal for Mandan.

Kubischta said the trail is adjacent to Holter's property.

Also, Shannon said the proposed route is "purely conceptual."

"The trail might change a lot," he said. It won't be until after communities are awarded grants that their projects will go to the next stage, Shannon said. That's when local communities will hold their own public hearings and subject projects to environmental studies and other required processes before a design is final.

Kadrmas prepared Mandan's application and the applications for the proposed Bismarck and Burleigh County trails, and assisted Washburn, Fort Stevenson and the Indian Hills with their trail proposals. Kadrmas is also the designer of the Legacy Trails master plan, a job awarded to Kadrmas over several other engineering firms that had applied, Kubischta said.

Holter says she's concerned about a possible conflict of interest. But Kubischta said "our consultants are very professional. They wouldn't bias their projects."

Kubischta said if another engineering company had been awarded the master plan job, the same scenario very likely would have happened.

Holter said she's also concerned how the city would cover the cost of acquiring right of way, engineering and ongoing trail maintenance.

Mandan Mayor Ken LaMont said the project is very dependent on getting the Legacy Trail money. Additional funding would come from sales tax, grants and successful negotiations with the numerous landowners in that area that could include swapping some city land - about 21/2 acres on the south side of Crying Hill - for needed right of way. But he said it would be irresponsible at this point to comment on how much he thought the land acquisition would cost because the city is negotiating with landowners.

Holter is also concerned about vandalism. Lamont said every city park faces potential vandalism problems, and the thing to focus on is the amount of support the project has.

"We have had about 99 percent support for this project … DOT is working with the Three Affliated Tribes. This is so positive," he said.

In addition to Mandan's Crying Hill project, there are two other local trail applications.

Bismarck wants $118,000 for a 1.09-mile long paved Wetland Nature Trail that would extend from the existing trail in the west end of Sertoma Park near the sand volleyball courts to Riverwood Drive, just south of the Bismarck Expressway Bridge, and then parallel the river along the riparian marsh heading south to the Southport subdivision.

Burleigh County wants $1.5 million for a paved trail from Pioneer Park to Double Ditch, with access to Burnt Creek Park ramp and Hoge Island ramp, connecting a Missouri River canoe trail.

Other projects are in Linton, Washburn, Williston, Garrison, Hazen, McLean County, Williams County, New Town, Mountrail County and McKenzie County.

The recommending committee, called the Director's Task Force, will meet today at 1 p.m. in the DOT's third floor executive conference room.

The public is invited. The recommendations will then be submitted to DOT Director David Spryncznatyk for his final decision.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at vgrantier@ndonline.com.)