Bessemer Planning Commission wants closer look at city property

BESSEMER - There's about 7.1 acres of city-owned property to the north and west of Steiger's Field that's raising concerns among a few Bessemer citizens.

A couple residents want to purchase the land for their own use, but others say it should be part of the city's park system because of its frequent use for snowshoeing.

The City Council sent the issue to the Planning Commission for its recommendation, but the commission decided at its meeting on Wednesday to hold-off any decisions until its members get a closer look at how the land is currently being used.

Opposition to the purchase has been provided chiefly by father and son, Dick and Richard Matrella. They proposed to the City Council on Monday making the land part of the city parks system, and allowing continued public use.

Dick Matrella told the Planning Commission on Wednesday he is concerned that the land would be sold and nothing would be done with it.

Dick Matrella, who used to serve on the City Council, said there were approximately 30 acres of city land behind City Hall that was sold to the Stempihar Brothers in a 3-2 council vote, of which he was opposed.

"That was approximately 40 years ago and it's still sitting idle," he said.

Richard Matrella, who teaches physical education in Bessemer's school, said a number of people use the land for snowshoeing and he also takes students on snowshoe trips through the property.

Luke Peterson and Ron and Marlene Zaleski are the two parties interested in purchasing the 7.1 acres.

Ron Zaleski is a member of the Bessemer Planning Commission and Marlene Zaleski is a City Council member.

Ron Zaleski said he personally hired a certified surveyor to look at the land he is requesting. He also said he and Peterson clean up much of the land a number of times each year, including clearing debris from the creek that runs through it and removing dead trees and brush.

Concerns have also been raised about the Zaleskis using the land to store junk.

Ron Zaleski admitted to posting "no trespassing" signs around the property he currently owns, but in an attempt to prevent people from dumping trash.

"We are master gardeners," he said. "I'm also on the conservation board, I've worked with invasive species, I've worked with kids, I've worked with adult groups, everything else. And I do not have a junk pile on my property."

He also contested the position of the Matrellas, that the land is frequently used for snowshoeing.

"There's a number of days that I've went out there that I've seen very few people out there," Ron Zaleski said. "Maybe I was out on the wrong days. ... I've only seen one person one day. The trails weren't very worn."

Ron Zaleski said he also has no plans to build on the property.

"I don't know, some people seem to think that we're land barons; we're not," he said. "This land here, if you look at it, it's junk land. Anybody that's been on that property can tell you that."

Linda Nelson, a member of both the council and commission, advised against selling the requested acreage.

A lot of the land in the area the public currently uses is not city-owned property, Nelson said.

If the Peterson-Zaleski purchase goes through and those private landowners choose in the future not to allow public use of their property, it would drastically reduce the amount of land available for recreation.

"There are a lot of trails there," Nelson said. "What my proposal would be, and I know that neither party is probably going to like this, is we sell them up to Silver Street."

Nelson said the public may lose out a little bit on the area it currently uses, and it wouldn't give Peterson or the Zaleskis everything they want, but both sides would get something.

"I think it would be a dirty, rotten shame for us, when we are trying to attract people to our area, to our businesses, to our community, to now close this area off to our community," she said. "To take this property away from our community, who is using it so tremendously much in the winter time; shame on us. Shame on us.

"I don't think we should ever do that to our community. I would be willing to sell up to Silver Street, ... That would give both of you ample area to do a little bit more and not take away from our community."

Nelson also said she was disappointed that the issue wasn't resolved a long time ago.

The Planning Commission decided to table the issue until its meeting next month so that members can take a tour of the property to see where the trails actually run.