The Jackson County Greenway Commission is planning its first public hearing on the updated version of the proposed Scotts Creek greenway.

A Feb. 5 public hearing will outline three proposed routes developed by Steve Provo of jon Benson & associates inc. of Atlanta. The greenway will probably use a combination of railway and Main Street right of way, said Greenway Coordinator David Bates.

Scotts Creek has been a topic of discussion with the greenway commission for four years. The idea has been to provide a connector between Sylva and Dillsboro along the Scotts Creek corridor that would allow for walking and cycling paths. It is less than a mile between the two towns, but the trail — allowing for meandering and side paths — could be longer.

The greenway will start in Sylva near Poteet Park and end near the Great Smoky Mountains Railway in Dillsboro, with access to the Tuckasegee River and boat launch ramp. A bridge crossing Scotts Creek will head the Poteet Park portion of the trail. Engineering for the bridge will be paid with grants received from Jackson County commissioners and Sylva Partners in Renewal (SPIR), which provided $10,000 and $7,500 respectively.

“The construction money that will be required, we don’t have it yet,” said Sylva Town Manager Richard McHargee.

The greenway’s design firm may be tapped to design and construct the bridge.

“Whoever we hire to design this thing, we want them to be as cost effective as they can,” McHargee said.

Similarly, the greenway commission has secured $19,000 from the Clean Water Management Trust to study various options for getting from Sylva to Dillsboro. That amount is still $4,000 short of the total contract price, Bates said.

Actual construction is expected to run well into the six-figure range, as work most likely will need to be done to shore up the creek banks and protect waterways from environmental damage. Consequently, construction should qualify for assistance from the state’s Clean Water Management Trust, Bates said. Additional funding from the towns of Sylva and Dillsboro or the county commissioners has not yet been sought.

“We’ve made no definite plans in that area,” Bates said.

The Scotts Creek greenway is the first in a series of pending projects, as the commission also has received funding from the N.C. Department of Transportation to build another greenway running from Cullowhee Valley School to North Country Club Drive in the Forest Hills community.

“Like everything else dealing with governments, that project has been slow,” Bates said.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources will provide a matching funds grant for the project.

Together the greenways represent a move to fulfill criteria established by the Jackson County Commissioners to adhere to Smart Growth principles, making the community a “walkable community,” Bates said. The greenway commission is a division of the Jackson County Recreation/Parks Department, meaning such projects fall under the realm of the department’s 10-year master plan, which also is in the public comment phase.

“We hope that with the completion of our master plan — which is a guideline rather than specifics for the greenway system — it will be a blueprint for the future,” Bates said.

The public hearing on the Scotts Creek greenway will be held at 6 p.m., Feb. 5, in Room 203 of the Jackson County Justice and Administration Building.