the funding in 1994 and 1995 public opposition became an issue. In 1994, with formal plans still five years away, the county considered allocating $660,000 for planning and land acquisition; but local residents began to express cost concerns and fear of crime related to a connection to Millersville Elementary. At the same time, the project managers had to petition the Army Corps of Engineers for permission to use a portion of the rail bed that passed through what had since become wetlands. In 2001 the trail, this time the planned section along General's Highway, was facing public opposition because it would run through some people's front yards. In 2008, the County voted to redirect Program Open Space funding intended for the trail and other park projects towards the installation of artificial turf fields at county high school stadiums, further delaying the project. The county also struggled with land acquisition and ownership issues. It first claimed it had purchased all the land it needed in late 1999, but for years thereafter it was still trying to prove that it owned every parcel it claimed it did and it continued to make purchases for more than a decade. In 2000, the County had to buy a historic, two-story house on 2.9 acres along Cecil Avenue in Millersville to become the trail's headquarters because it was the only way to get a piece of property it needed. In 2013, the state paid $138,853 to acquire two parcels of land totaling 0.8 acres in Millersville. Despite this, the project continued to attract attention as a key connection. In 1991, the American Hiking Society and Backpacker magazine created a plan for the cross-country American Discovery Trail between Delaware and California and the South Shore Trail was designated a future portion of it. By 1998, it had been identified as part of the future East Coast Greenway. Work on segments of the South Shore Trail finally began in 2002 as part of other larger projects. That year, in construction related to the Nordstrom Wing of the Westfield Annapolis Mall, the County built 750 feet of trail between the Anne Arundel Medical Center and Jennifer Road. The following year, work was completed on the Odenton Bike Path which will serve as the connection between the South Shore Trail and the WB&A Trail. In 2006 a section of the Annapolis Maritime Trail was constructed along Solomons Island Road