A walk through Josiah White Park in Jim Thorpe by Carbon County commissioners apparently stirred up talk about removing vendors, the trains and even selling the historic train station.

Commissioner Chair Michael Sofranko on Thursday said that’s not the case, the county is just studying pedestrian flows and making the area safe for everyone.

“We have guys doing a study in the park,” he said. “There is nothing in the study that people may say we’re getting rid of vendors. People may say we’re getting rid of the train. People may say we’re selling the train station.

“That all seems to go out every time we go over and walk through the park,” Sofranko said.

But this walk through the park was part of an ongoing, grant-funded study to improve the pedestrian flow through the park, which sits in heart of Jim Thorpe’s downtown which sees about 400,000 visitors annually.

“Our concern is about how pedestrian flow is through the park and the safety and liability of the park,” Sofranko said.

The consultant will be looking at the location of the vendors, how people walk, where fencing may need to be moved, he said.

“We’re not looking to redesign the park,” Sofranko said. “The piece of coal is not leaving the park. The gazebo is not being placed out behind the woods. The vendors are not being thrown out of the park.

“The commissioners have voted and agreed on none of that,” he said.

Sofranko also pointed out that the train station is not for sale, but there is interest in renting portions of the station, he said. And the county is looking at how to improve flow around the station, including train ticket sales, he said.

The Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau provided the county’s match for the $18,000 grant that’s funding the study, which will continue for the next several months, including through fall foliage season.

The results of the study are expected next March, Commissioner Rocky Ahner said.