Hinesburg Trails Committee
Meeting Minutes
September 15, 2010
Present: Stewart Pierson, Cathy Ryan, Greg LeRoy, Colin McNaull, Jane Sheldon, Jason Reed, Lenore Budd
1. Minutes of the 8/18/10 meeting were approved.
2. An article for the “Hinesburg Record” will be written by Stewart in October, Jane in November, and Greg in December. Colin will find and forward the original HART logo to the paper.
3. Because there was a delay in IMBA’s submission of the tool order we have cancelled our order. Lenore and Jason will work on submitting a VRTF mini-grant next January to purchase tools.
4. The GPS has arrived and lives in the Planning Office. Lenore has loaded topographic maps onto it and the companion software onto one of the computers in the Planning Office. Lenore and Alex will devise and write up a protocol for transferring data to ArcGIS. Committee members can borrow the GPS anytime. Lenore will be happy to provide training. Committee members can also attend GPS workshops offered through the VT Center for Geographic Information on October 12, 13, and 14.
5. Lenore encouraged attendance at the 4th annual VT Trails Symposium on October 16 and 17 at the Northwoods Stewardship Center in East Charleston, VT.
6. Due to increasing time commitments, Launa Lagasse has reluctantly submitted her resignation to the Committee. Stewart encouraged the Committee to identify potential new members and encourage them to contact Jeanne.
7. Charlene Wallace of Local Motion is scheduled to attend our next meeting to discuss trail connectivity between towns.
8. Jason reported several items from the Town Forest Committee:
a. Some Huntington residents are unhappy with the speed and volume of traffic on Economou Road that they attribute to users of the Hinesburg Town Forest.
b. Several trail sign-in spots will be installed in the Town Forest to gather data on the amount of usage and the town of residency of the users.
c. As a member of the Trails, Jason is promoting non-motorized recreation in the Town Forest.
d. The logger who is currently doing some thinning in the TF has been hired to install some culverts and do other drainage improvements, some of which are along the Eagle’s Trail.
9. Stewart and Greg will approach landowners for permission to make the ~ 1 mile long West Buck Hill Rd.- Lavigne Hill Rd. trail public.
10. “Meade Sidewalk” – Lenore relayed why Rocky thought that closing this short gap in the Rte. 116 sidewalk had to be delayed. However, because of strong concerns about safety, there was a general sentiment to contact the Village Steering Committee (Colin), the Hinesburg Community School (Jason), and the residents of the condominiums (Cathy) to evaluate and encourage support for this project.
11. Catchapaw - Isham Rd. – Colin has not had a chance to check on recent beaver activity in the Class IV portion. However, Cathy will create a simple map to pair with Colin’s description of the route to be posted with other trail maps on the town website.
12. Colin will organize a work party to improve the Class IV portion of Boutin Rd.
13. On Sunday, October 10 at noon, Colin and Lenore will lead a scouting party to identify the boundaries of the LaPlatte Headwaters Town Forest in relationship to possible trail connections between the north and south portions of the property.
14. Cathy will continue to work with the Fire Department on identifying emergency access to the various trail networks. She has already provided them with an annotated map of the Russell Trails. Lenore created a draft map of the LHTF. Jason will work on a similar map for the old Town Forest.
15. Lenore reported that the Committee’s map and narrative describing a vision for a town-wide trail network has been forwarded to the Select Board along with other proposed revisions to the Town Plan. Public hearings will likely be scheduled this fall.
16. Lenore will represent the Committee at the 9/21/10 DRB meeting when the proposed Bedard development on Texas Hill Rd. will be discussed.
17. Colin and Cathy will publicize the upcoming trail events on 9/26/10 and 10/2/10 on the Front Porch Forum and the Town’s Facebook site.
18. Stewart reported that in January he will work with NRG to resume discussions with the owners of the Quick Stop gas station to identify the location of a floating trail easement on their property.
19. Jason has had no response from Ralph Carse about public trails on his land. He will try to contact him by email.
20. Stewart attended the 9/13/10 Conservation Commission meeting to discuss trails in Geprags Park. It was agreed that the CC will continue to maintain the trails but the Trails Committee will help them with marking the trails and updating the trail map once the CC comes up with trail “names.”
Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 20, 7 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Lenore Budd