Hinesburg Trails Committee
Meeting Minutes
October 20, 2010
Present: Committee members - Stewart Pierson, Jane Sheldon, Jason Reed, Colin McNaull, Michelle Fisher
Visitors – Peter VanVrankin potential new member, Charlene Wallace from Local Motion, Scott Comeau resident, Brooke Scatchard from FOW
1. Jason reported on an informal meeting he and Lenore had with Brooke after the inspection walk at the Bedard property on Texas Hill. They agreed that a joint effort between Trails Committee (TC) and FOW is needed to ever complete a trail connection between Hayden Hill and Sleepy Hollow Road. There are some land owners who have been approached who are willing but others who will be more of a challenge. Brooke, who arrived after Jason started his report, confirmed what was discussed. Brooke, Lenore, Stew and Jason will meet outside of this meeting to discuss how best to form this partnership in more detail.
2. Charlene Wallace presented several ideas of how TC and Local Motion (LM) can work together to advertise our trail system. LM has over 6,000 names for a mailing list if we want to include any events or promotions in their mailings. She also mentioned a web site called Trail Finders on which we could post our maps. Another valuable bit of information she provided was the number of grants available for sidewalk construction. VTrans has one that schools can apply for in conjunction with Safe Routes to School that pays 100%. CCMPO also provides 80% of costs on some projects. A grant project brochure and several other pamphlets regarding the ways TC and LM can work together were given to Stewart.
3. The minutes from the September meeting were approved.
4. Progress Reports
a. Colin reported that the Eagles Trail was completed except for the class 4 road connecting Hayden Hill East and Hayden Hill West. Although it may not be necessary to put up the red and white markers we decided to finish the job to provide reassurance blazes on the entire loop.
b. Jason reported more on the Economou Rd complaints. Hinesburg has offered to put up signs at the cul de sac that parking is available ahead at the trailhead along with admonishments to drive slowly. Funds will come from the Town Forest Committee. Brooke and Jason both noted that there is little evidence that the problem of traffic and speed are FOW bikers, but rather the residents themselves and asked that TC support FOW when ever this claim is made.
c. Jason reported that the Town Forest Management Plan is in the early stages and they are working on putting out a mission/vision statement, which will emphasize the promotion of non-motorized recreation. The first open and public meeting is scheduled for January 12, 2011. Mike Snyder is applying for grant money to work on the footpath on the Eagles Trail and the Economou Rd class 4 section. Jason also reported that the logger has agreed to do culvert maintenance whenever it is too wet to log. His time will be paid out of the town budget.
d. Colin is convinced that the beavers have returned in force on the Isham Catchpaw trail and that while they are in residence the trail will not be passable. He is not optimistic about any property owners abutting that trail allowing hikers to use private property to get around the new lake formed by the beavers.
e. Cathy was not here to provide an update on the mapping of the Town Forest for the fire dept but Jason said he’d work with her to see if they could get the HFD to walk the trails so they themselves could determine what trails were accessible with which of their vehicles.
f. Stewart found out from Jeanne Wilson that the Meade’s may be willing to move their fence back enough to allow pedestrian traffic off Rte 116. This would eliminate the need for building a sidewalk.
g. For the new Buckhill/Lavigne Hill connection Stewart proposed the name “High Rock Trail.” It was the consensus of the meeting that HIGH ROCK would be a good name. Brooke pointed out that this was an excellent example of how neighborhood trails can become public trails with the right approach from TC.
h. A discussion of whether we should standardize the blazing system led to no clear conclusion. The Eagles Trail may be the only one with the red and white markers but white blazed won’t work on a complicated system of trails like Geprag’s Park or the Russell Trails. More discussion is needed.
i. Jason brought up the fact he was still unable to reach John Kadeisch re: kiosks and signs. Stewart said he’d try to make the connection.
j. Colin noted that the La Platte Headwater can be connected to Copp- Welch. He and Stewart will meet with the Tufo’s regarding trail easements on their property.
k. Stewart had listed a set of very ambitious goals for TC to accomplish before the end of June 2011. We agreed that many of those could be accomplished if sub committees were formed. The monthly meetings would not provide enough time.
l. The search for a new recreation field site is still ongoing.
5. While wrapping up the meeting Michelle suggested that we incorporate a “click brochure” into the Trail Finder’s web site so people could print out a .pdf file of all the trails in our system.
6. Next meeting is Wednesday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted
Jane Sheldon, for Lenore Budd