Hinesburg Trails Committee
Meeting Minutes
January 12, 2012
Present: Stewart Pierson, Greg LeRoy, Jane Sheldon, Lenore Budd, Cathy Ryan, Jim Goldsmith, Michelle Fischer, Jason Reed
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m.
1) Finances: There is a total of $1007.20 available for expenses; $478.02 left from our Town allotment and $529.18 from the SCHIP grant. Bart Frisbee, the developer of Thistle Hill, has offered to donate $500 to the Trails Committee (TC). Stewart will contact him as soon as Missy receives the money to find out if there are any restrictions on this gift.
2) The three members whose terms are up this year (Jason, Cathy and Michelle) all are willing to remain on the TC, assuming they are reappointed by the Select Board.
3) Stewart reviewed the presentation made to the Selectboard on 1/09/12 of the committee’s mission and accomplishments. At that time the Select Board had suggested that the TC be involved with any new developments with the aim of connecting trails and walkways around town. Stewart and Lenore will meet with Peter to improve the process whereby the TC gets notified of relevant projects and receives relevant materials so it can provide timely feedback to the DRB.
4) Re: the Russell Farm trails: Jim Goldsmith has repaired the bridge which had lost some cross slats. Cathy has been in touch with Jim Donegan regarding the new electric fence which crosses the trail in places and has permission from the Russell family to reroute the trail in the spring. For now the wires are held up with poles to allow access to the current route, but if heavy snow falls, passing under them may not be so easy. We will also need to put up signage alerting hikers to the danger of the new fencing as well as the change in the route before the wires are made live. We have also been given the opportunity to take over the management of this system. Andrea suggested we update the current management plan this year, with Jim Donegan’s input. Lenore and Cathy will work on this project.
5) Michelle reported on the progress of the Kiosk design and presented a lay-out of the map/text that will go on it. We are to review and make suggestions. Cathy noted we need to add “you are here” indicators e.g. Michelle had been given the suggestion of using a mailbox for holding brochures and a journal so hikers could point out trouble spots or provide samples of their experiences. Cost quotes cannot be requested until more details are finalized. Funding sources are still TBD. Lenore pointed out that the map is out of date and volunteered to GPS the rerouted trails and get the data to Alex Weinhagen to revise the map.
6) Stewart reported on the Town Forest Committee work. Justin Kennan has offered to work on the broken bridges and erosion problems on the Eagle Trail, which was included in the final management plan. Cathy has hiked a part of the trail and feels we may need to reroute or discontinue a segment altogether. Lenore pointed out that we should make sure that Justin does not spend any efforts on that portion until decisions on this matter are settled. Stewart will contact Justin with our request that he hold off on that section.
7) Stewart reported that NRG will be putting in a sidewalk to connect the Mobil station to its driveway, as soon as the station puts in the bridge over the brook that it has agreed to build.
8) Jason reported that his team of community service workers is nearing completion of painting the interior signage.
9) Stewart mentioned that Ian Stokes, chair of the Richmond Trails Committee, is trying to set up a meeting with TC members from eight nearby towns to discuss, among other topics, connecting trails across town lines. Lenore offered to attend the February 10th one with Stewart.
10) Lenore had a second meeting with the landowner on Pond Brook Road regarding his offer to donate a conservation easement to the Vermont Land Trust. If VLT agrees to take on the project, it will very likely include a short nature trail along the wetland, a trail that our committee will be responsible for creating and maintaining. This offer is still under consideration.
11) None of the TC members was able to attend the Invasive Species meeting on January 17th, but we reaffirmed our interest in having someone from that group guide a hiking tour in the spring or summer to point out which species are the problem, where they are and what we should be doing to help control them.
12) The possibility of setting up a table again at Town meeting was discussed and all agreed it would be a good chance for us to hand out maps and promote a maple sugaring hike in March. We could also collect more email addresses for notifying residents of upcoming events.
13) TC involvement in the town’s 250th anniversary celebration was briefly discussed but tabled to the next meeting.
14) Greg will write the next article for the February issue of The Record, due January 25th. The article for the March issue is due February 29th. We will need to find a volunteer to write that one.
15) Lenore reported that five people had signed up for the Winter Wildlife Tracking Event on January 21st.
16) Per Andrea Morgante’s request and as a general good management practice for our Committee, Lenore will draft a time sheet for tracking volunteer hours.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Sheldon, Secretary