Girdwood Trails Committee
Minutes of Regular Meeting
USFS Conference Room, 7:00 pm 
Monday, January 7, 2008

Call to Order
Carolyn Brodin called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m.  Kate Sandberg acted as secretary.  Others present: Alison Rein, Jonnie Lazarus, Diana Livingston, 
Matt Wedeking, Dario Martinez, Andy Morrison, Mark Jonas, and John Gallup.

Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved.

Approval of Minutes, December 4, 2007
The minutes were approved as written.

Introduction of Guests
There were no guests.

Old Business
Trail Issues
Alyeska Highway Bridge/Bike Path Repair:  The Committee is still having trouble finding enough funding to rebuild the bridge and path. After some discussion, it was decided that patches would suffice under these circumstances. If only the top planks are rotten, the replacement can be done by volunteers, and we would only need to hire the Alaska Railroad flagman.. The path culverts need to be lowered and asphalt patches made over them without damaging any fiber optic cables.
 Members agreed that it would be best if we could control the available funds through Girdwood Inc.
Diana will contact Mary Jane Michael and Alison will contact Lori Schanche, both with MOA, for guidance.

Hand Tram:  Dave Wilson of Alyeska Resort has the hand tram’s new haul rope,
and it will be replaced in early spring. Brian Burnett is the contact person for this.  In the meantime, John Ellis and other resort personnel believe the new cable will suffice for the winter if it can be installed.
Jonnie will ask Dave, who is a licensed/bonded tram maintenance inspector, if he will supervise an inspection of the hand tram once a year as a volunteer or with a contract.  She’ll find out if Dave needs special tools and what the schedule for maintenance should be. 

Winter Issues:  
•	Grooming--Mark reported that the snow machine and groomer work well.
Grooming has not been onerous because of the slight snow pack so far. Horror Hill is currently impassable because of roots, stumps, and topography.  Making this hill more ski-able would take major work.  Andy Morrison asked if more loops could be groomed, but members agreed that we should stay with last year’s grooming schedule, not groom more trails. 
Andy will write an article for the Turnaagain Times about our goal of a new groomer and requests for donations
•	Winter maps--Members discussed winter maps for trail users at some
length. Andy will figure out how much it will cost to digitize and produce six copies of an enlarged, laminated version of his winter map, with his logo on it.   The Committee will vote on this at the next meeting and will decide where the maps should be placed.
•	Enchanted Forest Bridge: It is an ice bridge now, and will be fixed next
spring.   

Wagon Trail Access:  No report

Trail Signs:  It is believed that Norman Starkey has the signs. Kate and Carolyn will contact him.

Other Trails Issues:  
•	Girdwood Nordic Trails System—Members are not clear what progress
has been made toward establishing the new Nordic trail system. Diana will talk to Bill Mehner, HLB, to find out the status of the system.
•	Article for Alaska Trails Newsletter—Kate will email the 2007 winter
Turnagain Times article to Alison.
•	Liaison between Trails Committee and Girdwood 2020 Trails
Committee—Diana reported that 2020 has a new committee for trail development. This committee would like to work with our committee. She volunteered to be the liaison between the two committees, and members agreed.

Girdwood South Townsite Master Plan Subcommittee Update
Alison said that there will be a meeting this Wednesday when consultants will summarize their study results. The Committee will then evaluate those summaries.

Iditarod Trail Update
Alison reported that the Lower Matrix is being planned and the Iditarod Trail, which skirts the Lower Matrix, was shown on the plat to have a 50-foot, either side of centerline, easement. GBOS resolution no. 2007-02 approved a 200' easement, unless space or existing rights precludes this width.   USFS and MOA Lands offices are evaluating this situation.

Resolution for Trails Dedication for Land Use Committee
Jonnie has investigated this issue and reported to LUC by memo (see attached) that a resolution is not needed because Girdwood trails are protected under the Area-wide Trails Plan.
	Members discussed the importance of making sure that developers who submit proposals that involve trails come to the Trails Committee before LUC. 

Girdwood Area Plan Revision for Trails
Matt outlined the table of contents for this revision.  The topics will be
 Introduction 
Trails—Inventory, Objectives, Scope, and Class
Other Agencies and Sustainable Trails
Adoption of Trails 
Trail Terminology
Appendices
Committee members agreed to address--with Matt’s leadership-- the class, scope, and objectives for one valley trail each monthly meeting.

P & R Winter Activity Guide
Jonnie mentioned that this guide is printed already.

Graffiti on Glacier Creek Bridge
Jonnie said that DOT is working on this and Graffiti Busters will help us this spring to paint over the graffiti.

Fungus Fair Update
No update.

New Business
None

Other Business
	Members discussed how to find our bylaws, which are still missing.  Carolyn will call Larry Holmes, and Jonnie will call Tracey Knutson and Brandy Hoke to see if the bylaws can be found.   The document is most likely in a Parks and Recreation notebook.
The bylaws will have to be rewritten if they cannot be located.

	Matt reported that he has groomed a Nordic trail at the Bird Creek Campground for public use.

Kate thanked Diana Livingston for taking and writing minutes during Kate’s two-month absence.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

To: Land Use Committee
Re: Dedicating Trail Easements
From: Girdwood Parks and Recreation/ Jonnie Lazarus
Date: Dec 11, 2007

At the request of LUC, I investigated the need for a Resolution to help protect our area trails, trails easements and access.  After talking to several MOA planners, I believe that a resolution is not required since the trails are well protected in the Area wide Trails Plan. 

The Area Wide Trails Plan is considered a very strong document and receives MOA Assembly approval to give it backbone.  It is intended to be used by a wide variety of agencies, including (but certainly not limited to) Parks and Recreation Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Girdwood Board of Supervisors (LUC and Trails).  It was suggested that we refer to this document in addition to, and in support of the Girdwood Area Plan.  The Area wide Trail Plan is the document cited by MOA planners and private consultants alike.  

For our immediate need, the following specifics within the Areawide Trails Plan address the issue of dedication of trails during subdivision and development.

•	Goals, Objective, Policies and Procedures, item B pg8, Objectives, #2. Policy Objectives, items b, d and e) as follows:
b. Promote construction of trails at the same time the upgrade or construction of a roadway where a trail is required along that roadway
d. Require that a trail easement be dedicated if a proposed private or public  subdivision plan includes a trail designated in the Areawide Trails Plan and is not shown in a right of way
e. recognize the legitimacy of all trail users and establish priorities of use if conflicts arise

•	Chapter  9- Financial Plan, it addresses various methods of acquisition and on pg 108, item F Subdivision Review Procedures it states:
o	In the subdivision approval process, trail access, from or through the subdivision to the Areawide trail system, should be provided.  It would be the responsibility of the developer to install it, subject to approval by the Platting Board.