Girdwood Trails Committee
Minutes of Regular Meeting

Girdwood Community Center, 7:00 pm 
Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Call to Order
Carolyn Brodin called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Kate Sandberg took minutes. Others present were Jonnie Lazarus, Andy Morrison, Diana Livingston, Deb Essex, Erin Bashaw, and Jonathan Lee.

Approval of Agenda
With the addition of Financial Report, the agenda was approved.

Approval of Minutes, December 2, 2008
The minutes were approved as amended.

Introduction of Guests
Anne and Rob Hays attended. Anne represents the Girdwood community on the Heritage Land Bank Advisory Commission (HLBAC). 

Old Business
Trails Issues
	Winter Grooming: A number of issues were discussed and actions planned. 

•	There have been numerous violations of the prohibition of motorized vehicles on trails this winter, To mitigate the problem, Anne will bring the issue up at HLB; Kate will write the first draft of an information article for the Turnagain Times and write to J. Gallup to find out the ordinance that applies; Carolyn will put up more signs; and a notice will be put up at the post office.

•	Jonnie reiterated that she is available Tuesdays and Thursdays for paying for gas.  $500.00 a year is the best guess for total gas expense.

•	Andy will weld a hitch on the snowmobile for setting track.

•	Jonnie has contacted Brian Burnett to see what he has found out about prices for new snow mobile equipment and repair service.

•	The Committee decided not to groom the Beaver Pond Trail.

Other Trails Issues:  None

Budget
Our proposed budget was approved by GBOS. Thanks to Jonnie for her hard work on this.

	Financial Report:  Diana reported that we have $5,789.96 with Girdwood Inc., and $2,805.00 of that is from John Byrne III.  We will spend the Byrne funds on trails materials.

	Grants: No news other than we will look for the Recreation Trails Grant this summer.

Revision of Summer Trails Map
We will not redo our current map until we have far fewer than the 800 we now have.  After this run is virtually gone, we will not need to credit the grant entities again.

Revision of GAP Document
Matt was unable to attend the meeting; the Committee will wait for his guidance on assignment of trails.  Carolyn will email Matt.

Updates
Tract F: Carolyn reported that Trails does not write a letter of non-objection to the Resort’s plans (see December minutes), only voice support for the plans at the Land Use Committee meeting. 
Carolyn will attend the LUC meeting next week to voice our support. She will also voice our concerns about parking and access for trailheads near the Hotel (Winner Creek). She will also voice concern about the expected high usage of the “Middle Winner Creek” trail. We may need an increased budget from GBOS to maintain such a high volume trail.
Carolyn will email Anne our concerns for Anne’s discussion at HLBAC meetings.

Nordic/Multi-use Trail: Some members received an HLB Notice of Public Hearing for the transfer of an easement from HLB to the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club. The easement covers the entire proposed trail system. Problems with the notice are an inaccurate map, unclear explanation, and short notice (two days) for public responses. The notice was postmarked December 31, but it did not appear in Girdwood boxes until today.
Deb explained to Anne that the right map will be included in the HLB Committee members’ packets, and the access trail from the parking lot to the loop will be included.
The Committee collectively voiced their support for the transfer of HLB easement to the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club for the entire trail system. We support the yellow loop on the correct map; however, there must be guaranteed parking and access.  Further phases of the system will be planned with community input.

Dedication of Trails in Valley:  Members relayed to Anne that HLB, with Art Eash’s direction, has supported trail dedication in the valley. We have identified six trails 
(Virgin Creek Falls, Tract F’s Old Winner Creek Trail, Beaver Pond Trail, Wagon Trail, Stumpy's Winter Trail, and Tiny Creek Trail). GBOS officially supported the dedication, but the process has stalled.  

At her next HLBAC meeting, Anne will ask 1) what is the status of the current six trails that have been identified and supported by GBOS? and 2) what does the Trails Committee need to do to dedicate the next three for 2009? The Committee thanked Anne and Rob for coming and Anne for her helpfulness at HLBAC.

New Business
Members Designated for User Groups—postponed

Other Business
	None

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:45 pm.

Next Meeting—February 3, 2009
Girdwood Community Center