Girdwood Trails Committee
Minutes of Regular Meeting
Glacier City Hall, 7:00 pm 

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Call to Order
Chair Dario Martinez called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.  Kate Sandberg acted as secretary for the meeting. 

Others present: Carolyn Brodin, Mark Jonas, Shirley Fritz, Andy Morrison, Matt Wedeking, Deb Essex, Norman Starkey, Alison Rein, and guests Jim Galanes (The Boutet Company), Rich Eidem (Alyeska Resort), and Tim Cabana.

Approval of Minutes
The minutes were approved as written.

Old Business
1.  Final Draft of Nordic Feasibility Study—Jim Galanes reported that he is making the final edits of the Study, and it will be available on the Boutet website in a few weeks.  He will distribute it widely to the Girdwood community. 

Galanes summarized the study and his recommendations. He used a handout and map that are available from Kate Sandberg (afkes@uaa.alaska.edu).  Through his work with the Girdwood community, email feedback from the Nordic skiing community, HLB, and careful assessment of the available terrain, he recommends the following trails:
•	First priority is a beginner/intermediate loop between the Winner Creek Trail and CPG cat trail (yellow on map).  The first half is beginner; back half is intermediate.  Each section is 2.5 K
•	 Second priority is keeping already established multi-use ski trails free from intrusion of new trails.
•	Third priority is new 5 K beginner trail (red on map) that circles meadows and eventually will cross Winner Creek.  
•	Fourth priority is a new 5 K advanced trail.   
•	The proposed trail around the school area is considered to be too expensive because of new access and new parking.

Galanes further recommends:
•	Our community needs a trail system, not separate trails without links or diversity.
•	User fees will be needed to help defer maintenance costs. He recommends season passes for $150, but a strategy will have to be developed no matter how the user fees are constructed. The Anchorage situation where relatively few people pay to maintain the trails is not desirable.
o	We will need 2,500 skier days to break even on grooming costs.
•	Construction and maintenance of trails should be done by a private entity rather than Parks and Recreation or a non-profit. He mentioned that the Cirque Company, new owners of Alyeska, may be willing to take this on. Grooming will cost $30-35,000 per year.  
o	Rich Eidem from Alyeska Resort confirmed that the Resort looks forward to the development of these trails and that Resort personnel will maintain them. 
•	A memo of understanding will have to be drawn up between HLB, GBOS and Alyeska Resort as to operation standards, maintenance, future development, and the fee system.
•	Some lighting is required to serve skiers in deep winter.  Lighting would be minimal and be only 7-8 feet off the ground.
•	Trails will be slightly elevated off the valley floor for drainage and should be serviceable in the summer for biking.
•	A staging area is required for lessons, races, and other events. This will be on Resort property.  
•	There are still questions of leasing land from the Forest Service to resolve. 

The Committee thanked Galanes and was supportive of his work and the new trails. We will discuss the study further at the next meeting. The Committee also thanked Eidem for the Resort’s support of trails in general, the new ski trails in particular. 

2.  Trails Issues
	a.  Alyeska Highway Bridge/Bike Path Repair—Alison reported that she will begin the grant writing process for the Alaska Trails Initiative Grant.  The Committee encouraged her to do so because of the pressing safety issues.

	b.  Alpina to Glacier Creek Trail—Tim Cabana explained, with maps of his land, that the trail from Alpina to Glacier Creek is a sewer line easement and will never be developed. There is no risk to the trail.   He also has been in the process of a land exchange with Parks and Recreation and expects to have a park with trees near this easement.  The Committee thanked Tim for coming to explain.

	c.  Other Trails Issues—
•	Norman announced that he has been helping the Hotel create a new map for their guests that centers more on the town area than the entire valley. They will pay for a CD of the map.
•	Andy Morrison showed his new winter-use map of the Girdwood area for his guiding business.
•	Deb Essex will contact Carl Skustad to see if Telepalooza will donate money to Trails. 

3.  Update 2007 Budget—Kate reported that Jonnie told her via email that we received the requested $20,000 from GBOS.

New Business
1.  Trails Comprehensive Plan—Kate will contact Jonnie to copy the current comprehensive plan for Girdwood Trails. She will report next month.

2. Place Holder Application for NPS Grant—We will address this when Jonnie returns.

3.  American Hiking Society—Alison asked if the Committee would like to hold a Trails Day event in June. It was decided to not hold any event this year.

Other Business
 Alison showed the map of the new FS trailhead on Crow Creek Road for the Iditarod National Historic Trail and hand tram.  Discussion followed about the labeling of the parking lot and the popularity of the hand tram. It was suggested to rename the parking lot so that the tram is not emphasized. 

There was discussion about the popularity and subsequent dangers of the hand tram. This will be on next month’s agenda.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

NEXT MEETING IS TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2007, AT GLACIER CITY HALL.