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

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

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

Others present: Carolyn Brodin, Matt Wedeking, Norman Starkey, Alison Rein, Diana Livingston, Kevin Montague, Jonnie Lazarus, and Guest Rob Martin of Alyeska Resort. Tim Cabana attended for a short while.

Additions to Future Monthly Agendas
Future agendas will include the two headings Approval of Agenda and Introduction of Guests.  Old Business will have Budget Discussion.

Approval of Minutes
February minutes were approved without correction.

Old Business
a.  Alyeska Highway Bridge/Bike Path—Alison reported that the Alaska Trails Initiative grant now shows a request for just the bridge, $450,000. However, the entire bike path must be repaired.  Alison will continue to pursue this.

b.  Virgin Creek Trailhead and HLB—Art Eash wants to improve the Virgin Creek trail to the falls and would like to know what the Committee recommends.  We recommend a sturdy bench, not a railing at the falls, and minor improvements to the trail. The concern is not to change the character of the trail any more than necessary.  We do not recommend bank or tree root cutting, boardwalks, or extra parking spaces.   SAGA crews could do the work.

c.  Winter Use Issues—Kate said that Mark Jonas writes that he may have to replace the actuator on the groomer, but that he will try to fix it first.  A new actuator is $400.  The groomer also may need a new belt, a tune-up and small parts, Andy reported. 

Carolyn mentioned that grooming had been done in Secret Meadow, so the Committee decided to have a grooming map be placed in the shed for all volunteer groomers to follow. 

d.  Other Trails Issues: Diana and Alison discussed the half-mile long HLB parcel that HLB would like to transfer to Girdwood.  It is located between Alyeska Highway and the Beaver Pond Trail (Tract A, W. A. Long Subdivision, 1.37 acres).

Motion [Diana, seconded by Norman]: In response to Art Eash’s request, the Girdwood Trails Committee would accept the HLB parcel with the provision that he fund a boardwalk [HLB will provide funding to build a boardwalk] from the Alyeska Bike Path to the Beaver Pond Trail.  

Passed unanimously, no abstentions.   Alison will inform Art Eash.

2.  Nordic Feasibility Study—Kate reported that Jim Galanes wrote to say that further development of the Nordic trails is on hold until Alyeska Resort Management Company creates their master plan.   The Feasibility Study is available online on the Boutet website.  Kate will email Jim to see if he can send a CD of the study.

3.  Dedication of Girdwood Trails—Jonnie said that Art Eash recommends all developers of Girdwood property that involve a trail, trailhead, or trail access be required by the GBOS to dedicate that trail, trailhead, or trail access. The work and funding for the dedication would be the developers’ responsibility, not the public. The dedication process would begin for the developer by addressing the Trails Committee.

Currently, Art Eash is working to get IGP approval for three trails. (Note: trails later identified by Eash as Virgin Creek Falls, Tract F by Old Winner Creek Trail, and Beaver Pond Trail).  The Iditarod is already dedicated through the National Forest Service. He expects three trails a year to be dedicated in this fashion, and the Trails Committee expects to make those recommendations.

4.  Comprehensive Girdwood Trails Plan—From emails from MOA park planners, it appears there is no specific Girdwood master plan for our trails. Matt is on the committee for the revision of the Turnagain Arm Plan; he will ask about a Girdwood master plan. Kate will ask MOA park planners what document governs Girdwood trails.

New Business
1.  Hand Tram/Safety and Usage Issues—Rob Martin from Alyeska agreed that the current hemp is not the best material for the tram rope.   He recommends a synthetic rope with a steel cable core. Kate gave him Tom Yeager’s email to Knot and Rope Supply with the store’s answer as to kinds of appropriate rope. Rob will order the appropriate kind and length of rope.  Diana told Rob that if he gives her the shipping point, cube and weight of the rope, she might be able to get shipping donated or the cost reduced. 

Rob, per Norman’s request, will keep a maintenance log for the tram and share it with the Trails Committee upon request.

2.  Priorities for 2007—Jonnie requested that the Committee start to address budget issues at least a few months before the GBOS budget is drafted. The Committee agreed to have a budget discussion item on the agenda each month and to address the next year’s budget each August and September. 

Trails Committee also needs to know historically where the budgeted money has been spent. Jonnie will provide last year’s expenses but is not sure she can find further past years. She will try to find those past lists of expenses.

Budget and Priorities
This year’s budget is $20,000 with a $5,000 matching grant for the Iditarod  = $25,000

After discussion the Committee decided the following budget and priorities for 2007:

 $15,000          SAGA Crew work
    5,000	Matching funds for Iditarod Trail work
    4,000 	Materials for trails (wood, gravel etc.)
    1,000 	Snow groomer repairs and upkeep

SAGA Crew Work To Be Done
Alison will request that the SAGA crews come in June/July, not late September and October.  Full rate for SAGA is $1500 per day. 

Iditarod—Brush out area behind new parking lot off Crow Creek Road, brush out Upper Iditarod Trail on west side of Crow Creek Road, cut into woods and clean out trail behind fire station. Seven days work will be the minimum depending on negotiated SAGA rate.

Other—Use the rest of money and time on primarily on Beaver Pond Trail. It needs more boardwalks and drainage.  Bollards placed at top of Deb’s Way.  Virgin Creek work if time. Five days of work or more depending on negotiated rate.

Norman and Andy will coordinate buying wood planking and bringing it out soon to the Beaver Pond Trail via snow machine. This was decided to be much easier than hauling it in the summer.

Other Business
•	Tom Swanson, Forest Fair Committee, plans to use recycled asphalt to redo the trails in Forest Fair Park. Jonnie will call him to suggest that he report to the Trails Committee.

•	Matt reported that this is the last year that Telepalooza had agreed to donate funds to Challenge Alaska.  If we can, Trails would like to be on Telepalooza’s list for next year’s non-profit donations.

•	Added after meeting: Thank you to Alison Rein for writing the Trails article, which went in the Turnagain Times and Alaska Trails Newsletter.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Next meeting is April 3, 2007, 7:00 p.m. at Glacier City Hall