Girdwood Trails Committee
Minutes of Regular Meeting

Girdwood Community Center, 7:00 pm 
Monday, July 7, 2008

Call to Order
Carolyn Brodin called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m.  Kate Sandberg acted as secretary. Others present: Alison Rein, Jonnie Lazarus, Diana Livingston, Brian Burnett, Deb Essex, Jonathan Lee, John Gallup, Mark Jonas, and Debra Croghan.

Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as written.

Approval of Minutes, June 3, 2008
The minutes were approved as written. 

Introduction of Guests
No guests attended.

Old Business
Trail Issues
•	Alyeska Highway Bridge Repair—John reported that the bridge’s decking most
likely will be worked on in September, not July. He has not heard back from Parks and Recreation and the HDR engineers. He will pursue it this week and get the project organized.
Rotary Club members want to help, so John doesn’t believe he will need any SAGA crew time.  He will need two sets of tools, one for each shift. 

•	Other Trail Issues—The hand tram broke last weekend, but it is now
fixed.  The rope had been pinched, but there was no permanent damage to it or any mechanical parts.  John and others who helped fix it believe the rope had stretched because it was new.
A tram rider was reported to have lacerated his hand while pulling the rope, so John will go over the rope thoroughly tomorrow to make sure there are no stray steel pieces. Members commented on the abuse of the tram and rope by riders (bungee jumping from the tram etc.), but no solutions were found.  
A sign needs to be put up that says children should not go on the tram by themselves. John will take care of this too.

Budget 
Jonnie reported that we have spent very little this year. The vast majority of the budget will go to SAGA. We also have a matching grant of $3,000.  Diana said that we have approximately $2,800 in the Girdwood, Inc. account. 
Jonnie suggested that we ask GBOS for $500.00 each year for signs and maps.

SAGA Crews
	We will have one crew for four weeks, (40 hours/week) this September. After discussion, members decided on the following priorities for the crew:

#1 Beaver Pond Trail—Work on drainage and eroded sections, continue widening, and put down gravel where necessary. Take out metal planks and put in treated wood planks. Take out exposed roots.  Brian will walk with Norman and the crew to explain the work.

#2 Enchanted Forest Bridge—Construct new bridge. Wood is already there. 

# 3 Abe’s Trail—Cut down trees across trail. 

#4 Stumpy’s Winter Trail—Cut down trees that cross trail. Carolyn will walk with the crew to explain.

#5 Trail at Crow Creek Road Iditarod Parking Lot—Fix trail erosion.

Brian mentioned that the Resort has a Mr. Parker of Indian plank their downed trees at his sawmill. For $20/hour, Parker chips and cuts the wood and keeps half; the hotel keeps the other half.  We could use downed trees for planking; however, the wood wouldn’t last as long as treated wood.

Nordic/Multi-Use Trail
Carolyn reported that since our last meeting, the Girdwood 2020 Trails Committee had met.  At that meeting, Deb Essex expressed her interest in heading the effort to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed trail system. 	
Deb then asked the Committee for support of her work and the formation of a 501(c)(3) entity to be responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the trail.  She suggested calling the entity Girdwood Nordic Ski Club (GNSC) to reflect the other ski clubs across the state. 

Passed 7-1; no abstentions: The Trails Committee supports the formation of the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club as a 501(c)(3) in its efforts to create, operate, and maintain Nordic and non-motorized multi-use trails in Girdwood.

The article for the Turnagain Times still needs to be written. Kate, Carolyn, and Deb will write the first draft and then circulate it among the Trails Committee members. A large version of the trail map will be included. The purpose is to educate the community about the new status of the trail and to ask for feedback. The feedback can be emailed or mailed, and the Committee will then gauge community support for this trail.  No mailings will be sent due to cost.

Map for Girdwood Area Plan Revision 
Each attendee received a copy of “Girdwood Trails DGPS Mapped, 1994-2002.” Carolyn said the MOA GAP writers would like an updated version of this map. 

Trails to be added are:  Abe’s Trail, Virgin Creek to the top of Max’s, and Beaver Pond access from the bike path.  The Danich Trail needs to be renamed. The Committee will address this again in August.

New Business
Meeting Day—Jonnie will talk to the Fire Chief to see if we can meet in the Community Center on Tuesday nights. We may have a conflict with the Volunteer Fire Department’s training night.

Other Business
•	Alison reported that the new transportation center area is not pedestrian friendly. Lori Schanche, MOA Pedestrian Planner, was not consulted. There is no sidewalk between the Alyeska Highway and the parking lot. The Committee expressed its dismay.

•	Alison also reported that there will be extra fill (gravel) at the new CA Creek bridge, and DOT would like to know if we want to keep the fill.  The Committee agreed that we do want to keep it.  She said there will be no parking lot for the CA Creek trailhead, but space on each side of the road for two cars.

•	Jonnie has 25 XC skier signs to put up this fall. She also has many Trail Committee maps and will reorder when we have half a case left.

•	Brian asked if the ARR had plans to fence off the south access to the confluence of Glacier and California Creeks. If so, that will create a dangerous situation. He will contact ARR’s Steve Silverstein.

•	Brian mentioned that the paragliders are damaging Moose Meadow by walking back and forth from the windsock in the meadow.  Entire groups are walking out and negatively impacting the ground. Peter –-- of Alaska Paragliding does not need a permit for use of the meadow.  Brian will ask Peter to our next meeting to discuss a plan for lessening the impact on the meadow.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm.

Next meeting is Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Girdwood Community Center