San Juan Island Trails Committee Minutes

January 14, 2009

Present

David Dehlendorf, Susan Dehlendorf, Eileen Drath, Louise Dustrude, Rick Exstrom, David Harsh, Eleanor Hartmann, Ann Jarrell, Don Jarrell, David Jenkins, Mike Lazzari, Peter Morrison, Cinda Pierce, Mark Pierce, Tracy Roberson, Howie Rosenfeld, Steve Ulvi, Chris Wolf

Notice of Upcoming Events
1. Trails Steering Committee Meeting: February 4 @ 4pm @ Library - all are invited
2. Bike Path Subcommittee Meeting: February 9 @ 5pm @ Whidbey Island Bank
3. Monthly Trails Committee Meeting: February 11 @ 5pm @ Whidbey Island Bank
4. Winter Pot Luck Dinner: March 4 @ 6pm @ The Grange

Volunteer Hours - December
Steering Committee - 18
Monthly Meeting - 33
Volunteer work - 41.5
Bike Sub committee - 16
Total hours - 108.5

Call to Order and Introductions
The meeting was called to order by Chair David Dehlendorf at 5:05 pm. The minutes from December were approved as circulated by e-mail.

Trails Potluck
The Third Annual Pot Luck will be held March 4 from 6 - 8:30pm at the Grange. Coordinating the event are Eileen Drath, Louise Dustrude and Alice Hurd. Eileen passed a sign-up sheet for volunteers to help at the event and for suggestions from members of other community people to whom special invitations could be extended. Members are reminded to gather approximately 12 photos of recent adventures to share, and get them to David Dehlendorf, preferably on a disc as soon as possible.

Trails Affiliation
The Trails Committee was informed by Land Bank that affiliating with us will not work. Three major issues were cited for their decision: mission incompatibility, as they could not endorse Trails continued support of multi-use trails; strain on current staff, Trails would require too much time of an already overburdened staff; necessity of offering same “umbrella” status trail groups on other islands, again straining staff commitments. Therefore, Trails asked Island Rec to again take us under their affiliation. David Dehlendorf, Cinda Pierce, and Don Jarrell met with Sally Thomsen, Recreation Director, to discuss this option. As a result, at Sally’s request, David drew up a Structure and Operation Document that Sally will present to the Island Rec Board for consideration at their mid-February meeting. Trails would become a sub-committee of Island Rec with a Board Member becoming a liaison between the two groups. In response to questions by Trails Committee members as to the pro’s and con’s of such affiliation, Chair Dehlendorf explained that Trails needs the Administrative/Accounting support, and the L&I insurance Island Rec can provide. Trails would remain fairly independent from Island Rec in that they would be overseeing our activities by approving a Yearly Work Plan and Budget and not be involved in day to day decisions. The Trails web site would remain independent while Island Rec‘s would emphasize the “link” to Trails on their site. Island Rec’s background checks for volunteers may be modified for us, however, to satisfy the L& I Insurance requirements Trail volunteers may need to attend some official First Aid and safety classes. The major disadvantage of rejoining Island Rec is the loss of access to County legal advice. Any cost for legal counsel, excluding easement procurement, will have to be paid for by the Trails Committee. Lincoln Bormann of the Land Bank reassured David that Land Bank will continue to be the grantee of all Trail easements on private land, and will absorb all legal expenses they involve. Island Rec should have a decision on this issue by the end of February. In the meantime, Trails will not sponsor any work parties, as there is no L& I coverage.

Work Party Sign
A new Trails sign was displayed to the members. It reads “San Juan Island Trails Committee Volunteers At Work”; the web address is also included. It will be hung at all future work party sites to increase public awareness of who we are, what we do and where. David thanked Cinda Pierce for spearheading this project.

Website Update
Don Jarrell reported that the Plant List done by Louisa Nishitani and Ann Jarrell for the 5 trails is now on the site. It is in PDF form, and may be printed out as a master list or by individual trails. Our web master Tim Dustrude has made it very user friendly. It was suggested that Trails do some publicity about the Plant List, as well as make special mention at the Potluck of Louisa’s hard work. Don Jarrell will write a press release in the spring, and Susan Dehlendorf will write an article for the next Island Rec publication.

Stimulus Package Resolution
David reported on the follow up to the Trails Committee Resolution at December’s meeting to ask the County to include multi-use trails in the Stimulus Package being formulated to send to Olympia. David was told by Pete Rose, County Administrator, that there were no “ready to go” trail projects on San Juan, the criteria for inclusion, but that two were included in the request that has already been sent to Olympia, one on Orcas and one on Lopez. Howie Rosenfeld suggested that there probably will be a second “Stimulus Package” coming from Washington in the near future, so suggested Trails get ready for that in case any monies trickle in to the local level from State. David Dehlendorf, Cinda Pierce, and Tracy Roberson will meet with Jon Shannon, Public Works Director, Shannon Wilbur, County Transportation coordinator and Rachel Dietzman, Public Works engineer, in early February to discuss this, as well as other ways the Trails Committee and Public Works can coordinate efforts on various trail projects.

Bicycle Subcommittee Report
Tracy Roberson reported that the bike subcommittee, which now has over 60 people on its mailing list, met January 12 with 11 people in attendance. In response to the diverse interests represented in the course of past meetings they have decided to formally divide into 2 separate groups. Each group will strive to increase cycling opportunities on the island by improving safety, convenience, education and facilities. One is officially named “Bike Paths” which is a subcommittee of the San Juan Island Trails Committee, sharing the mission and goals laid out in the SJITC Trails Plan. This group will focus on establishing a network of bike trails, multi-use trails, and mountain biking paths and influencing town and county policies and facilities. The second is a general bicycle enthusiast and advocacy Club (that is not affiliated with the Trails Committee). It will most likely focus on bicycle safety, education, signage, maps and organizing group rides and events. The minutes of the Bike Path meetings are posted on the Trails web site for those wanting more detailed information on the groups.

Safe Routes to Schools
Tracy reported that the Walking School Bus is continuing to happen every Tuesday, and a new map is being worked on. Future plans include recruiting additional committee members and partners in order to expand routes and ramp up our activities as we head into spring.

Trail Volunteers and Funding
Chairman Dehlendorf wanted all to be aware that in the spring the Trails Committee will need a lot of volunteers for trail design and construction as several projects being organized now should be ready to go. It was also suggested that the Committee think about outside sources of funding for these projects, as the money from Island Rec will not be sufficient.

Trout Lake Watershed Update
Several months ago David wrote a letter on behalf of the Trails Committee to the Town of Friday Harbor asking for consideration for opening up the area to the public for walking. He
reported that he recently followed up with Will Hamilton who is the coordinator of the Trout Lake Watershed Advisory Group set up to ensure water quality and fire safety at the lake. While not much progress has been made to date, Hamilton’s full report for the Town on Trout Lake, according to Chris Wolf, Town Council member, may be on the Town Council’s meeting agenda in the next few months. It was suggested that perhaps the Trails Committee could sponsor a walk that would be open to the public, and do research on other areas that have opened up their watersheds to public use. Steve Ulvi and Mike Lazzari who have been involved with David on the project will continue to follow the progress and report back to the Committee.

Friday Harbor Labs Trails
Dave Jenkins will follow up with Ken Sebens, Director of the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, regarding the possibility of increasing public access to the existing walking paths on the Labs’ property adjacent to Town. In continuing the dialogue, he will emphasize the need to open the trails for public use and see what further coordination on the Labs’ side may have been done since the November meeting. 

Cattle Point Trail
Don Jarrell and Cinda Pierce reported that the final draft of the Easement Document has been received from County legal and Land Bank. It is in the process of being distributed to the property owners who expressed a willingness to grant easements. With their signatures and legal descriptions attached they will go back to Lincoln Bormann at Land Bank for due diligence and approval. The trail on property at the corner of Fairway Drive and Cattle Point Road will be flagged as soon as the weather improves. Don Jarrell, and Cinda and Mark Pierce will meet with the officers of the Fairway Drive Homeowners’ Association in March to pursue permission to have their private road be part of the CPR trail. Don & Cinda will coordinate with Rachel Dietzman at Public Works regarding the contacting of property owners, surveying and trail marking along the Public Works right-of way off Golf Course Road.

Park to Park Trail
David Dehlendorf and Steve Ulvi continue to contact and work with property owners along the proposed trail just south of the County Park to establish property boundaries and possible trail routes.

Treasurer’s Report
Rick Exstrom presented the 2008 Expense Report as follows: Operating Supplies $76.83; Fuel $24.93; Website maintenance $1134; Mapping $375; Travel w/county $($159.00) ‘07 expense carryover; Advertising 0; Rentals $604.82; L&I Insurance $112.81; Printing  $474.12; Conference Registration $50

Total expenditures of $2852.51

The Treasurer’s job will likely be expanded with an Island Rec affiliation. While bills will continue to be sent to and paid by Island Rec, he will receive copies of the invoices and have to OK the expenditures with Sally before payment.

Membership Items
Steve Ulvi reported that he was asked by Doug McCutchen of Land Bank to provide some advice and expertise while the Land Bank considers possible options for trails on the King Sisters property. He also shared information on research he has done regarding training on trail design and building for the Trails Committee. With the many projects hopefully underway this spring and summer all agreed that classes or a one-day on-site workshop would be very helpful. Steve will pursue setting this up.

Meeting adjourned at 6:48pm.

Respectfully submitted, Cinda Pierce, Acting Secretary