San Juan Island Trails Committee Minutes

February 11, 2009

Present
Magda Balise, David Dehlendorf, Eileen Drath, Louise Dustrude, David Jenkins, Jill Johnson, Glenn Kaufman, Peter Morrison, Howie Rosenfeld, and Leslie Veirs.

Notices
1. Winter potluck on Wednesday, March 4, at 6:00 – 8:30 pm at the Grange.
2. Next steering committee meeting: Tuesday, March 3, at 4:00 pm at the library (a change from March 4 due to our potluck on that date). All are invited.
3. Next regular monthly meeting: Wednesday, March 11, at 5:00 pm in the community room at Whidbey Island Bank.

Volunteer Hours January 2009

February Steering Committee
6
Today’s Meeting
15
Bike Sub-Committee
16
Work Parties
0
Roche Harbor Stewardship Group
22
Other Volunteer Hours
12
Total Hours
71

Call to Order
The regular meeting was called to order by Chair David Dehlendorf at 5:05 pm. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as circulated by email. All present introduced themselves.

Reorganization of Trails Committee
Chair David Dehlendorf explained the status of our proposed affiliation with Island Rec, and passed around copies of the proposed operating agreement. The Board of Commissioners of Island Rec is expected to vote on March 5 to approve the proposed affiliation.

Meeting with Public Works
David Dehlendorf reported that Cinda Pierce, Tracy Roberson, and he met last week with Public Works Director Jon Shannon, engineer Rachel Dietzman, and planning coordinator Shannon Wilbur. Jon asked the Trails Committee to update our 2006 Trails Plan, which we told him we were already planning to do at the request of Island Rec.

This update will include a listing of trail project priorities over the short, medium, and long terms to be prepared in a format suggested by Public Works. Public Works expects to use our update and our listing of trail priorities to add some of our multi-use trail projects to its 2010 update of its 6-year transportation plan to be presented to the County Council for approval in July. (Public Works already has money in its budget for our Cattle Point Road Trail and the West Side Road Trail projects.) When it is completed, the Trails Committee will ask Public Works to use our update for purposes of updating its own Non-Motorized Transportation Plan adopted in 2005 by the county government.

Jon also informed us that a new bill has been presented in Olympia, House Bill 1659, that would provide all Washington counties with funding for recreational trails equivalent to a 0.06% sales tax. The funding would come from reallocation of an existing sales tax and would therefore not increase the existing sales tax. Howie Rosenfeld explained that the County sends sales tax money to the State and would get some of it back under HB 1659. The County Council has sent a letter to Olympia encouraging passage of the bill. Trails Committee members are encouraged to write our state representatives Sen. Kevin Ranker, Rep. Dave Quall, and Rep. Jeff Morris in support. David Dehlendorf will email members with details.

Howie also reported that the County Council has amended the Scenic Roads policy which
did not allow for shoulders; this now conforms with the Non-Motorized Transportation
Plan which calls for wider shoulders for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Pipeline Trail
David reported on our hope that the Town’s replacement of the pipeline from Trout Lake to Town can be combined with the County’s repaving of San Juan Valley Road to make possible a walking and biking trail for safety reasons. The Town Council is soon going to approve a contract with Brown & Caldwell Engineers for a study of the pipeline. David sent an email today to Mayor Jones asking that this feasibility study include the possibility of a trail. Howie suggested the biggest problem is that the old easements do not include provisions for a trail, and landowners might be resistant to adding that provision to their easements; but he also pointed out that the County has postponed its work on the road for a year and that might allow time to work out an agreement with the Town. He also said the County Council has plans to look at the King Sisters property along the west end of San Juan Valley Road in March; this property is owned by the Land Bank, which does intend to provide a trail.

Howie told the group a joint policy planning group has been formed to include one elected official from the County Council and one from the Town Council; one Commissioner from each of the Planning Commissions; the Town and County planners; and the Town and County administrators. Cattle Point Road Trail and Park to Park Trail Proposed easement documents have been given to several landowners along these two routes, and it is believed that at least some of them plan to sign soon. Construction on both trails is expected to begin in the next few months.

Maps at Meetings
Peter Morrison suggested it would be very useful if we would have display maps at all of our meetings for the convenience of the members. The group will look into this possibility. We will definitely plan to have maps on display at the March 4 potluck.

Potluck
Eileen Drath reported that our third annual Trails Potluck will be March 4, from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Grange Hall. Those attending are asked to bring their own table service plus a dish to share. Everyone is encouraged to provide a few pictures of a hiking or biking or other outdoor trip they’ve taken to share with the group. Please arrange with David Dehlendorf to show these pictures.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Louise Dustrude, Acting Secretary