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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-17 Dryden Rail Trail Friends and Task Force Minutes of the Meeting 7– 9 p.m. Monday, June 17, 2019 Freeville Village Hall Attendance: Bruno Schickel, Janice and Tony Bretcher, Stephanie Goddard, Shaun Cobb, Judy Pierpont, Chris and Diane Tessaglia-Hymes, Susan Ashdown, Cheryl and Travis Stelick, Todd Bittner, Dan Lamb, Bob Beck, Alice Green, John Lampman Call to order (7:05 p.m.) – Bob Beck Additions to agenda: Approval of May minutes: unanimously approved Review of May 11 and Dairy Day expenses, donations, raffle & sales revenue and sale items inventory – Susan, Diane, Chuck, Deb, Janice, and Tony Bob thanked the volunteers who staffed the Dairy Day booth (listed above). Susan said the raffle tickets for items that Judy Pierpont collected were really popular at the May 11 opening event. Bruno asked if there could be a good debrief on the May opening to do a cost- benefit analysis on what worked and what the group wants to do again when another section is opened. Review samples of logo sign — Bob, Bruno Bob has been working with a vendor that can provide signage for the trail. He said the solar flashing lights signs for crossings are still not ordered. The first set came in without pedestrian control buttons. Bob is working to pin down details to order the correct type. These will feature pictures of both a bicycle and a hiker to indicate multi-use trail. New types are solar powered, radio frequency connected, and user activated. Dryden Village’s current signs flash on both sides Bruno and Bob displayed two different logo/ welcome sign types, one from Crossroads Highway Supply, the company that does signs for the Town, and another from a vendor Bruno found. The welcome and street name signs don’t need to be reflective, but the stop signs, which will be posted to be seen as folks are approaching the road crossings, do need to be reflective. Bruno said he likes the brighter colors on the metal logo signs better than the darker green in the kiosks, which he feels is too dark. Metal reflective signs for the highway were approved by consensus. Diane will provide a pdf of the correct logo design. She said she will call a meeting of the Design Committee and invite any new Trail friends to join. Discuss concerns and solutions to horse and dog droppings on the trail – Bob Lots of comments have been made on our list serve about sanitation issues. On the Schug trail there are two stations with doggie bags. DPW doesn’t like installing wastebaskets, because people may put other trash in them. Stephanie Goddard raised this issue on the list serve. She said she loves the trail, and offered to fund and maintain two bag-dispensing stations. There’s been a bag dispenser at Springhouse Rd for some time. She thinks a lot of dog use on the newly opened Dryden to Freeville section is by local residents. She’d suggest placing the dispenser near the Freeville DPW building. Todd said it would be good to separate dispensers from the kiosks; at Cornell Natural Areas they separate way finding and orientation from other types of signs. They use a strategy of asking folks who keep their dogs on leashes to reinforce or be ambassadors for dog etiquette. Cornell is even considering banning dogs from all the Natural Areas and Botanic Gardens because this is such a problem. But he stresses trying to reinforce proper dog behavior in multiple ways, because signs aren’t adequate. Stephanie brought up on the list serve that if dog walkers see horse manure, they might wonder why they should clean up after their dogs. There is a Brooktondale equestrian group who have offered to come do clean up monthly. Bruno suggested the group may want to plan for “adopt-a-trail sections” to encourage neighbors to maintain various parts of the trail. He said now would be a good time to reach out for adopters, including for the Schug trail section. Todd said it’s good to provide pick up supplies for folks handling waste; sometimes there’s unhealthy stuff in the waste. Chris TH suggested reaching out to William George Agency regarding their horseback riding program; they might be willing to clean up. Report on TAP kickoff meeting with NYSDOT in Syracuse – Bob, John, and Todd Task Force representatives had a good kick off meeting for the TAP grant with DOT. Bob said they learned some things that have made the Task Force re-think the schedule of work. They will be talking in more detail about this as TAP grant sub-committee. Dan said that he thought the Town Board needed to pass a resolution approving the Town match and scope of work this week. Todd said the resolutions should wait until the subcommittee re-examines the scope of work in light of new information. The DOT made it very clear that the Task Force needs to finalize the scope of work before the Town signs the authorization for the grant. DOT officials said it’s not likely we’ll be able to start any of the work on this project for 18 to 24 months. It won’t be possible to start claiming for reimbursement of in kind spending and volunteer work till the design stage is complete. Todd said the subcommittee thought that the project could continue work covered under the matching State Parks grant sooner, and then use it for a match. There is still time to decide if there are parts of the work between Game Farm and Pinckney Rd that could be pulled out of the TAP grant scope of work, for example, stone dust between Game Farm to Stevenson Rd. Another option is re-thinking the spur trail on the west side of the Route 13 crossing; and similarly the east spur trail, now that we will have a pedestrian bridge that can accommodate horses in the future. It will be important to do the cost benefit analysis that will determine the implications of pulling back some parts of the project, because portions included in the TAP grant become subject to federal standards so they will become more expensive. Permits and consultants will be necessary. The more straightforward a section is, such as without wetlands, the easier it will be to include. DOT defines the grant sections from road to road; there have to be “logical termini,” because the intent is to promote point-to-point transportation. Todd said he would advocate for making the new scope Stevenson Rd. to Pinckney Rd., which will allow a less expensive approach to the trestlework in the Game Farm section. The grant is 80/20 (federal/local) match. When sections are removed from the TAP scope, so work can be done sooner, the State Parks grant and local spending can no longer serve as a match for the total grant. Bruno said he favors removing even more of the stone dust work from the TAP scope of work, so the project doesn’t lose momentum. He wants to make the trail passable from Game Farm to Route 13 as soon as possible. Next grant opportunities? – Bob Bob reported that he approached the Triad foundation, which in the past has approved grants to cover construction for local community projects. He said their application process is simple: send a letter to Roy Park, with a description of the need and some documentation. Triad Administrator Jeff True offered to give feedback on the request before it’s submitted. He said they don’t give large grants, or multi-year grants, but they may approve new applications each year over several years for the same project. They might also fund operating costs, according to Jeff. This grant could serve as local match money if approved. Bruno said he earlier had contacted Jeff True to ask about Roy Park naming rights. He noted that Triad Foundation likes to keep grants at the $5K-15K level. They might provide the stone dust for the Game Farm section, if it gets pulled from the TAP grant. He also suggested that the Village of Freeville ought to approach them about their pocket park. No Second AARP Grant - Bob Bob reported that AARP did not approve a new grant for the trail. He submitted a proposal for benches and kiosks for a new trail section, similar to the one that was approved for $8,000 in the national competition last year. Diane said we should start working on the signs for the Game Farm section. Engineer Approval of Game Farm trestle plan still pending - Bruno Bruno reported that he’s now looking for another structural engineer to look at his plan for the Game Farm trestles. Bob wondered if John Lampman might help with this. Story Walk Project on Schug Trail Section -Alice Alice reported that the Family Reading Partnership (FRP) had approached the Village and Town of Dryden about installing a Story Book Walk project on the Schug section of the Trail, starting near Agway in the Village. Both entities referred FRP Director Amber Smith to the Rail Trail Task Force. The project would install about 30 simple green metal posts with mahogany painted plywood storyboards. These can accommodate individual pages of pre-school level picture books that feature artwork and stories that highlight aspects of nature. FRP has already secured a grant for the materials. Alice thought the installation might be a perfect one for teens to accomplish as part of their July trail work through the Town of Dryden’s Project Lead. Todd suggested approving the project as a 6-month pilot, to see if the installation works for that section. Members approved the pilot project by voice vote. Next meeting – July 15 at Dryden Town DPW. Adjournment at 8:43 pm Submitted by Alice Walsh Green