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Home My WebLink About2020-01-27 Dryden Rail Trail Friends and Task Force Minutes of the 7-9 pm Meeting Monday January 27, 2020 Freeville Village Hall Attendance: Bob Beck, Alice Green, Diane and Chris Tessaglia-Hymes, Stephanie Goddard, David Fogel, Steve Winans, Bob O’Malley, John Udall, John Kiefer, Loren Sparling, Todd Bittner, John Lampman Call to order (7:03 p.m.) – Bob Beck Bob noted it’s been 5 years since Cornell Design Connect started its study of the Rail Trail (from Route 38 in Freeville to Mt. Pleasant Road in Varna). Additions to agenda: Future trail work plans – Bruno; Comprehensive Plan – Alice/ John K. Approval of December minutes: Bob noted there are many elements appended this time, including the summary of trail work this past year. Bruno said plans for future trail work should be appended to the minutes as well (See attached). Game Farm trestles update – Bob, Alice The Dryden Town Board approved a Trail Maintenance Plan in December, as part of the requirements for the Game Farm stewardship agreement with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Bob said he passed this on to Evan Wills, Manager at the Game Farm. He noted the stewardship agreement includes a stipulation that the DRT would renovate the trestles. Evan reported that Jim Farquhar, who signed the stewardship agreement, had conferred with Cortland DEC regional manager Dan Bishop and that Dryden can be expecting a response to Town Supervisor Jason Leifer within the “next week or two.” Work Plan from Bruno Bruno presented his projected Trail Work Plan (attached). Suggested additions were: the Dryden Main St. (Route 13) and Game Farm Rd. crossings. Todd said that, from a full scope of work perspective, it’s important to list some items separately because of the need to coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOT) on certain crossings. Easements update – Bob, Bruno There are two properties that have changed hands since contacts were made with previous owners. One person responded to requests for a trail easement, the other hasn’t. Bob said he is continuing to reach out to a property owner on Route 366. The second easement is for a property that has a self-storage facility east of Pinckney Rd. The previous owners, who live in California, didn’t end up agreeing to an easement. Now the owners of the Storage Squad on Route 13 have bought that piece and they are receptive and are reviewing a draft easement. Todd noted the owners have a strong Cornell connection. Bruno said he’d reach out to the CU Vet School representative again, and also tried again with a property owner along the Freeville to Etna stretch. Bob suggested one owner could be re-approached with an offer to add fill and build a fence. Design Committee update – Diane Diane wants to begin committee work on several new projects including: • A new flier for the trail, with a map in a trifold, that will be useful for people who want a big picture for the trail • Designs for FH FOX Bridge signage and related displays that can share the heritage of Professor Fox. Bob suggested a larger sign that could be hung in front of the bridge wall beneath the new railing. Bruno suggested reaching out to DOT & the Town to inquire about any restrictions on signage they might have. • Kiosks for Game Farm, Monkey Run, Mount Pleasant and the spur trail to Route 13. Todd thought this was a good order for producing them. • Mile markers. Diane said that the task force needs to make a decision on where to start and end them. This is made complicated by the question of how to count sections that don’t yet have easements. • Identifying “opening soon” sections that could be indicated on the map. There was some discussion about how much detail should be included in the overview map. Stephanie suggested adding road names where there are crossings. Others cautioned against too much info that could clutter the view. John L. said think you need to split the difference and make sure that, if this is the only map that a trail user sees, it has the basic info. Alice suggested making sure the link to IthacaTrails.org is included prominently to offer additional detail for smart phone users. Diane said the committee is also seeking someone who’s interested in writing content about the communities and areas the trail passes through where there’s interesting history, or natural history. Bob wondered if Cornell could provide information about Fall Creek. Todd said that the Tompkins County History Center has good documentation. It is now in its new location so they may be able to be more helpful. Loren said they’ve done an exhibition in the past on railroads, and Todd said past place-based exhibitions have included talks and field trips, one on Fall Creek, starting at Ithaca Falls, another on Six Mile Creek. The committee can connect with the new History Center director, and with Historic Ithaca for display content material. Alice suggested that Diane put out a call on the list serve for interested contributors to the Design Committee, including content researchers and writers TAP Grant: Selection of engineering consultant; Scope of Services meeting – Bob, Todd, Bruno, John, Dan, Alice, Ray The bridge subcommittee met with Erdman Anthony, the consultant being hired to help design the pedestrian bridge over Route 13. They have already presented some cost estimates for various scopes of work. When the final scope of work is determined, a contract must be approved. The process will include public meetings for input, coordination with DOT, and then on to construction, project management and inspections. EA will oversee the whole project. Expected construction will be in 2021. John Lampman asked about the status of the Town-DOT contract. Todd said the project is still in the scope of services phase. The committee hasn’t yet received cost estimates, but when those are provided in a week or two, there will be a process of price negotiation before the Town approves the contract. Next grant application possibilities – John, Todd, Bob County Parks & Trails Grant Tompkins County Planning will be asking for applications for Parks and Trails. (The DRT did get a $5K grant for crossing lights in 2019.) Todd suggested applying for Game Farm crossing equipment on the Dryden side of the crossing, and asking the Town of Ithaca to apply for another $5,000 grant for equipment on the East Ithaca Recreation Way side. This could include funds for various items at this crossing, including flashing lights, bollards, advance warning signs etc. Bruno said he thinks flashing lights should be placed only where they’re absolutely needed: Game Farm, Mount Pleasant, Route 366 Etna, and the Main St. crossing in Dryden. He suggested moving the Springhouse lights to another needed site, because the sight lines are already good there. OPRHP Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) Grant There will be another funding application opportunity this summer. John K. said it would be necessary first to get approval of easements submitted to Albany a year ago, so we could sign the contract for the last grant. John, who wrote the original grant, noted that it has really given the project an incentive to do a lot of work, even though that work can’t be reimbursed until the contract is signed (and that depends on approved easements.) Bruno suggested OPRHP Regional Director Fred Bonn might be a good person to give advice on how to move along the easements approval. Triad Foundation officials have expressed a willingness to be approached again. Its 2019 donation of $15,000 for Game Farm trestle renovation will be spent as soon as DEC approvals (and good weather) arrive. Possible Rail Trail booth at June event in Freeville – Steph Goddard Historic Ithaca plans to do This Old House tours on Saturday June 13. Railroad history could be highlighted. Christine O’Malley is the Historic Ithaca contact. Steph said the DRT Friends group could do a booth, or she offered to hand out Rail Trail fliers at her home, which is on the house tour. Diane suggested selling trail water bottles and other merchandise at this event, as well as at Dairy Day the week before. Stephanie also mentioned that the Freeville welcome sign at DPW drive has been broken several times by vehicles backing into to it. There’s a need for some arrow signs that show trail directions near the Freeville Village barn. Cornell Design Connect: DRT to be featured in ten-year report – Bob A representative of Cornell Design Connect recently interviewed Bob for the report, which will highlight the Dryden Rail Trail project as one of the most successful in the program’s history. Bob worked with a team of students who produced the 2015 plan, which formed the basis of our Rail Trail development. Comprehensive Plan- Alice offered a quick overview of the process for Dryden 2045, the update of the Town of Dryden’s 2005 Comprehensive Plan. Environmental Design and Research (EDR) consultants of Syracuse were selected to guide the process, which will include: • Ten meetings with the Planning Board (the steering committee) • Three focus groups with selected stakeholders • A speakers series reaching out to all Town advisory groups, task forces, and many community organizations • Three open house style public meetings • A community-wide questionnaire • An interactive web site, which is already live at www.dryden2045.org • The updated plan, slated for completion by Fall 2021 John K. and Alice offered to present a slide show created for the speaker’s series, and get input from the DRT Task Force at the next meeting. Next Meeting Scheduled for 7 pm Monday February 17 at DPW.  Adjournment at 8:50 pm? Submitted by Alice Walsh Green Attachment: Proposed Schedule of Work Phases (Bruno Schickel)