HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-23-GCC-minGreenways Corridor Committee
November 23, 2015
Training Room, Hadley DPW Building
Lexington, Massachusetts
Members Present: Alex Dohan, Eileen Entin, Don Grant, Bob Hausslein, Susan Ken-
yon, Paul Knight, Keith Ohmart, Mike Tabaczynski
Other Attendees: none
Votes: Minutes approved: 10/26/2015
Transportation Safety letter approved unanimously
Reports /Updates:
• The ACROSS and GCC websites are being revised by Kathy Santos at the Town
office - ongoing. The entire Town site will be updated.
• Ruth Rose did a lot of work on the websites for us. We "passed the hat" and Susan
will take care of getting a gift certificate to Artistry on the Green, and delivering it to
Ruth.
• Keith, Eileen, Don and Mike all attended the Trails Conference on Nov. 14. Takea-
ways were: Consider user experience; lots of signs; consider primary use, multiple
needs; ADA compliant trails are a LOT of work. (Jordan McCarron, Laurel Carpen-
ter, Bonnie Newman also attended on behalf of Stewards.) Keith will have Karen
Mullins hold funds for participation in next year's conference, usually held first or
second weekend in November.
• Stewards project list, as it pertains to GCC: The Shire Trail needs to be walked
with new owners at Journey's End off Shade St, to confirm route. This will be built
on a Steward spring work day and Stewards will work with Conservation on how to
deal with wetland areas. This trail will include use of the Fire Road off Shade St
and connect to Spring St. The other Stewards project that will affect ACROSS is a
trail through Concord Ave conservation land that will connect Brookhaven to the
Beaver Brook Reservation, between Waltham St and Walnut St.
Ongoing Business:
• Routes E & F are signed through the Freemont St Play Area from the Bike Path
and Garfield St. From the end of Asbury St at the Freemont St Play Area, the route
(F) will follow Freemont to Constitution to Revolutionary to Ross. Route E will fol-
low Cedar from Meagherville, go through Poor Farm Conservation Land and get to
Lincoln Park via Hastings Rd and Lincoln St.
• Keith arranged for full -size maps to be printed for each of us, for use in future route
planning. In addition to route planning, topics for consideration should include sign -
age to mark Destinations and Conservation trails when necessary. What Destina-
tions do we want to mark? Schools? The Center (of Town)? Conservation parcels?
We may wish to purchase some signs at this time as we cannot "save" the CPA
monies for later on.
New Business:
• Expenditures: We should have a budget laid out by June 1 in order to figure out fu-
ture funding plans. There is CPA money remaining, but it is not designated for
printing costs, so the brochure will have to be paid for by other funding sources.
(The CHYNNA grant paid for the last batch.) At this point, do we want to re -do the
whole brochure, or just the maps? We are still creating routes, so another update
will be needed within a year. How often should we do paper maps? It is easy to
update the online maps, but the paper ones become obsolete. Should we put a
QR code on the paper maps so users can access the up -to -date maps with
smartphones? What do other trail organizations do for map access? Susan reports
that she could have used more high school students last summer to keep brochure
boxes filled. We ought to think about alternate funding sources, such as the Tour-
ism Committee or the Community Endowment of Lexington. Keith will also talk with
Karen Mullins (as fund manager) since we don't need more basic hardware for
route marking and maybe we can flip the funds over to printing.
• Keith was approached by a faculty member at the High School looking for a project
for a student, perhaps creating an app for ACROSS Lexington. David Neal owns
the existing app, so that might not work out. There might be other ways to involve
students with technology know -how, to broaden the ACROSS online presence,
such as a Facebook page, or way finding. Paul suggested the possibility of route
finding using Open Street Maps. Keith will put the LHS person in touch with Susan,
who will work with Paul to see what might be a viable project.
Next Meeting: December 14, 2015, 4:30- 6:00pm, DPW Training Room
Future meeting dates: 2016 schedule TBD
Future Agenda Items:
- Certification of ACROSS Lexington Completion program update - Gil Benghiat
- Easement/Town Access Project
Respectfully Submitted by
Alexandra Dohan, Secretary