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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-03-GCC-min Greenways Corridor Committee Minutes 3 June 2021, 4:00 — 5:30 pm via Zoom Conference Members Present: Mal Crawford, Alex Dohan, Eileen Entin, Bob Hausslein, Susan Kenyon, Keith Ohmart, Stephen Perkins, Mike Tabaczynski Other Attendees: Bob Creech (Planning Board Liaison), Larry McCray, Francesca Pfrommer (Rec Committee Liaison), Mark Sandeen (Select Board Liaison), Amber Carr (Conservation Dept.) Votes: Meeting minutes of 6 May 2021: Approved Reports/Updates: • Francesca announced that she is stepping off the Recreation Committee so will no longer be the GCC's liaison to that committee. The GCC members expressed their regret that we are losing her as a liaison and thanked her for all her contributions and insights. • Regarding the Jefferson Drive Trail Connector, the North Shore development engineer confirmed that a plan is in front of Karen and that he will have his part done by the end of July. • On the Wayfinding Sign Project, Mike reported that he has finalized the signs for areas 1 and 2. He plans to do the rest over the next few weeks and will send them out when done. Keith and Mike will go before the Historic Commission at their meeting tonight (3 June) to obtain permission to mount the two signs that fall in areas the Historic Commission covers. Next the signs will be sent to the Select Board for any comments they may have. Posts for the signs will be purchased with PIR funds. Bob and Steven will work with members of the Stewards to install the posts. The ACROSS Trust Fund will pay for the signs. The goal is to have the signs mounted by late summer. • 2021 PIR Budget Update: Keith reported that a new company has taken over from the company that used to make our signs. The 3.5 x 3.5 square signs produced by this new company are slightly lower in weight that the ones currently being used. The Committee's consensus was that this slightly lower weight will be adequate. Mike was concerned about cases where the edges of the sign stick out (on U-shaped posts) but that was not viewed as a significant issue. If a sporadic problem occurs it will be less expensive to replace the signs than to use a heavier weight for all signs. We will purchase 1000 arrows and 500 logos plus enough screws for mounting them. This, plus the 16 posts for mounting the wayfinding signs, plus payment to David Neal for his work on the ACROSS App will use up the available PIR funds. • Concord Ave Conservation property Land Management Plan (LMP) update: The Conservation Dept does not have sufficient bandwidth to supervise a Land Management Plan this year. The GCC will try to have it included in the plan for next year. Relevant for eventual trail development in this area, Mike reported that engineering divisions told him that they will resurface Walnut St and will put in a crosswalk where the Western Greenway crosses Walnut St. There is also a request to add a crosswalk on Concord Ave. • Bridge School Boardwalk Update: Mal has met with the Engle Scout candidate who has taken on the project to complete the 3rd section of the Bridge School Boardwalk. The Scout is working on his proposal and expects to complete the project this year. Mal has provided him with examples of cost estimates and other materials. Amber reported that the Conservation Dept has not received any other project requests from Scouts. New Business: • Comprehensive Plan: The updating of the Comprehensive Plan is spearheaded by the Planning Department. An open meeting on June 15 will focus on Open Space and Recreation. Karen expressed the importance of having GCC representation at that meeting, and Bob Creech also emphasized the importance of the June 15th meeting and our presence there. Mike and Stephen volunteered to represent the GCC at the meeting and other committee members who are available will join. In preparation for the meeting Keith sent the ACROSS concept map to Amanda Loomis for use at the meeting. Keith added circles to the map in areas where we have future projects. Keith stressed the importance of having our existence and our plans acknowledged in the open space and recreation portion of the Comprehensive Plan update. Bob Creech informed us that two new consultants who are experienced in comprehensive planning have recently been hired to work on the development of the plan. As part of this discussion, it was noted that we have the opportunity to collaborate our planning with Parks and Rec starting late in the summer. • Proposed website enhancements: Susan, Mike and Keith will meet to discuss ideas for connecting the information on the wayfaring signs with the ACROSS map on the town's website. They hope to have a meeting with Kathy Santos to discuss this. • Trail Apps: Regarding google map applications, Susan noted that Wellesley has an app with which users can walk along and see where they are on the map in real time. Lexington uses AppGeo for its GIS work. Susan spoke with a former neighbor who worked there. He explained that an additional layer could be added to allow walkers to identify where they are in real time on our maps. Bob noted this would have to be integrated with our QR codes. It may be possible to do an overlay with the points of interest on the ACROSS brochure (as well as parking, restaurants, and other pertinent information). Keith, Mike and Susan will include this when they meet with Kathy Santos to investigate AppGeo and see what skills are needed to do this kind of integration. Francesca felt that the Rec Dept would also be interested in this capability. • ACROSS brochure: In conjunction with the discussion on trail apps, the committee discussed the need and utility of the ACROSS brochure, which provides both a paper map and information about points of interest. Mike noted that the values of paper versus on-line information brings up the question of how we communicate with our current and potential users as well as the more basic questions of how do we publicize the ACROSS system, and find out who are the users of the system and how frequently they use it. Susan noted there are search optimization algorithms that could help publicize the ACROSS system. She will try to learn more about these for our next meeting. In terms of current users, Mike said he is uneasy about dropping the paper maps because many current users are senior citizens who may not be text savvy, so we need to understand the impact of dropping paper maps. Mal pointed out the possibility of pdf files that users can print at home (although most home computer users cannot easily print on larger than business size paper stock. As our discussion (and meeting) concluded, Mike volunteered to summarize what we've talked about — i.e., how to communicate with current and potential users and through what channels. His summary will help clarify what information is needed to help decide about the utility of paper maps and the kinds of online applications that would be desirable. Pending Items: • History project update (Larry McCray) • Archive options for maintaining copies of ACROSS artwork, etc. Next Meeting: 26 August 2021, 3:30-5:30pm, via Zoom Conference Future meeting dates: Oct 7, Nov 4, Dec 2 Respectfully Submitted by Eileen Entin, Secretary