HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-12-08-GCC-min
Greenways Corridor Committee
December 8, 2022
Parker Room - Town Office Building, and zoom
Lexington, Massachusetts
Members Present: Mal Crawford*, Alex Dohan, Peggy Enders, Eileen Entin, Bob Hausslein, Bobak Moshiri, Keith
Ohmart, Stephen Perkins, Yifang Gong
Other Attendees: ; Mike Tabaczynski; Susan Kenyon*; Charles Hornig*, Planning Board liaison
*via zoom
Votes: Meeting minutes of November 3, 2022: Approved
Reports/Updates:
● Does the First Thursday of each month still work for meetings? Yes. March may need to be rescheduled.
● The GCC Charge revisions have been approved by the Select Board. Keith will follow up on Mike’s official
appointment as a non-voting member.
● Peggy reports that the Meagherville boardwalk project is now complete - many thanks to Mal and Mike for
overseeing the work by soon-to-be Eagle Scout Ian Lewis and other volunteers.
● The Idylwilde trail markings have been re-set on the re-routed trail now that the new sidewalk is in place. We
may need to re-route the route at Lincoln St & Marrett Rd if the crosswalk is realigned.
● The Town is interviewing consultants for the Bike Ped Plan. They hope to hire someone in December and
begin the work in January. Judy Crocker, now head of Safe Routes to School for the state, mentioned (to
Peggy) that there was a survey done at Lexington High School which may show some suggestions that
could be useful for GCC to pay attention to. The Town will be reviewing local navigation systems and how
they function for differently abled people.
Current/Ongoing Business:
● Discussion of Route 19 options. Conservation Parcel 38-137 - the social trail seems to be on Conservation
property and not the private parcel. Parcel 47-175, which includes Pheasant Pond, is a Conservation parcel
with signed entrances on both Woburn Street and Solomon Pierce Road but currently has no social trail.The
owner of parcel 46-128, which is in private hands and abuts parcel 47-175, would need to be approached for
an easement to complete a trail connection. Mike was recently at a Friends of Arlington Great Meadow
meeting regarding the Arlington’s Great Meadows property and they like the trail idea for a connection in
from Maple Street opposite Solomon Pierce Road. However, Arlington is seeking Article 97 status for AGM,
which would put it under control of the Arlington Select Board. Also, AGM has been noted as NHESP priority
habitat. If we are not able to put a trail across the AGM property, we could use the Emerson Gardens access
road. Keith has sent a memo to Karen Mullins and Amber Carr, requesting a meeting to discuss next steps.
Permission would also be needed from Lexington Housing Authority for access at Countryside Village
(parcels 46-126A and 46-113A) which is contiguous to Harrington School. This could be a Safe Routes to
School route.
● GIS Mapping Discussion - Mike has been talking with Judy Baldasaro in the Town IT department to discuss
getting the ACROSS Lexington routes onto the Town GIS system. Some, but not all, of the routes are
currently available. Uploading the rest of the routes is fairly simple and Mike will get Judy the files she
needs. We looked at the Wellesley Trails Viewer, which is similar to what we would have in Lexington. What
we need to decide: how complex do we want our legend icons to be; should we put bike routes - see Mike’s
outline (see attached) for further details. Many Town departments have map layers, and we need to figure
out what works so we don’t duplicate and complicate what already exists. Points for immediate action:
○ Add the newer Routes that are not already in the system
○ Reduce the number of times the Route Letter is shown on each route
○ Load GCC Points of Interest so we can see what overlaps
We also need to think about who will be using this interactive map, as we think about what to include.
Locals? Tourists? Mike will work with Judy B on next steps.
New Business:
● Marketing discussion - Bobak shared his “Food for Thought” outline (see attached). What is our goal? How
should we measure our success? We will need to determine metrics to survey and look at them over a few
years. Perhaps we could have a student on the GCC, and/or students could earn community service credits
by helping GCC work. We should continue collaborating with Recreation and the Community Center. We will
continue this discussion in January.
Pending Items:
● (none at present)
Next Meeting: January 5, 2023, 4:30-6:00pm, Parker Room, Town Office Bldg & zoom
Future meeting dates: February 2, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1
Respectfully Submitted by
Alexandra Dohan, Secretary pro tem