HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-06-GCC-min
Minutes of the Greenways Corridor Commi?ee Mee?ng
6 April 2023
Members Present: Mal Crawford (virtual), Alex Dohan, Eileen Entin, Yifang Gong, Bob
Hausslein, Bobak Moshiri, Keith Ohmart (chair), Stephen Perkins
Non-voting Members Present: Susan Kenyon, Mike Tabaczynski
Meeting Minutes of Feb 23 were approved unanimously.
Reports, Updates:
Change of meeting day: Committee members were all in agreement with a change of the meeting day from
Thursdays to Mondays in order to accommodate one of the members’ constraints with Thursdays.
Patriot’s Day Parade: Bob, Keith, and Steven will hold a GCC banner in the Patriot’s Day parade. A fourth
person would be helpful if anyone else is available.
Discovery Day, May 27. If GCC committee is interested, we could share a table with the Bike Committee. The
committee was in agreement this would be good. Keith will register for a table. Keith also noted the need for
people to help at the commuter breakfast on May 19. There will be an opportunity to pass out GCC literature.
Bike/Ped plan update. The first of 3 public meetings was held on 4 April. Bobak, Mike, Yifang, and Keith
attended. Lots of bike people were in attendance. Bobak reported that everyone at the meeting was very
engaged. A lot of the focus was on safe routes to schools. This discussion provides an opportunity for the
GCC to think about what we want to do to support emerging ideas.
There will be an invitation-only stakeholders meeting that Keith and Mike will attend. The next public meeting
will be on 8 June. Periodic drafts of the plan will be circulated.
Spring trail signs audit: Committee members should sign up for the trails they will audit on the spreadsheet that
Keith has provided. Materials (trail signs, trail letters, etc.) are available in Bob’s shed. Report any problems
that can’t be fixed on the spot to Keith. Bobek showed some pictures he took where both brochure dispensers
and Wayfinding signs along the Bikeway are hard to see, especially in places where there are distractors that
need attention such as cars and bikes. Having the brochure holders and signs on both sides of a post facing
traffic flow would make people more aware of the trails and provide good advertising. Keith suggested keeping
these ideas in mind as we do sign auditing.
GIS interactive mapping update: Mike reported that no progress on the town’s part has been made. Mike
looked at two systems (Alltrails, Strava) and neither is good for what we want. There is a limit to what we can
expect from the Town GIS mapper, but we may be able to use what the town has and make it better. The
town needs to clean up the maps, especially if it is serious about trails. Keith suggested putting the current
map on the website without publicizing it.
Ongoing Business
2023 route development projects:
Keith, Mike, Peggy and Yifang met with representatives from the Drummer Boy homeowner’s
association concerning the Rangeway trail entrance site. The existing trail intrudes onto Drummer Boy
property rather than going on the 50-foot conservation easement around it. We would need 60 feet for a
boardwalk and a permit from the Conservation Commission as well as funds to build the trail around Drummer
Boy property (Option A). If Drummer Boy association is willing to develop a memo of understanding, we could
improve the social trail (Option B). Mike voiced a preference for Option A, which gets us off the Drummer Boy
property. We need to get back to Drummer Boy on what they prefer. We will need one or the other solution in
order to put in an ACROSS trail.
There is also the question of how to get from the trail to Grove St. Amber has so far found no record of
an easement, even though there is a sign on the street. Resolving these Issues will take completing this trail off
the table for this year.
Stephen, Keith, and Mike did another site visit at Waterstone on Watertown Street. The people who
live there want a place to walk, but they are pretty boxed in. The question is whether a trail to Pleasant St
could be put in. There is an old road bed along Route 2 that Mass DOT owns on which MWRA also has an
easement. To implement the route we are proposing, we need a trail next to the ramp to Rte 2. We will need
to talk to Mass highway for access. Mass DOT may be a stumbling block. The request will need to come
through the town (Carol Kowalski). We need to go back to the site and see what it would take to put in a trail on
the ramp. Then, if it is feasible, we need to find out about funds that were supposedly set aside. Our
understanding is that $35.000 dollars was put aside for trail access by the developer who built the Watertown
complex as part of the permitting process with the town. The question is where that money was set aside.
The Concord Ave Land Management Plan can go forward in July. Keith has identified a vendor to do
this but the question is whether it is necessary to go through a bidding process to select a vendor. We will
need to get Carol K’s assessment on this. Stephen has volunteered to coordinate this project for GCC.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 pm.
The next meeting will be held on May 8 in the Hudson Room (top floor of Cary Hall).
Respectfully submitted,
Eileen Entin, Acting Secretary