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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-14-GCC-min Greenways Corridor Committee Minutes November 14, 2024 4— 6 pm, Parker Room, Town Hall or Via Zoom Committee members present in person. Alex Dohan, Peggy Enders, Eileen Entin, Bob Hausslein, Keith Ohmart (Chair), Stephen Perkins, Susan Kenyon (non-voting), Mike Tabaczynski (non-voting) Committee members present via zoom. Bobak Moshiri, Joe Pato (Select Board liaison) Guests Daisy Liu 1 Votes October 10 meeting minutes approved unanimously by voice vote 2 Reports/Updates • There is a vacant seat on the Committee owing to Yifang s resignation. In December Keith will send a notice out to the ACROSS Lexington challenge group to solicit interest in applying for GCC membership and suggesting attendance at a meeting to get acquainted with the business of the committee • ACROSS brochures are nearly gone (one box left) There are "hotspots in town where brochures go quickly • ACROSS patches Keith said these are iron-on. ACROSS Challenger Alan Buckler has offered to donate funds to cover production of 100 to distribute to Challengers in addition to the T-shirt Mike suggested words be included on the patch. "I completed the Challenge A few T-shirts are still available 3 Ongoing Business • Review Line of March ACROSS route proposal Keith, Stephen and Peggy had a good discussion with Suzie Barry and Mona Roy about Stephen s idea of a "Line of March ACROSS route on Mass Ave from the Arlington town line to the start of the Battle Road trail. Keith is now waiting for Dave Pinsonneault to approve locations in the Center and then for approval with the HDC About half of the distance from Arlington is part of the Historic District Keith talked with Paul 0 Shaunessy, who said that it is possible that a request be made to HDC for review as an administrative formality There will be 88 generic signs needed for 44 sign locations, eight locations will warrant arrow directionals Total cost will be under $500 The plan is to primarily post on telephone and street sign poles, including a fairly critical sign on a light pole where Bedford Street meets with Mass Ave The sign company can produce these in two weeks time, and installation would take place in late winter The signs will include the Lex250 logo and the Lexington 250 logo Keith will request 2 versions for final review by Lexington 250 Peggy offered to be in touch with Suzie Barry to find out if she talked with her counterparts in Arlington about the signage with a view to their doing something similar to mark the line of march. • Keith talked with Sam Doran about the plan, Sam was interested in expanding this idea to other historic routes, Keith offered that GCC would be glad to consult A member suggested that Gil Benghiat produce a certification for completion of the Lexington section of the march. • Review of Current Route Development projects - Proposed Route Concept-3 that includes Bowman Park. some bottlenecks exist, owing to departure of Amber Carr and Sheila Page A route site visit is planned Keith will send out a date and he hopes to include Laurel Carpenter Keith would like to get that done by next spring. - Proposed Route 8 Concord Avenue -Land Management Plan update Keith said this is basically sitting on Karen s desk. A second public meeting was held all the abutters are on board It remains up to the Commission to approve the findings of the plan and the ability to put trail on it Hurdle is the surveying expense ($32K for parcels on either side of Scott Road) Keith said he can go back to Karen for the funds donated six years ago by Waterstone for trail work to do a route across Pleasant Street Since that will not happen, money might be shifted to the parcel survey Remaining issue is getting on the list with engineering for a crosswalk. The Commission wanted to do a site visit before going ahead and are waiting for Karen to finish land management plan. Alex mentioned Karen s considerable workload with the loss of Amber and suggested that Karen be told that the grant needs to be wrapped up soon. Mike suggested Keith inform Engineer about the delay the general location is on the bike-ped plan list for crosswalks - Proposed Rte 22 Arlington Grea/t "oIon11)11 Pierce Connector (Route I) Mike sent around a slide document to present to Arlington the "New ACROSS Route in AGM. He included current route stats 38 unique miles in the system, covering 73°%0 of the town s area and 82°%o by population. Mike will run the presentation by the Friends of Arlington s Great Meadows, members of the steering committee have seen the proposal and are on board with it He plans to get in touch with David White who is still active with AGM and will then meet with the Select Board in Arlington for a new trail in the Meadow There will then be the need to get permissions from Lexington Conservation. • Destination Sign Project update-Deferred for the time being while the Line of March project is pursued • Brochure Reprinting Options review recap We will need to print more brochures over the winter with the next edition to include Route 0, the Line of March if approved, and Route 22/AGM and Route 3/Bowman Park if completed Changes will be to the map only with no revision to the back side of the brochure Suzie Barry has suggested adding the Lexington 250 logo if the Line of March is approved Keith has proposed the formation of a task group early next year to review major alterations previously discussed to what will likely be the 2026 version of the brochure Peggy raised the possibility of including notations of bikeable ACROSS Lexington routes on the map Susan said she would worry about liability Mike suggested that a brochure reboot—where "the skies the limit could include more tips about travelling the routes • Refreshing Facebook page Keith said that Jonas Miller, the Town s Web Manager, stated that there s no official town social media policy he has offered to work with Daisy and Susan for ways to improve the page Susan will arrange for the current page to be transferred to Daisy There are a number of pictures and historical information (- 800 followers), so it would be good to retain the page Instagram will link to Facebook, for instance 4 There was no new business 5 GCC adjourned at 5 08 pm by unanimous voice vote Next Meeting December 12, 2024 -Parker Room Future Meeting Dates 2025 - Jan 9, Feb 13, Mar 13, Apr 10, May 8, June 12 Future Project List • Waterstone Connector • Memorial Bench Project Recorder Peggy Enders