HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-10-GCC-min
Minutes of Greenways Corridor Committee Meeting 10 April 2025
Present in person: Keith Ohmart (chair) Alex Dohan, Peggy Enders, Eileen Entin, David Frohman,
Bob Hausslein, Daisy Liu, Bobak Moshiri, Stephen Perkins Millie Webster (nonvoting)
Present virtually: Susan Kenyon (nonvoting)
Votes: 13 March 2025 minutes accepted unanimously.
New GCC members, David Frohman (voting member) and Millie Webster (nonvoting member),
introduced themselves to the group.
Reports/Updates
● The GCC has a new page on Facebook, which anyone can follow. Forming user groups
would need more attention. At present Daisy and Peggy can post to the site. If desired,
Daisy can give permission to others. It would be desirable to port the “likes” from the
old GCC Facebook page. To gain more ‘likes’, we could post to other groups like the
Lexington List or Mavens. It would also be desirable to letting ‘Friends” of the previous
ACROSS page know that there is a new ACROSS page.
● Keith reported that the 2 measures submitted to Town Meeting by the Conservation
Commission were approved - rerouting of the existing trail at Simonds Brook at the end
of Rangeway and the development of a plan for a route from the community center to
Cotton Farm. Also approved was the demolition of the old Harrington School and the
agreement that the athletic fields at the new school will be high quality grass.
● Five committee members have agreed to march in the Patriots Day parade on the
afternoon of April 19. Keith, Eileen Daisy, Bobak, Bob
● Keith, Bob, and Daisy will help out at the May 16 bike breakfast. Stephen will pick up
the bagels.
● Three people indicated willingness to help on Discovery Day (May 24)
● The new ACROSS brochures have arrived. Maps can be picked up at Bob’s shed for
refilling the mapholders. All locations have been assigned.
Ongoing Business
● Review of current routes in development:
o Rte 3/Bowman Park: An eagle scout may do part of the trail development in
conjunction with the stewards. Mike will coordinate with the scout.
o Proposed Rte 22/Arlington’s Great Meadows/Lower Vine Brook Connector: Waiting
on scheduling a site visit with Karen as the next step
o Proposed Route 8/Concord Avenue East Loop – Waiting on Karen to discuss how to
proceed with boundary surveying as the next step.
New Business: Discussion of the GCC Annual Strategic Plan:
Complete propose new ACROSS routes:
● Near Term (2025-2026)
o Route3/Bowman – see above
o Route 22/ AGM/Lower Vine Brook – see above
o Project X - New Town CR: Current owner of property between Summit and Follen
Roads is ready to sell. This would allow for possible existing route realignment
● Mid-Term (2026-2028)
o Route 8/Concord Ave East Loop – This route would connect to the DCR
reservation. The Land Management Plan for the Concord Ave conservation land
is done, but requires boundary survey. The Waterstone project set aside money
for trail work. Need to check the MOU to see if that money could pay for the
boundary survey. The Town’s Bike/Ped Plan includes a request for a crosswalk
across Concord Ave, which is needed for this loop.
o Route 4/Simonds Brook/Paint Mine/Wright Farm/Landlocked Forest Loop –
Town Meeting approved funding for creating a new trail entrance at the end of
Rangeway as the next step in this project
● Unassigned
o Fairland St Connector: There are now stairs on a footpath to Lincoln St from the
new Fairland development. The developer wants to open the stairs after
construction is done.
o Route 24: Concord Ave West/Juniper Hill Loop
o Route 14/Hartwell Connector and Route 6 Katahdin Woods Connector: Needs a
sidewalk to get from the Minuteman Bikeway along Hartwell Avenue to the trail
entrance to the Katahdin Woods property
Feature Enhancement Projects:
Committee members discussed linking ACROSS trails with trails in adjacent towns. One
possibility is having pointers to those trails on our ACROSS map; another is a list of adjacent
trails; a third is the possibility of extending the map. A suggested approach is to develop a list of
adjacent conservation lands. Bob and Peggy agreed to start a google document where people
throw in ideas for connector trails. Keith will add this idea onto the Future Enhancements
section of the Strategic Report. Keith noted that if we are going to revise the map, we should
work on this over the summer.
The meeting was adjourned at 6: 00 pm.
Next Meeting: May 8, 4-6 pm in the Parker Room