2013-02-05 Town Forest Committee Minutes

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,:ECEIVEI) TOWN CLERK R E A P 1 ; %4 A. Town Forest Committee Minutes February 5,2013 2619 NOV 13 PM 6: 30 Town Hall Conference Room Present: Kendal Stackhouse, Patrice Todisco, Terry Sells, Tom Gardiner, Mike DeBrigard Also present: Kim Honetschlager, Jean Jacobs, Dave Williams,Will Finch Everett Blodgett, Ginny Blodgett, Heather Clish, John Feudo, Frank Driscoll, Adam Chase, Keri McCrensky,Ace Foulds, Pat Lloyd, Robert Connor, Rachel Baumgartner The meeting was billed as a Trail Summit. It included multiple trail-related groups. Kim j Honetschlager began the meeting at 7:05 PM, introduced herself and then described the goal of the meeting:for trail-related groups to share information and discuss ways to support each other's mission and activities. Attendees introduced themselves and then the following individuals described their group's mission, past activities,and plans for the coming year: • Tom Gardiner,Trails Committee: asked for help finding trail volunteers. • Ginny Blodgett, Walkable Reading: WR is more about sidewalks and reducing car user than about trails;they get frequent requests to hold walks even though this isn't their primary mission. • Patrice Todisce,Town Forest Committee: TFC is trying to better understand the Town Forest as a resource. They have over-use issues. • John Feudo, Recreation Committee: Friends of Reading Recreation(FORR) is their sister group. • Pat Lloyd, Reading Open Land Trust: ROLT holds and maintains conservation land; they lead about one hike per year. • Rachel Baumgartner, Reading Public Library: nature literacy is part of their mission. The library will work on outreach during the(hoped for) library building project. Once the addition is complete they will have more meeting space available for groups. She leads hikes for tots as well as for Live Wires(older residents). • Heather Clish, Appalachian Mountain Club: AMC volunteers can help on trail building projects. Nature literacy or getting people outside is a major mission of theirs. • Jean Jacobs, Trails Committee: described the TC's Adopt-A-Trail program. • Dave Williams, local birder described his spring bird walks • The Friends of Reading Recreation was invited, but no one was present. • Keri McCrensky, an abutter to the Kylie Drive trail easement had concerns about the proposed trail. Will Finch spoke with her outside of the meeting. Discussion followed on the topics below: Ways to publicize hikes and outdoor activities: • Reading Chronicle:a minority of households get a local paper so, although they are willing to publish articles about events, it doesn't reach a lot of people. Also the Reading Advocate. • Reading-North Reading Patch. Easy to post an event, under-used so good visibility, young families read Patch. • RCN used to publish events, but hasn't been reliable lately. Email or fill out this fore: htto://www.rcty.om/bulletin-board-submission/