HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-26 Trails Committee MinutesRECEIVED ,
Reading Trail Committee T01`1H CLERK Minutes: Joan Hoyt
April 26, 2011 RE,;C'1HG, h1ASS.
Members in attendance: Tom Gardiner, Dave Williams, Joan Hoyt
Assoc. members in attendance: Will Finch, John Parsons
Also in attendance: Kim Honetschlager — GIS Coordinator
Fran Fink — Conservation Commission Administrator
Will Guyott of Scout Troop 704 and his father Marc Guyott
Zach Whelan of Scout Troop 728 and his father Bob Whelan
Scott Wuthrich - Trail adopter at Kurchian Woods
The meeting came to order at 7:15 p.m. at Reading Town Hall.
New Business:
Will Guyott and his father, Marc, described the project Will is proposing for his
Eagle Scout Award. The project would be to blaze, clear and clean -up trails, as
well as to post laminated maps of the trails at the Kurchian Woods Conservation
area. He also plans to restore and paint the existing Conservation sign at the
main entrance on Franklin Street. The day Will has chosen to do the work is on
Saturday, June 11, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. He plans on having a large
team of people helping him with this project and will give them a presentation on
tick awareness and safety.
Discussion and suggestions:
• The next step is to meet with the Conservation Commission to get approval.
• Notify the abutters of Kurchian Woods that this project is taking place including in
the notification the date, time, etc.
• Organize your plan and the people that are helping on a day PRIOR to the work
day so you are ready to proceed.
• When blazing trees, use latex paint... do not use spray paint.
• Cover old blazes with brown paint.
• Attend a site walk on Sunday, May 15, 2011 beginning at 1:00 p.m. with the
Trails Committee for further guidance. Park at Fairchild entrance.
VOTED: (3 -0) in favor of Will's project with the stipulation that he make the suggested
changes and attend the site walk.
2. Zach Whelan and his father, Bob, also attended the meeting in order to get
some ideas on Zach's Eagle Scout Award project. He turns 18 in May of 2012
but would like to have his project completed by August of 2011. Zach had a
couple of ideas... doing some blazing at the Lobs Pound Mill site or building a
partial boardwalk at Kurchian Woods @ the Kurchian Lane entrance. Fran
suggested building a bridge at the Pondview entrance to Kurchian Woods in that
he has some experience building boardwalks while participating in other Eagle
.,
Scout projects. Kim will e-mail some information to Zach
(z.whelan82(aDgmail.com) with regard to building plans, building materials and
pricing. Zach will take a look at the stream Fran would like the bridge built over
and decide if it might be something he'd tackle. He may attend the site walk on
May 15`h to discuss it further. Once he decides and comes up with a plan, he
should contact the Conservation Commission to get approval.
Fran Update:
• Roy van Buren will be doing 8 hours of brush clearing and trail blazing at
the Pinevale Conservation area as a volunteer opportunity that will qualify
him to participate in an upcoming trail run.
• Discussion about the water department land at the end of Grove Street,
plans to put in a ballpark, parking, a playground, picnic tables have been
in the works.
• A Kiley Drive resident has been in touch with Fran about their properties
which include easements for the Kiley Drive to Baker Road trail and the
Kiley Drive to Charles Street trail.
• A Kurchian neighbor notified Fran of ATV use in Kurchian Woods.
• Mattera Grand Opening on Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 10:00 — 12:00.
Looking for help with trail hikes, bird watching at the platform and
whatever else can be done.
• Suggestion to organize and clean the Mattera garage in the future.
• Discussion about Rick Palermo's blazing project at Town Forest.
VOTED: (3 -0) in favor of accepting Rick Palermo's Town Forest blazing project with
the stipulation that he get approval of the Town Forest Committee.
3. We had a quick discussion about participating in Friends and Family Day in June.
It was decided to have vernal pools as a theme this year with posters, books,
maps and maybe Will's turtles.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
VOTED: (3 -0) to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
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