Meeting MINUTES
South Hero Trails Subcommittee
Thursday, December 16 , 6:30 PM, Town Office/ZOOM
Present: Dave Hobbs, Linda Burger, Marion Palermo, Jack Brooks, Bridget Kerr, Guy Maguire, Eileen Fitzgerald, Pogo Senior, Peter O’Malley.
1. South Hero Walkability/Bikeability Group
a. Dave suggested the adoption of a motto for the group “A walkable, bikeable town”, which was supported by all in attendance.
b. A reformed “safe routes to school” group met recently, after a 10 year hiatus, including some overlap with members of trails subcommittee. Also attending were members of Northwest Regional Planning, South Hero Land Trust, and Local Motion. The group reviewed a 2012 “Safe Routes to School Travel Plan” created to help the town plan for better walkability and bikeability to and from Folsom. Jon from location motion also created a spreadsheet version of potential projects from the travel plan: “Folsom School STP Engineering Tracking”
At the meeting it was discussed whether this group should be folded into the existing trails committee, given the overlapping goals and members.
The trails subcommittee discussed whether to include this group within the trails committee, and were generally in favor, but some members wanted to know more about the founding mission and purpose of the trails committee and compare it to the safe routes to school group, before coming to a decision, so Guy said he would send everyone copies of SH Trails Vision Statement and the SFTS Travel plan (see above) to review. The group agreed to send comments to Bridget, who offered to compile ideas and come back to the February meeting with a draft of a revised mission statement.
The group also considered inviting Greta from NRPC and Jon from Local Motion to the February meeting to discuss safe routes to school potential projects, how to best connect with the new town plan process, and next steps.
2. Review of trails and plans for trails
a. Robinson Farm Trail: Guy reported that talks with landowners, as well as easement holders VLT and VELCO were positive, and is planning a site visit with VLT staff and landowners in early spring to assess whether there are any issues with creating a public trail on the conserved parcel. Guy shared the “Hosting Public Trails on your Property” document and asked for feedback before January 1st, before sending it to landowners. Next steps for the project include:
i. Finalyzing landowner outreach docs (see above) and sending to potential landowner-partners
ii. Getting permission from VLT and VELCO for trails
iii. Discussing agreement types and language with landowners
iv. Bring the project to the Development Review Board and comply with any necessary permits. Dave offered to lead the effort to work with landowners moving forward, with assistance from Guy.
v. The group discussed a goal of having the above steps done by March so we could potentially be on time to start construction this summer.
b. Rt 2 sidewalk or Shared Use Path: The group discussed how Route 2 is unsafe for cyclists, especially for students, and suggested looking into ways to boost the quality and safety of existing sidewalks, as well as potential ideas to build more sidewalks and/or shared use paths to connect town resources and the school in the future.
c. South St sidewalk/shared use path: The group discussed the potential for a sidewalk and or shared use path along South Street. Jack mentioned one was proposed many years ago but voted down. Guy added that Greta from NWRP was looking into the details from that to share with the group. Bridget mentioned it would be difficult given how many landowners are along S Street, and the many trees that would need to come down. Marion mentioned the idea of turning South Street into a one-way street to make it safer. Pogo said that might be hard for residents, but perhaps it could be one-way in the summer only, then go back to normal for the rest of the year. Jack and Marion mentioned that Danville has done some great work transforming their stretch of route 2 to make it safer as it goes through town, and it might be worth talking with Greta or others to learn examples that could help SH envision what could be done locally.
d. Path parallel to south street between Rt 2 and Folsom/Rec Park. Bridget mentioned talks with landowners had stalled. Her and Guy discussed reaching out to Bob Heiser at VLT to talk about options for conserving the Lavin property as a town park and/or greenspace.
3. Meeting adjourned at 7:45pm. Next meeting will be Thursday, Feb 10 at 6:30 pm at the town office/zoom. Dave will invite Jon from Local Motion to attend and help us talk about safe routes to school.
Access Trail documents folder here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JcX-N91lU_eWIFiG2gU3v2ngbOim4lkC?usp=sharing