Spirit of the Woods -August 8, 2000 minutes

Minutes of August 8, 2000 Meeting

Trail time was by Angie Addington who shared pictures of their trip to Colorado to visit her parents. They live near the Cottonwood Pass on the Continental Divide. Lots of high mountains and beautiful trails. They walked a section of the Colorado Trail. Our youngest hiker, Forrest, is now hikin’ on his own two feet!

The meeting was called to order at 7:50 by President Joan Young. A report of the July 11 meeting was made by Ramona from her notes. Stuart moved to accept them and this was seconded by Mary. Membership is at 61 with several new members as a result of NTD and also from the NCTA’s direct mail campaign. We have about $1100 in our operating fund. (see correction Sept 12 minutes) The exact amount is still to be determined when the sales from NTD are accounted for by the office.

Reports on various activities were made. Stuart said that only he and Scott Johnson stayed overnight at Nordhouse Dunes. Ed and two boys came and hiked to the lake. The weather was bad, and many of our folks were away. Joan reported that she and Ellen put new decals on posts from 40th St to 5-Mile Rd on July 22. National Trails Day was highly successful. There were 78 participants, of whom 24 were under the age of 18. People from all over the state attended and about half were totally new to the trail. Every activity that we planned had at least a few participants. We approximately broke even monetarily. The report on the Field Grant has been turned in to the NCTA office. Pictures were available of the activity.

Trail Work:

The reroute from Skocelas Rd to Udell Hills Rd has been flagged by the Forest Service. The early plant survey has been done. One more is required in the fall, and then we can construct this piece of trail. We assured the FS that we want to build this rather than have a prison crew do the work.
The side trail to Bear Track Campground was cleaned and blazed on June 17.
Various kinds of outdoor quality signs that are available were mentioned, along with some of the costs. There were engraved metal and plastic, laser cut aluminum, lexan-aluminum laminates, and routed wood. There was discussion of how some of these would look in a natural setting. Mary thinks that her husband would be willing to make these if we supply the materials. Ramona moved to use routed signs and to approach Harold Soule about making these. Angie seconded. More discussion followed. These would be brown signs with the lettering in the official Nelson Blue, mounted on posts. The motion was passed.
Stuart mentioned that Heller Signs of Honor might make small reflective signs with the street names on them for the backs of posts at road crossings. Contact Simon Wolf.

Joan attempted to explain a misunderstanding about how grant monies are awarded. The simplest explanation is that the grants are not really for a certain amount of money, but are rather for a specific project. Thus, if it costs us less than the $1000 to complete our trail marking then the balance will go into the Supplemental Trail Fund. The lesson to be learned is that all specific items desired should be requested on grant applications, not just that a balance will be applied to some portion of the project.

Although it is past the deadline for official comment, the request of Peterson Creek Outfitters to run llama trips on the trail was considered. Their route would include the NCT from Marilla to Freesoil TH’s. The letter from the National Park Service was not available to be read, but it was noted that their position was that this was not a step in the direction of the Desired Future Condition, which is to preserve the trail for foot travel. Ramona noted that she at least verbally stated that the Chapter’s position would be in line with the NPS recommendation. It is unfortunate that we missed this deadline, but it was part of the missing agenda from July. The Forest Service has not made a final decision yet as to whether this special use permit will be granted. Steve Webster explained more clearly what we will need to do for the Strider’s Run. They expect about 100 runners, and will begin and end at Bear Track Campground. The race begins at 7:30 am, and must be completed by 7:30 pm. Some of the runners will start at Wingleton Rd, and only run one direction. They are donating $5 per entry fee to our chapter. Only about two people per aid station are required. We do not need to supply anything except the people, and no training is required. Instructions will be taped on the tables at the stations. We can set up our sales and information table at about 10:30 in the morning. Food for everyone will be available after the race. Steve needs names, phone numbers, and times that volunteers are willing to work. He will coordinate the workers.

A discussion was held about the format for coming meetings. An advantage of the executive committee doing more of the business is that it frees up time to allow for Trail Time to be longer. A disadvantage is that it means that members are less involved in the decision making process. A suggestion was made that the committee meetings could be open to anyone who wished to attend. This will be decided next month along with elections. There wa s general agreement to continue to meet the second Tuesday of each month. A nominating committee was created, Angie Addington chair, aided by Mary Soule. They will present us with a ballot for next month’s election.

Steve would like to see more reports of trail conditions in the meetings.

Ramona showed us the draft flyer for Rachel Klein’s interpretive trail from High Bridge to Blacksmith Bayou. The numbered signs are in place, and the flyer will be completed very soon.

Ramona also reported that some money from the Rec Demo Fees will be used to put geo-tread under a sandy area of trail north of Skocelas Rd.

Also, the Sleepy Hollow car-spotting service is again in business. Call Brethren, 477-5543.

Motion to adjourn by Mary, seconded by Gordy at 9:50.

Members present: Gordy Wilkes, Ramona Venegas, Mark and Angie Addington, Steve and Deb Webster, Mary Soule, Ed Carrigan, Stuart Wolf, Ed Morse, Joan Young.