San Juan Island Trails

San Juan Island Trails

April 13, 2009 Bike Meeting Minutes

Present
Eric Adelberger, Magda Balise, Michael Balise, Joe Cussen, David Dehlendorf, Tim Dustrude, Eric Eisenhardt, Deborah Hopkins, Liz Illg, Kyle Loring, Doug McCutchen, Tracy Roberson, Steve Ulvi, Leslie Veirs.

Guest Speakers:
Nancy DeVaux (San Juan Community Home Trust, Executive Director), Louise Dustrude (SJI Trails Committee, Town/Jackson’s Beach Trail Lead Person), Sally Thomsen (Island Rec, Recreation Director)

Notices of upcoming events:

  1. San Juan Island Bike Club ride:  Sat. April 25 11:00am.  Start at the High School.
    See www.bikesanjuan.com.
  2. SJI Trails Committee Meeting: May 13 @ 5pm @ Whidbey Island Bank
  3. Bike Paths Monthly sub-committee meeting:  May 18 @ 5pm Whidbey Island Bank
  4. Trail Construction and Maintenance Workshop sponsored by the SJI Trails Committee:
    May 29-30, 2009. Free, contact sjitrails@rockisland.com for details or to sign-up.

Minutes of the previous meeting were approved without change.

Potential Town to Jackson’s Beach Trail:
Nancy DeVaux shared preliminary plans for the Buck property development including the Home Trust parcel with 50 planned homes. The first area to be developed will be the Home Trust housing. Since this project is private property, they do not need to conform to the Town standards for roads and sidewalks within the property, and they expect the roads to be “low use” and residential in nature. The existing plans allow for pedestrian access within and through the parcels to the adjoining gravel pit property. She noted that much of the layout may change because of the newly accepted onsite treatment plant design needs. The plans will be updated and revised for the Preliminary plat this fall. Pedestrian access still needs to be defined for this project, there is potential that the planned pedestrian trail could also accommodate bicycles. The question is, what do bicyclists need?

After some discussion about the merits of shared roadways versus separate trails it was recommended that for a two way multi-use trail the minimum width should be 8 ft wide, with some sort of hardened (asphalt or permeable) surface. The cost associated with this sort of trail is a concern. It was noted that if allowance was made for this sort of trail in the planning/design process, Bike Paths would facilitate by building partnerships with other agencies in order to raise funds and grants to pay the construction costs.

The Home Trust is a partner in this project with the Buck family, Peter Kilpatrick is the chair of the Home Trust Building Committee, and Sharon Pigman is President of the Board. Nancy suggests that we formalize our request for a multi use trail by writing a letter to the Board and the Buck/Boreen family, as well as setting up a meeting with Peter. She stressed that this is a time sensitive issue and this meeting should take place within the next week, since they will be meeting to formalize their design process soon. David, Tim and Doug agreed to meet with Peter and share our ideas prior to writing any formal proposal. The group agreed that at minimum we should request an easement to accommodate an 8ft wide multi use path, separate from the road to be included in the design. The importance of this path providing a “through route” to the gravel pit property should also be stressed. In order to minimize costs, the idea of the path being constructed in phases, with different levels of surfacing would be acceptable as long as it was legally recognized that multiple uses are permitted and eventually the long term path will be at least 8 ft wide hardened surface suitable for two way bicycle, pedestrian and other non-motorized traffic.

Sally Thomsen reported on the status of the Gravel Pit which is currently in the DNR Reclamation process. Re-vegetation is on going as well as eradication of noxious weeds.   As indicated by signage on the property, pedestrian access is allowed on the graded walkway only. The graded walkway on the East and North side of the property is in the approximate location of the County road right of way. The property is owned by Island Rec. There is currently no Master Plan for the property and the zoning is Rural Farm Forest, which will require a conditional use permit, or re-zoning to become a park. Island Rec’s timeline is as follows: After the renewal levy this fall they hope to start working on their 6 Year Plan and concurrently develop a Master Plan for the Gravel Pit property at the earliest by late 2010. Island Rec currently does not work with County parks on the Recreation, and Preserved Lands Plan which is due to be updated in 2010, but they will probably utilize the research findings for their planning processes.

The Island Rec Board is open to hearing any and all ideas for the Master Plan. All ideas will be considered based on the benefit to the community etc. and the only constraints to future development are geological and financial. Sally suggests that we make a formal suggestion of our wishes either in person at any regular board meeting, or by writing letters to Island Rec.

Bike Paths Projects:
Voting on project priorities is on-going. Tracy handed out the attached tally sheet. At this point 30 of the 70 on our mailing list have responded, preliminary top priorities are:

  1. Pipeline trail connecting Town and Trout Lake Watershed.
  2. Expanding shoulders on designated roads and pending road projects.
  3. Multi-use trail to Gravel Pit and Jackson’s Beach – thru Buck property.
  4. Bailer Hill, West side, West Valley, & Mitchell Bay Road safety improvements.

Voting remains open and all are encouraged to share their opinions.

General discussion:
Trail Construction and Management Workshop:
Steve talked about the upcoming Workshop (see notices of upcoming events at top of page). The Trails Committee is sponsoring this two day workshop put on by him, Doug McCutchen and Nick Teague of the BLM. It will consist of Friday night classroom time and hands-on trail building on Saturday. Space is limited so sign up early.

Save Mitchell Hill letters:
Members were encouraged to write letters to Reps. Rick Larsen and Norm Dicks in support of saving the DNR Mitchell Hill property by attaching it to San Juan Island National Historical Park.

Bike Club:
Tim requests that the Bike Club needs volunteers willing to lead rides, or take on projects.  Interest seems to be dwindling, and there is concern that he and Shannon cannot do it all alone. There was a short discussion about the importance of this club and the huge potential for advocacy such that can be accomplished. Volunteers should contact ride@bikesanjuan.com

Wrap up:
Due to conflicts with Chamber of Commerce meetings it was motioned and seconded to change the date of our monthly Bike Paths meeting to the 3rd Monday of every month 5 pm (same location). Our meeting will also no longer occur during the same week as the monthly SJI Trails Committee meeting, so people have more time to attend both meetings if they wish.