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Minutes April 19, 2005 Attendees: Miranda Shapiro, John Griffith (jgriffith@co.coos.or.us), Bob LaPort, Mike Smith, Julie Wade, Mike Sonnen (mmjwade@aol.com), Bob Golden, Dave Gray, Greg Prinz, Reg Pullen, Tom Sill, Mike Law, John Bragg, Don Luce.
OLD BUSINESS
A) Winchester Trails – Scott McNew/Bob Laport Bob Laport updated the group on Winchester Trails. Bob handed out maps and showed the group that the areas shaded in blue were closed until further notice. LaPort said the County also posted this information on the informational sign in the staging area for the trail system. Portions of the trails will be open this winter. Trail maintenance and trail re-location can still be in place. Bridges are an issue that still need to be discussed. The planning department thinks bridges require a conditional use permit. LaPort recommended eliminating stream crossings where possible. If it’s an engineered structure, it needs permitting. This also needs to be discussed with the commissioners. Reg Pullen thinks the bridges should be engineered for safety reasons. Need to have a group meet with out at the trail system with Bob to go over where and what maintenance and re-location should happen. LaPort said the County still doesn’t have an agreement with Coos County Rider’s Association. He also said the County lawyer wants a new agreement to be drawn up and also wants insurance superior to what we had before. The lawyer will give Bob the proposal and he’ll have a discussion with the Commissioners. Bob LaPort had a meeting last Thursday (April 14) with Mike Law, Rocky Houston, Wayne Rollin, Larry Robinson. The State Parks ATV grant is now terminated. Now there is no agreement with any group for maintenance. Any requests for activities please talk with Bob LaPort as it would need a special agreement. Those interested in a work party for Hootman trail talk to Bob LaPort. Propose a route and bring it to him for review. He is also available to go out and walk the trail to see where the proposed route should go. B) Healthy hiking – Sunset Bay hike update – John Bragg John Bragg gave an update on the Cape Arago hike which took place the last Saturday in March, had 18 people attend. There were people of all ages in attendance, from 6-7 year olds to seniors. Bragg said that only five people had been on the trail before. On future hikes the group agreed that we need to ask how participants heard about the hike. Three people had been on a healthy hike before. There were staff people from the hospital. Bragg said it was an enthusiastic group. Hikers had questions about the foam in the water and wanted a longer time to stop and take pictures. No one from State Parks was able to help lead the hike. C) Publicity – Miranda Shapiro As Jenny Webster was not at the meeting, Miranda Shapiro updated the group about publicity for the Healthy Hiking Initiative. The Bay Area Hospital (Suzie McDaniels and Brandy Mault) have been promoting the hikes through their newsletter, mailings, and a great poster exhibit board in the front lobby of the hospital. Miranda Shapiro has been interviewed once a month, airing a day or two before the hike, on KCBY and will continue to do so. Jenny Webster has been doing a fabulous job sending press releases to newspapers, radio stations, and chambers of commerce. CRTP members have also helped distribute flyers around town and in Myrtle Point, Coquille, and Bandon. D) North Spit update – BLM Bob Golden reported that the BLM is still working on trail preparation at the North Spit. NEW BUSINESS
Please see attached minutes on Healthy Hike planning session.
A) Identify hike leaders – John Bragg and Bob Golden B) Hike organization details The Eel Lake trail hikers will meet at the picnic area at 10:00 a.m. A person from the STEP facility will be there to talk with them. The hike is two miles one way, four miles round trip, and will take approximately two hours. John Griffith said he was at a Rotary meeting and people are interested in connecting the Eel Lake trail all the way around. John is interested in supporting the trail, but can’t commit on behalf of the board. Mike Law agreed to speak with Andy LaTomme, State Parks, about plans to complete the trail.
OET will be having a trail clearing party at 10:00 this Saturday at the Blue Ridge Trail Head. John Griffith said there is a new owner of the property next to the trail surfers use to get to the south end of Bastendorff Beach. Somebody flipped him off and now he won’t allow people to go on his property to get to the south end of the beach. Griffith talked with Andy LaTomme and Larry Becker about a trail that would go up the bluff through the spruce trees and have some stairs down to the south end of Bastendorff Beach. Reg Pullen said that area is called Yoakum Point and is a fairly large archaeological site. He volunteered to do an archaeological survey. State Parks also has a process they have to go through. WORK SESSION -- HIKE PLANNING May 28th New River, Leader: Don Luce, Co-Leader: Reg Pullen, Length: 2.1 miles, meet at parking lot June 25th Blue Ridge, Leader: Bob Golden, Co-Leader: Tom Sill, Length: 3-4 miles, meet at parking lot July 30th Blacklock Point, Leader: Reg Pullen, Co-Leader: Miranda Shapiro, start at Floras Lake August 27th, South Slough NERR, Leader: Pam Kylstra, Co-Leader: John Bragg, Length: 3.2 miles, Hidden Creek Trail September 24th, Coos Bay Waterfront October 29th, North Spit, Leader: Bob Golden, Co-Leader: Dave Wash Next meeting: Tuesday, May 17th at 6:30 p.m. at the Coos Bay District BLM conference room. |