COOS REGIONAL TRAILS PARTNERSHIP

Minutes

March 16, 2004

 

 Attendees: Miranda Shapiro, Peter Staatz, Richard D. Tuma, Donna Bishop, Jenny Webster, Kaarina Scholari, Jean Tchida, Amelia Dexter, Reg Pullen, Mike Smith, John Bragg, Kevin Stadden, Scott McNew, Molly Sill, Tom Sill, Dave Wash, Marty Giles, Alan Hoffmeister.

1.      Welcome and Introductions – John Bragg welcomed the group and gave an update on the last meeting held on Tuesday, February 10th.

2.      Review of Minutes - No changes were made.

3.      Compensation to Alan Hoffmeister for paying the website fee.  Alan paid $75 out of pocket to keep the CRTP website URL registration alive.  Suggested remedy is for CRTP members to chip in to reimburse Alan and share the cost of keeping the website up and running.  Decision: members agreed and people chipped in enough to reimburse Alan.  Thanks to all you helped to make this happen.  Decision: Alan Hoffmeister agreed to be treasurer.

4.      Northwest Youth Corps – Ethan Nelson- Restoration Project at Winchester Trails through RAC (Resource Advisory Committee, Title II).  Reg Pullen updated the group about a discussion with Ethan Nelson, NW Youth Corps, about applying to RAC to do a restoration project at Winchester Trails.  Ethan has agreed to write the grant and is also interested in writing for funds to continue trail building around Eel Lake which is located at Tubman State Park.  RAC grants are for 1. Projects that directly benefit ONC lands, and/or 2. Projects that benefit anywhere in county.  Reg Pullen agreed to talk with Coos County Commissioner John Griffith about the RAC proposal and recommended that others call him and support the proposal as well.

5.      Connecting Blue Ridge Trail system to Laverne Park.  Reg Pullen updated the group on discussion he had with Steve Wickham, Plum Creek, on creating a trail connection from the Blue Ridge Trails System to Laverne Park which has been discussed for several years.  Steve Wickham seem open to the idea and he and Reg are continuing to discuss the idea.

6.  Proposal Writing for CRTP offered by Gary Combs, Consultant. Marty Giles update the group on a discussion she had with Gary Combs, former City Manager of North Bend and former Coos County Parks Director.  Gary Combs contacted Marty about the idea of his writing proposals for CRTP to get funding for projects.  Combs would include a grant writing fee in the grant proposal to be funded through prospective funders.  Marty agreed to invite him to our next trails meeting, she had invited him to this meeting as well but he couldn’t make it.

  7.    Committee meetings

a.                   Website working group

First the committee met on its own and discussed what Alan Hoffmeister and Tom Sill have done to the website since our last meeting.  The group made some changes to the website while looking it over including changing the heading, making some grammar checks, and sidebar additions.  Everyone was very pleased with how the website was coming along.  The following are past/future actions for the website:

·        Link to tide charts on water trails link, maybe to the Hatfield Marine Science Center or South Slough.

·        Don’t need to put water trails map on BACC (Bay Area Chamber of Commerce) website as after removing a lot of unnecessary files, the website has plenty of space.  Marty Giles agreed to let Shirley Liberante know that this is no longer necessary and to thank her for the offer.

·        Alan Hoffmeister and Tom Sill have linked trails to other sites that have up to date trails information and left the recreational opportunity guide information on trails where there weren’t other websites with current information to link to.

·        Miranda Shapiro brought up the water trails recreation opportunity guide that Maren Stidolph (a former Resource Assistance for Rural Environments – RARE – participant) put together in the same format as the terrestrial trails.  This water trail information should be added to the website as well and is probably located on the RARE computer which is located at the OCEAN office in Charleston.  Miranda agreed to check on these files with Trish Mace at OCEAN (Oregon Coastal Environmental Awareness Network).

·        Another future activity is to add new maps for Blue Ridge and Winchester Trails .pdf to the website.

·        One fundraising idea is to charge money for links to other sites.

·        Another addition to the website that is needed is to add the Coos Regional Trails Plan.  A copy of this is located on the RARE computer as well.

·        Need to add article in the World to website on a new sidebar button called “What’s News”

·        Need to add a link to OCEAN’s website

·        Need to add MOU between CRTP and OCEAN as well as a description of OCEAN, its mission, goals, objectives, and examples of projects.

·        Need to add officers to website as well as list of members with contact information.

 

b.                  The Winchester Trails Working Group.  The working group first met on its own and then updated the group on their activities.  The group is planning a work party on Saturday May 1st from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  A potluck will be held at 1 p.m.  Reg Pullen is going to lend the BLM’s new chipper to help clean up brush off trails (clean up build up and prevent fire hazard).  Next month the group talk more about logistics.  Mike Smith, South Coast Trail Riders Association, will be running the working group and can be reached at 756-3601.  Ask your friends and family to join us! 

 A second work party will be held on Saturday June 5th for National Trails Day to clean up trash.  The county allows dumping at the Beaver Hill Dump for free on this day.

 Brainstorming Projects – 2 year outlook

 ·        Putting in toilet at Winchester trails – who would maintain it?  Reg suggested that the users maintain it.  Mike Smith suggested that since Roto-rooter is putting in big dumpsite they might be willing to maintain the toilet.  They could also be a CRTP partner.  Miranda Shapiro suggested putting in a composting toilet.

Mike Smith and Dan Miller’s Vision – Big loop

 This would tie in a lot of current trails and points of interest.  It would go from Winchester Bay into Tugman Park to the Elliott State Forest to Elk Viewpoint to Loon Lake to Golden and Silver Falls to Blue Ridge to Laverne Park to Winchester Creek to Cape Arago and finally to North Spit.  All partners have land that could be included and could link to water trails such as Tenmile, Loon Lake Millicoma River, and incorporate all kinds of multi-sport events.  This is a big project that is marketable and a goal for everyone to plan towards and implement little by little.  This could help get private landowners involved.  Looking at older maps we could use old rail beds and historic trails with interpretive signs.

 Next Meeting – 20th of April at 6:30 p.m. 

Future Agenda items include:

1.      Electing three officers for the board.

2.      Further logistics for work party at Winchester Trails/potluck

3.      Draft of flyer for work party

4.      Update on RAC grant

5.      Marty will ask Gary Combs to come to speak to the group about grant writing

6.      Update on website: www.coostrails.com

7.      New map of Blue Ridge and Winchester.

Respectfully Submitted By,

Miranda Shapiro
Coos Watershed Association