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2013-01-22 Regular Meeting RECEIVED Kodiak Island Borough PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE i APR - 1 2013 REGULAR MEETING & TRAIL SUMMIT MINUTES BOROUGH CLERKS OFFICE /ALASKA n January 22,2013 7 p.m.at the Kodialdlig Scool h Commo h CALL TO ORDER CHAIR SALTONSTALL called to order the Parks& Recreation Committee's TRAIL SUMMIT at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Committee members present were Pam foreman, Jeff Huntley, Patrick Saltonstall, Andy Schroeder, Michael Marion, and Helm Johnson. Excused were Sandra West and Rick Lindholm. Ex-officio present was Alan Schmitt. Absent ex-officio members were Jack Ransom, Aaron Griffin, Steve Doerksen, and Brent Watkins. A quorum was established. COMMITTEE MEMBER FOREMAN MOVED to excuse Rick Lindholm and Sandra West. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Community Development Department staff present was Duane Dvorak & Sheila Smith. Information Technology Department staff present was Maya Daurio and Paul Van Dyke. APPROVAL OF AGENDA COMMITTEE MEMBER FOREMAN MOVED to approve the agenda. VOICE VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING • January 8, 2013 minutes (deferred to the February 12, 2013 Regular Meeting) AUDIENCE COMMENTS AND APPEARANCE REQUESTS There were none. OLD BUSINESS (None) NEW BUSINESS A. Trails Summit 1. Trails Summit Concept-What is a Trails Summit? CHAIR SALTONSTALL explained the Trail Summit is held twice a year to discuss summer and winter use of the trails. Last year we talked about Russian Ridge and then we will cover Jack & Lee Lakes. This way the public can choose areas for improvement, and we will tackle a different part of the road system at every summit. 2. Meeting Structure - Subjects for Discussion and Public Input Public member asked if the outcome of the Russian Ridge TMO's are going to be discussed tonight. Tonight will be a 2 part meeting. We'll open the meeting to talk about the Trails Plan and what we did; the TMO's created so far and how we're doing them. Comments will be taken and we want to hear about issues on other trails.We'll have an open microphone and we provided comment forms. The final part of the meeting we'll talk about the Jack& Lee Lakes area. P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 1 of 7 January 22,2013 3. Introductions and Role and Responsibility of the KIB P&R Committee CHAIR SALTONSTALL introduced the committee members and Community Development Department staff present. He stated the Parks & Recreation Committee is an advisory committee to the Planning & Zoning Commission. The Assembly tasked us to identify existing and future recreation demands including indoor and outdoor recreation, and evaluate existing and future recreation needs. We look at what's coming before the Planning & Zoning Commission and often determine that this would be a nice area to build a trail. We also work with the Capital Improvement List in terms of recreational needs. 4. Introduction of the Kodiak Island Road System Trails Master Plan CHAIR SALTONSTALL said the Trails Plan is what the Trail Summits are a part of; it's really more than a trails plan because it deals with how we use our road system. We want more open spaces. We have free trails maps that came out this. Dvorak said the Trails Plan is available on the borough's website at www.kodiakak.us but if you want a paper copy its $25 in the Community Development Department. 5. Goals and Objectives of the Plan - Implementation of the plan CHAIR SALTONSTALL said the Trails Plan is a guide going forward to keep the road system open to all of us. Its also useful for getting grants. Hopefully, it will help minimize conflicts between user groups 6. Review of the Trail Management Objectives (TMO) for Russian Ridge Trail System. CHAIR SALTONSTALL said we had the Forest Service TMO but it didn't work with what we wanted to put in so we've modified it and he anticipates when we move on to Jack & Lee Lakes it will be modified even further. Maya Daurio, Borough GIS Analyst, stated she is keeper of the data. Island Trails Network, using a GPS collected data of all the trails looking at surface material, grade, impacted areas, and trail classification. Daurio's purpose was to make that data available in a way that makes sense, and summarize the data that is meaningful enough to translate and put into a Trails Management Form. We modified the original TMO template because our purposes are different than the U.S. Forest Services. We modified the forms to be more relevant regarding what kind of data we have and they are to guide management of trails. It also enables organizations to apply for grants to manage those trails. Each area was summarized according to the data and a TMO was filled out for each area. Smith has TMO packets on the table for anyone interested. CHAIR SALTONSTALL stated when we started talking about TMO's the public started saying"you're going restrict ATVs and only allow some activities on trails, and we're not doing that, basically we're classifying what the trail is now and we're saying what it should probably be used for, we aren't making any judgment calls. Down the road we'll be able to get monies to repair some trails, having these TMO's will be handy when we apply for money to fix them. The trail use and particulars are going into the comment section for what it's being used for now. COMMITTEE MEMBER MARION stated that the trail sections have different colors so each trail segment on the city side or the borough side will have its own TMO. 7. Audience comments on road system trails issues or Russian Ridge Trail System TMO's- 3 minutes per speaker a. Identify project ideas,talk about trail conditions, and issues. Phillip Tschersich stated he's been on Russian Ridge a couple of times a week for 20 something years. The changes in the trails over time mostly have to do with the main corridor running from the gravel pit down past the reservoir and along the spine out to the Sawmill Circle area. Erosion P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 2 of 7 January 22,2013 has taken place and since I've mountain biked there a lot of deep puddles and tire tracks have occurred. We developed game trails and the ATV's have started using them. People have said that motorized use of Russian Ridge is historical because they grew up riding ATV's there. Half of Russian Ridge is within city limits and the use of off road vehicles is illegal. As we move forward and decide what type of uses are appropriate; the different sections of Russian Ridge, in addition there is general degradation because of use. If traditional uses want to be entertained in some way, maybe a boundary should be drawn between the borough and the city, and the city half would get trail development something akin to a year round system for different kind of trail use. Somehow some kind of designation should be implemented to avoid user conflicts; there needs to be some segregation. CHAIR SALTONSTALL said Beaver Lake was one area we thought was in the city that would make a nice (inaudible) all around the outside. We aren't here to discuss or debate but to hear your comments. Ryan Murdock stated there have been people riding bikes in the woods and we've been building jumps in various places. There is a spot near Sawmill Circle that's been there for years and years that's been built up and we have a few jumps and obstacles around the ridge and as a biker he'd like to see the extended use of the trails for bicycle use and also ATV's but there has to be some compromise on this. He's an advocate for jumps and trails. He's spent a lot of time on the ridge looking for new spots and there's a lot of partying up there right now. The obstacles we want to put in are unsustainable; they are kind of a new standard that's promoted by the mountain bike associations. Keep us informed if you want any advice on trail locations or what we want planned into those trails. There is a big section that's left out of that map. We are trying to start the Kodak Island Bicycle Club right now and getting all the cyclists together to promote road cycling, trail cycling, BMX riding, and we've been working with the City Parks & Rec Advisory Board to get the skate park as one of the next bicycle friendly things in our community. Dave Heuman stated he uses the Jack Lakes a lot and he echoes what Tschersich said about he tries to stay off the 4 wheeler trails. He starts there because it's easy access to figure out where he's going but he wants to be away from the ruts and mud so he follows some deer trails but then the 4 wheelers find them. It's island wide and he can see that 4 wheelers are used extensively and those trails should be hardened or cleaned up so they aren't muddy and people won't want to go as far off of the trail.The trailhead at Jack Lake is all shot up and there's no enforcement. Eight years ago they were going to put some boulders there but that never happened. The shooting range is going greater than ever. He's frustrated because he hikes every day. CHAIR SALTONSTALL told the audience to draw muddy areas on the maps during break. Linda Lance who lives on the top of Mountain View and she hikes Russian Ridge every day and has seen the same thing that Heuman has seen but the ATV's have been exchanged with dirt bikes which has made it worse. There is no enforcement so she would like to see the trail hardened, and something that will keep it to restricted areas rather than everywhere. In the last 9 years it has degraded more. John Neff stated every trail has time span on it unless it's going to be hardened. What he's heard over the last 15 minutes, basically you've got a lot of 4 wheeler trails that have been around a long time and they are reaching the end of their lifespan. As each 4 wheeler trail reaches the end of its lifespan that aren't hardened equates to the fact that you erode the topsoil down to the roots, it no longer becomes fun to ride bikes on because those slippery roots are a pain, and it's the same with dirt bikes. If you look at the actual destruction path these vehicles are going, is it a'/4 mile wide, no, is it 1/8 mile wide, no, is it 1/10 mile wide, not even close. It's maybe a few hundred feet wide, now what is a few hundred feet. We have a humungous island, 1OO's of square miles of perfect wilderness and we can't take a few hundred square feet for a few miles and tear it up. He says of course, definitely, it's the most probable best thing you can do is making use of what you've been P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 3 of 7 January 22,2013 given to use. When you have prohibited use; x,x,x,x,x,x on the TMO's and basically taking the ax to all vehicles that takes all history; takes all previous usage and throws it all out the window,and says it doesn't matter. It's saying all previous years, everything and says this does not matter, we are the new era, this is the new world. Come on and get over youself. He just wants everyone to take into consideration that we have been here forever and it's completely disrespectful of your neighbors, the greater Kodiak community, who of course isn't here because they feel that they are so great number that they don't need to represent themselves. Everyone owns a 4 wheeler whether for hunting or fun; the fact that we even need to be here actively trying to represent ourselves is stupidity. I will also say that the city has looked the other way for many, many years, if we look the other way for that many years it should be grandfathered in. Let's get a city statute changed if the statute is non-existent, basically not being enforced, if it's not going to be enforced change it. Rick Vahl stated he lives on Mountain View and enjoys the trail system on Russian Ridge every day. He walks his dogs and without this map done by this group he wouldn't have been exposed to other trails. The TMO's and getting started on this close proximity trail system is critical because we do have a lot of users and multi type users so looking at that and seeking funding he's curious to see how this group is going to seek this out. Erosion is hard to manage and there are different ways, equipment, training, and volunteers. He was first exposed to trails was by the Audubon organized hikes getting groups together for hikes. Paul Van Dyke lives at the intersection of Lakeview and Sawmill Drive and he enjoys recreating on the Russian Ridge Trail System on his 4 wheeler. I think it would be great to get these trails hardened and in a more sustainable manner. At the last Trail Summit, he recommended the P&R Committee to work with the city to extend the legal use of ATV's into Pillar Mountain and the back side of Swampy Acres. He realizes you have some difficulty with landowners but he thinks it would be a benefit to the community to legally extend that trail system for ATV use. Any hardening for existing ATV trails would be fantastic. He doesn't ride in the wet season but he does ride up there when it's frozen, and it's great in the summer during a dry spell. Dave Sundberg stated for the last 35 or 40 years he accessed the trails all the time; running, motorcycle,and ATV over the years so he guesses he's contributed to some of the erosion. He thinks hardening or gravel would keep the trails in better shape and also keep the motorized vehicles on the trail instead of tearing up the countryside. There are so many different users that use it for running, hiking, hunting, and there's room for everyone if we just harden the trails, and try to get along as we go! Rob Baer stated he uses the Russian Ridge Trail 3 or 4 times a week and he enjoys it out there. He even stays off the trails and tromps around the woods. In 10 years of use there's a lot more kids building forts, which is great because kids should be doing things like that, but enforcement needs to be taken care of because there's a lot more parties, broken glass, and trash. What is the ultimate goal to maintain a trail system or what if the housing development starts up there where are we going, has P&Z or the Assembly been approached,what's the big picture of the whole ridge? B. Jack& Lee Lakes Natural Use Area Trail System 1. Introduction Dvorak showed a map from the Womens Bay Comp Plan and the green area that is considered the core area of Bells Flats but a lot of area here was considered as part of the planning area; the green color indicates as designated for park and open spaces in the plan. One particular area was called out for special attention by the Womens Bay community; the Jack & Lee Lakes area which are 725 acres behind the Bells Flats Alaska Subdivision. Look at the map on the wall that zooms into the 725 acre area and this is the trails GPS'd. You'll see some symbology in there designating certain features, a legend that tells you what those features are. You can mark the large and small map up. There's another map, not to be marked on, that was done with assistance from the National Parks P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 4 of 7 January 22,2013 Service with a technical assistance grant we had. We've got the data that was described before which you see the GPS coordinates and some of the highlights but there's a spreadsheet behind this data with all kinds of erosion, soil types, braided trails, and the conditions which at some point will be translated into Trail Management Objectives. Those objectives will be used to, people have mentioned trail hardening, there are areas with braided trails that people try to avoid a physical feature or get around it so when it comes time to put money or effort into trail maintenance maybe decisions need to be made where this trail needs to go to be sustainable rather than running it through a mud hole or up a hillside that's not sustainable. Where should there be trailheads? He's heard a lot of discussion about Russian Ridge, people who live close by use this amenity but what if you are a visitor where will you park, where will you go, how will you know where to go, where's the signage going to be, go here, don't go here, and so on.There are only a certain number of access points to some of these lands and this process to find that out. A lot of discussion has already taken place but that was with consultants, contractors, and committee members over time who participated in this process, and a lot of the public who came to meetings to give input. The Plan is conceptual and on the borough website; it identifies a lot of these areas that need a lot of work. If we need to do trail hardening chances are that we can't afford to harden all the trails so we need to set priorities. 2. Review of regulatory rules pertaining to the Jack&Lee Lakes Natural Use Area Dvorak state the Jack & Lee Lakes Natural Use Area was specifically identified in the 2007 Womens Bay Comp Plan. On page 36, the goal; address and result user conflict between motorized and non- motorized activities in the Jack& Lee Lake area. There were two objectives; change the area's name to Womens Bay Park or Jack & Lee Lakes Natural Use Park to help identify the area to borough residents and visitors, and then develop A Park,Trails,and Recreation Plan for Jack& Lee Lakes area. In the implementation section it goes into more detail; analyze and evaluate the zoning code for the Natural Use Area to determine if a zoning code amendment is necessary. Research the KIB subdivision code and other potential mechanisms to provide for community wide green space and usable public recreation use areas in the future subdivisions in the planning area. He's not sure if there's going to be any future subdivisions in the planning area. Dvorak said we have the Natural Use zoning district, we really don't have greenbelts or buffer zones defined in our existing code now. BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK A break was called to allow the public to look at and discuss the maps amongst themselves. 3. Review of trail issues identified within the Jack & Lee Lakes Natural Use Area during in the Trails Plan process Dvorak stated identify and map the approved 17b easements that provide access through the native owned land in the study area and there are some areas back behind the Jack & Lee Lakes where some of these trails go back up into the valley that belong to the Ouzinkie Native Corporation and Leisnoi Native Corporation and on the other side of those areas there's 5000 acres of State land further up the valley but it's only between Sargent Creek and Russian Creek drainages, a lot of the land to the north as you look at this map is Ouzinkie Native Corporation. The Natural Use zoning district is the zone for this area. At the time this zone was adopted in 1989 it was intended for recreational use lands really discourages a lot of development. The only development allowed in the zone is development that supports recreational use. Some of the description and intent; protect trails on public lands, protect waterways and their banks, discourage development by prohibiting the construction of most structures in the zoning district, permitted principal uses and structures, and most of these are non-structural, they're activities; fish, wildlife, or habitat enhancement and/or rehabilitate projects; hunting, fishing, trapping, and plant gathering activities, passive recreational activities such as photography, hiking, camping, cross country skiing, horseback riding, etc. Pedestrian trails and trail systems, public coastal docking facilities, and recreational cabins. In P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 5 of 7 January 22,2013 the Conditional Use category you've got communication facilities, Parks & Rec support structures including any related equipment and structures such as playground equipment, bathroom facilities, picnic shelters, parking lots and other paved areas, public recreation cabins and road installations and lastly structures that enhance the Natural Use district such as fish, wildlife, or habitat enhancement structures, fish ladders, hatcheries etc. It does mention pedestrian trails and trail systems but it's been debatable over the years that it's an outright prohibition on the motorized use. There were recognized conflicts back in 2007 when the plan was done, there was a lot of input by the community and a lot of community uses it with a motorized orientation. This particular zone just happens to spell out pedestrian trails and trail systems but the Conservation zone where most of the trails are located doesn't mention trails at all yet the trails are there.When things exist before the zoning goes in things become grandfathered but we don't have good information about which trails were there before the zoning. There hasn't been a lot of commotion; he believes some directed at the Russian Ridge area as well as the Jack& Lee Lakes area. 4. Audience comments-Jack & Lee Lakes Natural Use Area Trail System (3 minutes per speaker) Jessica Horn stated she utilizes the Jack & Lee Lakes area extensively and has her foot firmly planted in 2 different user groups; we use it for skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, mountain biking, and skating, but we also use it for 4 wheeling. She wants to make sure it remains open to all user groups. Of course, there's those who say no ATV's and we have to get rid of them,but unfortunately there's always some who don't respect the land but the majority of them take great care to make sure we keep the erosion down, we stay on the trails because we do utilize the area for all different activities. We want to ensure all user groups are included but we need a parking area. There are people who live up on the circle and she knows the area has been used for shooting which makes the area unsafe. The whole rifle range thing is not ideal; other towns have shooting ranges; unfortunately here you have to belong to KISA so that opens up these little renegade areas. It might make a difference if we could get a parking area and we make a trail down to the Jack & Lee Lakes area if we could just make it skinny enough for ATV's and not trucks, therefore they can't abandon the trucks down there to shoot them all up including refrigerators and junk. If there's anything that can be done to make it safer for everyone with the shooting and also include all user groups because there are a lot of us that do both. She is against seasonal use because she doesn't live here in the summer; she utilizes the area from September through May. During the winter when it's frozen is the best time for the 4 wheelers because there is no erosion problem. Having the snowmobilers out there actually is beneficial for the cross country skiers and hikers. We went to go sledding but we couldn't get up there because the snowmobilers hadn't been there yet. Paul Van Dyke stated he lives on Lakeview Drive and recreates in this area. He echo's the comments from the last speaker. It would be nice if the borough could get it cleaned up and then it could be remediated. There's native land back there and behind the native land is state land; those trails cross to get to state land. There have been discussions of acquisitions and land swaps and it would be great if this area could be targeted, at least the Leisnoi land as far as a potential land swap to deal with the access easements. John Neff stated he likes to join all aspects of recreation; snowboarding, mountain biking, dirt biking, and 4 wheeling and as he gets older it gets harder but he does it. The whole area is great for mountain biking but as he said every trail has a timeline and unless you improve it, it is what it is. You have so much time before it erodes, and if it's going to be used year round it erodes which is natural progression and when that time comes you either cut a new trail or you harden it. It's a beautiful area out there. Unknown person stated he's seen pictures from the 50's and the military actually took jeeps up and came back around to the headwaters of the river on the side of the mountain. You can still see the cables that run all across the mountains all the way to Saltery. P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 6 of 7 January 22,2013 5. Development of TMO's for the Jack&Lee Lakes Natural Use Area They will work on those next. COMMUNICATIONS - None REPORTS - None AUDIENCE COMMENTS COMMITTEE MEMBERS COMMENTS Jeff Huntley thanked everyone for coming. I hope we got some information out that made you come to the meetings because there are times we sit there saying "all the help we can get will help." Pam Foreman echoed what Huntley said and thanked everyone. Show up on Tuesdays once in a while to see where we're at and what's going on. Jeremiah Wagner asked if we're going to work our way south of the trails, what's next, Kashaveroff trails,and then the American. Patrick Saltonstall said we're hoping to get a lot of input on one area to focus on but I think we'll just go to the Trails Plan because we have a priority list. Termination Point was way up there but it's all Leisnoi land. He's glad to see everyone here and hopes these Trail Summits will get big eventually. Down the road this could be something quite cool for Kodiak. Michael Marion stated he wanted to reiterate what he was talking about to some of the gentlemen here that this is our first run on TMO's. It was a huge learning curve and we didn't get it perfect and we'll revisit it some because as you pointed out there are some things that we didn't get right and that's why we want you here. We really do need your input if you want us to get it right on the first shot. Come to the next Trail Summit and you'll see what the TMO's are like and you can tell us what you think about them then. ADJOURNMENT COMMITTEE MEMBER FOREMAN MOVED to adjourn. CHAIR SALTONSTALL adjourned the meeting at 8:43 p.m. KODI' K ISLAND :ORPU. H PARKS & R.C'EAT&NC li MMI TEE I ` ' \S. Pat iV altonstall,Chair 4 ATTEST By: 1'0 . 1 !. :� Sheila Smith, Secretary Community Development Department APPROVED: February 12, 2013 P&R Trail Summit Minutes Page 7 of 7 January 22,2013