The Trails Committee at its meeting Wednesday night discussed how it wants to prioritize its goals and addressed an unintentional Open Meeting Law violation that occurred at the July 16 meeting.
Vice chair Scott Knous chaired the meeting in the absence of Peter LaGoy. He began by alerting the public to the Open Meeting Law violation. Knous explained that the votes taken at the last meeting were nullified because the agenda had not been posted to the town’s website “inadvertently through a logistical error.”
“We did not know that,” said Knous. “We didn’t have the agenda posted in time, so therefore, the last meeting is void, basically.”
To ensure “full transparency,” he said the July 16 meeting minutes will be included with documentation for this meeting as a reference.
Revoted items included the reorganization of Trails Committee officers and were approved unanimously. LaGoy will serve a second term as chair, while Knous was reelected as vice chair. Knous nominated member Sean Kimball to serve as treasurer. Linda Chuss was reelected as clerk.
The committee also voted unanimously to approve spending $3,500 for consultant Beals & Thomas to map out the trails at Legacy Farms North. Jane Moran clarified that this was not supposed to be a highly technical map but a guide for trail users.
Members review priorities, strategies for directing focus
Chuss told members there should be criteria in place for determining the most vital projects to accomplish. She suggested that subgroups be formed for projects when deemed necessary.
Moran, who served as chair of the former Upper Charles Trail Committee (UCTC), said a priority of that group was a trail from Hopkinton State Park to East Main Street.
Knous put forward funding availability, connectivity, critical trail links and public interest as initial criteria. Kimball added aesthetic beauty and land quality, while Moran stressed accessibility levels. Chuss mentioned project urgency, filling service gaps for specific demographics, how a project meets committee goals, ease of execution and project timelines as factors.
Said Chuss: “Another question I really think we should ask is, ‘What if we don’t do it?’ ”
Members drilled down on what these suggestions encompassed. Kimball noted that some projects could be done relatively quickly with less effort. Because of this, he felt they should receive a higher rank. He felt projects should be prioritized on a grid, with level of ease as one determining factor.
Chuss said projects should be considered based on how well they meet the committee charge. She noted that outreach and planning should be subgroups that have their own priorities.
Because trail priorities were on the table, she asked that members list their top three to five priority projects based on the criteria discussed. Kimball said he couldn’t rank them because he didn’t know what some of the projects mentioned were. Some had been discussed by the former Trails Committee (also known as the TCMC) and the UCTC.
Said Kimball: “I’d like to have the backstory on all of them before I start ranking them.”
Jack Buckley agreed, saying he did not know about the proposed cross country trail upgrade at the middle school.
Dave Freed said the projects should be considered “qualitatively, not quantitatively.”
Ken Parker suggested that a walking trail from the back of Legacy Farms to Hopkinton State Park be added to the project list. The discussion then veered into other new options.
Members debated if projects already in progress that have received funding should be included on this list.
“Up to this point, we’ve lacked structure in terms of how we’ve done what we’ve done,” Knous pointed out. Because of this, much of the work has fallen on LaGoy’s shoulders, with the assistance of Hopkinton Area Land Trust (HALT) director Chuck Dauchy.
Knous asked for a “digestible list” for the next meeting for the committee to attack. His fear was “analysis paralysis.”
When the discussion devolved again, Knous stepped in. He agreed that everyone should have an understanding of all projects before they vote. Next, they should be reviewed to see if they meet the committee’s criteria. Finally, they must be prioritized.
Loop Road/Chamberlain Street Extension proposal recapped
Dauchy told the members that he gave a presentation on the proposed trail to connect Loop Road to the Chamberlain Street Extension at the Conservation Commission meeting the previous evening. He gained insight into the commission’s requirements and how to best meet them.
One concern was missing wetlands delineation flags along the route. Dauchy volunteered to replace them. Another was that there was some “lack of precision” in their placement. An issue raised by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was the lack of a required stormwater management checklist.
While Dauchy said the project likely will be approved, addressing these items will take time.
Trails Committee to take on assigning Trails Club projects
Chuss explained that there has been a change in the project designation between the Trails Committee and the Trails Club regarding monthly trails workday projects.
She said the Trails Club has asked the committee to prioritize and schedule the areas for workdays. The Trails Club will then gather volunteers and publicize the events, reversing the roles to some extent.
Said Chuss: “We basically own the workday projects now.”
“How did that happen?” asked Buckley.
Chuss explained that because the Trails Club came about first, it originally ran these events.
“We have the budget, and we choose [the sites],” Chuss said. “So their role is to help us get people.”
The next workday is scheduled for Sept. 6 at the Berry Acres conservation area on West Main Street. It will involve the installation of a 100-foot boardwalk.
A clarification: The trail workdays were created by the former Trails Coordination & Management Committee (TCMC), and have always been prioritized & approved by the town’s committee (previously the TCMC, now the Trails Committee). The Trails Club offers suggestions for projects to tackle, but its role is to promote the workdays and recruit volunteers. During the transition from the TCMC to the present committee, the Trails Club took over the entire process so the workdays could continue and the workdays were perceived as Trails Club events. With this change, credit for the workdays and the benefits they provide to the town returns to the Trails Committee.