Minutes of Altadena Crest Trails Working Group,

7:00pm, 8 November 2005

0. Self Introductions: Attendees: Rob Staehle, Lori Paul, Carole Bradley, Jim Bradley, Sameer Etman, Terry Huntsberger, Bev Huntsberger, Marietta Kruells, Tom Lockhart, Michele Zack, Mike Manning, Ralph Beltran (County Trails Supervisor), Howard Okamoto (USFS), Jan Takata,.

1. Jim Bradley agreed to record minutes and action items.

2. Those who read the minutes of last meeting on-line voted to approve them as written.

3. Jan Takata reported that the County had done an initial survey and description of candidate trail locations to fill the gaps in the ACT. He presented a large topographic map with the candidate trail locations color coded. He expects in the next one to two months that the County will approach the property owners whose land would be needed for the trails to explain and request their agreement for the easements and work to be done. He will also approach the USFS and Pasadena offices for agreement on use of their land for the trails. He requests discreetness because of current litigation over parts of trail and because the trail routes are tentative.

Several attendees recommended some alternative trail locations. Takata agreed that Sameer and others will meet in about two weeks to mark up the map with specific suggestions. Those with suggestions should get them to Sameer.

There was discussion of an evening horse/car accident at Lincoln and Palm in the last week This underlined the necessity of expanding the off-road “walkways”” in the Altadena Dr/Lincoln Ave/Loma Alta passage to separate pedestrian, horse and auto traffic in the area. There was a request for someone to lead an effort to identify the road easements in the area and where the county might expand the defined passageways. There were no volunteers for the effort. Later Mike Manning reported that the Altadena Town Council Traffic Committee had found extreme resistance by some home owners to give up pieces of their landscaping even where there was an existing road easement.

4. Ralph Beltran reported that he is requesting and developing several trail-crew support trailers that could be delivered to places that volunteer crews were working. The trailers would include a range of tools including some power tools and generators for heavy cutting. He expects to be able to provide supplies, such as lumber on another trailer. Ralph said that he realizes that his crews have not been able to do proper trail restoration because of a lack of time. He requested suggestions for priorities. He will meet with Sameer at candidate times available in the next couple weeks.

Ralph requested suggestions for capital improvement projects on the trails by 17 November. These could be in the range of $10k to $60k in cost. Sameer Etman agreed to accept suggestions from the Altadena community to forward to Ralph. Ralph will prioritize the projects throughout his jurisdiction.

There was considerable discussion of how to get the Pinecrest gate opened permanently and the problem it presents by more-or-less dead ending a several mile segment of ACT It is especially a problem for bicyclists because it is not permitted to ride bicycles through the Eaton Canyon Natural Area. It was agreed that ACTWG should write a letter to the appropriate person at City of Pasadena. The Alt. Town Council will be approached for possible concurrence. Staehle will draft a letter.

5. Howard Okamoto reported that USFS crews will be restoring the Sam Merrill Trail to full 3-foot width in the next few months.

The comment was made that the Sunset Ridge portion of ACT needs a walking survey for restoration through Millard Canyon from the water tanks (from top of Chaney, down the single track). Most or all of this is County jurisdiction. Bev will schedule this hike, and invite others to walk the route with equestrian needs in mind.

6. Report on 22 October Trail Day: The turn out was very good, especially in seeing the support of several residents whose property in close to the celebrated new trail segments. A number of organizations with interests in the trails were represented There are still many fine T-shirts available from the event at $15 each or 3 for $40. No additional black shirts will be ordered until costs are recovered from the existing color supply. There was good publicity in the printed media and television.

7. There is another trail cleanup work day on Saturday, 12 November 2005 at Church Canyon / south of Canyon Crest.

8. Review of current task action list

A. Ralph Beltran forwarded a query/request to his management about workers’ compensation coverage for trail volunteers. He must wait for their response. <IN PROGRESS>

B. There was discussion of how to report and describe trail problems in a meaningful way Ralph Beltran did not believe that the County had an official reporting nomenclature. except for their internal reporting. Howard Okamoto said that USFS just wants a quantitative description of the trail problem such as the length and width of a washout, or the dimensions and extent of interference caused by a fallen tree so they can anticipate the crew and equipment needed for repair. No specific recommendations made. <IN PROGRESS>

C. Item deleted from this list and moved to Trail Priorities list. Marietta Kruells will meet with Ralph Beltran to review Sediment Placement site for improvements. <DELETED>

D. County is taking initiative on finding trail locations and easements. <IN PROGRESS>

E. <Signage> Nothing new. <IN PROGRESS>

F. <Large MAP for handouts> Nothing specific. <IN PROGRESS>

G. <Troller-Mayer> County has made great progress in developing new trail locations. County had good representation at this meeting and ACTWG input has been specifically requested. <IN PROGRESS>

H. Lori Paul is still monitoring the development of of the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act. She will report when new information is available. She will write letter for ACTWG to follow up on geographic scope of Study Act.<IN PROGRESS>

I. ACTWG/Rob Staehle will draft a letter to City of Pasadena regarding the opening of the Pinecrest gate. <IN PROGRESS>

Recording Secretary left meeting at this point (9pm) so the reader is left to guess what happened after that.