Parks Commission

Montpelier Parks Commission Site Walk Proposed Mountain Bike Trail Draft Minutes Monday, May 6 5:00-7:00 Hubbard Park Commissioners Present: Emily Boedecker, Aaron Brondyke, Lyn Munno, Cara Robechek and Kip Roberts Staff Present: Geoff Beyer Others Present: Tim Flynn, representing a group of mountain bikers interested gaining greater access to public trails. Background: MAMBA (Montpelier Area Mountain Bike Association) has proposed to the Parks Commission that mountain bikes be allowed on a loop trail around Hubbard Park. This was presented at the March meeting and it was decided at the April meeting that a site visit was necessary to walk the proposed trail. At the site walk, Geoff Beyer recommended that, as much as possible, the bike trail should be on a new loop trail rather than on existing trails to avoid potential conflicts. There are places where the trails would need to overlap. The Commissioners, Geoff Beyer and Tim walked about half of a proposed new multi-purpose trail loop as conceptualized by Geoff Beyer. Geoff's concept for the new trail loop would include a mixture of new and existing trails. Due to time constraints, the group was only able to walk about half of Geoff's proposed route. Some sections of the trail would need permission from abutting private landowners. Several commissioners remarked at how nice the new area would be for a trail not just be benefit mountain bikers but also cross country skiers. There were a couple wet or steep sections where the commissioners questioned the impact of adding a new trail to that area. Because of the need to work with private land owners and the need for trail construction, it is likely that, if approved, it would take a year or two to get a trail in place. Tim Flynn expressed that he would prefer to have the mountain bike trail on already existing trails and to have a trial period start as soon as possible. He does not see that there would be conflicts between bikes and other user groups. Cara Robechek expressed her concern about conflicts on the more crowded sections of trail. Lyn Munno also mentioned that new uses have to be communicated appropriately to citizens so an immediate trial period would be difficult. The Parks Commission will discuss this in more detail at the next Parks Commission meeting on May 23rd.