Attendance

NAME	ADDRESS	TELEPHONE NUMBER	E-MAIL ADDRESS
Donald Odell	97 Manning Blvd., Apt A Albany, NY 12203	482-4574	dodell@nycap.rr.com
Jason Purvis	CDTC 5 Computer Dr. West Albany, NY 12205	458-2161	cdtc@crisny.org
Mike McLaughlin	Mayor, Village of Scotia 4 North Ten Broeck St. Scotia, NY 12302	374-1071	VILLAGE_OF_SCOTIA@HOTMAIL.COM
Jesse Day	NYBC PO Box 8868 Albany, NY 12208	505-9499	jesse@nybc.net
Kathy Quandt	ACCVB 25 Quackenbush Square Albany, NY 12207	434-1217 X213	Kathy@albany.org
Steven Marsh	109 Huston St. Scotia, NY 122302	372-4054	imirish@worldnet.att.net
Steve Feeney	Schenectady County Planning 107 Nott Terrace	386-2225	sfeeney@nycap.rr.com
John DiMura	NYS Canal Corp 200 Southern Blvd Albany, NY 12209	436-3034	john_Dimura@canals.state.ny.us
Denise Farnan	NYSOPRHP 19 Roosevelt Dr. Saratoga Springs, NY 12866	584-2000 X 205	Denise.Farnan@OPRHP.state.ny.us
Elaine Troy	NYSDOH Healthy Heart Frear Building, 4^th Floor, 2 Third St., Troy, NY 12180	271-2760 X 763	EHT01@health.state.ny.us
Ken Kovalchik	HRVG Capitol Station, Room 254 Albany, NY 12224		Kenneth.Kovalchik@hudsongreenway.state.ny.us
Patricia Rush	ECOS & Friends of MHBHT	374-6995	chrisrush@prodigy.net
Patrick Clear	ECOS, PO Box 9118 Niskayuna, NY 12309	370-4125	ecos@global2000.net

1. Correction to May 6, 2002 Meeting Review

q Patricia Rush noted that she had distributed a copy of the 1986 edition of the “Along the Bike Hike Trail” (a guidebook to the Schenectady County bike-hike trail) published and copyrighted by Environmental Clearinghouse of Schenectady (ECOS). She indicated that the new edition is still being written. The minutes incorrectly stated that this was a brochure. Please make corrections in your respective copies of the meeting review to conform to the official record.

2. Report on CTANY (Canal Trailways Association of New York)

q John DiMura provided an overview of CTANY and its activities.

CTANY is modeled on the Appalachian Trail Conference. The association is a statewide organization with regional (generally, but not exclusively, countywide in scope) groups, below which local adopt-a-trail units are formed.

The focus is on the Eire Canalway Trail as the State has committed $35,000,000 over five years to complete the trail from Waterford to Tonawanda. About 230 miles of trails are in place over the 350-mile route. Over 95% of the right-of-way is in public ownership. Completion of 40 miles of trail is planned this year.

2. Updates

q Mayor Mike McLaughlin, Village of Scotia.

The village has completed a business area study. Input indicated that the residents wanted to retain and improve walkability, and the retention of the sense of a “small town” business district.

The next effort will be on historic tourism. The village is working with Schenectady County Planning on a Local Waterfront Redevelopment Plan and has filed an application with the New York State Department of State to evaluate the economic and park potential of sites in the village.

The Mayor noted that the village has worked successfully with the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor. But, he observed that there is still a lack of “good regional talk,” and that municipalities and other local governments and organizations tend to work in isolation. In terms of trail planning this can lead to fragmented and discontinuous components.
The County’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) is about complete.

There was some discussion about who owns and/or maintains the section of trail to the north of Collins Park, the section that appears to be in the Town of Glenville. Those mentioned: NYSDOT and the Town of Glenville. It was also noted that if NYSDOT develops a facility like this, its standard procedure is to get an agreement from the appropriate local government to maintain the facility.

q Jason Purvis, CDTC (Capital District Transportation Committee)

· Efforts are continuing to provide detailed identification of ownership and maintenance of the segments of the Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail.

· The planning effort of the Albany County “connections study”, a joint project of the CDTC, Albany County, and the Hudson River Valley Commission is commencing. The CDTC, Albany County and the HRVC will request a joint meeting of various stakeholding committees, including this one, in the fall to present the study and to receive input.

· Spot improvements applications are due July 31, 2002. This program has a total of $300,000 available ($240,000 federal and $60,000 local). There was some discussion about the program requirements. Jason noted that the program is looking for functional bike and pedestrian improvements. For other details, Jason should be contacted.

q Jesse Day, NYBC (New York Bicycling Coalition)

Jesse reviewed the just completed 2002 Canalway trail tour across the state. He took about three hours of video, and asked for some suggestions about how this material might be used.

In the subsequent discussion, contacts with public television stations were mentioned. Editing (probably professional) would be required to develop a video program of acceptable length. John DiMura noted that the NYS Thruway has a photo lab with editing capacity. He will inquire. There was some agreement that a video would be a great way to publicize the Canalway trail.

q Steve Marsh

· In response to the video, and visual components, Steve noted that Rails to Trails has a link to Find a Trail, which has a link to trail link.com, all use photographic illustrations. (Editor’s note: An Erie Canalway trail visual was prominently displayed on the Find a Trail link, showing an inline skater.)

q Kathy Quandt, ACCVB (Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau)

q Kathy distributed copies of a new brochure, "Three Ways to Wander: Bikeways, Byways & Waterways of the Capital- Saratoga Region" The brochure was produced jointly by the tourism offices of the 6 counties of the Capital Region: Albany, Rensselaer, Fulton, Saratoga, Schenectady and Saratoga.

q Patricia Rush

ECOS (Environmental Clearinghouse of Schenectady) has applied to the Kodak Greenways Program for a grant to help pay for the printing costs of the new edition of the guidebook.

· Patricia also raised questions about the lawsuit against Guilford Rail, Friends of Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail brochure, trail signage. All of these led to discussion.

RE: lawsuit against Guilford Rail. Since there were varying opinions about the status of the lawsuit, Elaine Troy volunteered to make inquiries. [Subsequent note: Elaine talked with the Rotterdam town attorney. He indicated that no lawsuit was ever initiated. The Town of Rotterdam expects to resolve the matter of crossing the tracks through negotiations with Guilford. Litigation is not currently planned, but cannot be ruled out in the future if no compromise is reached.]

Friends of Mohawk Hudson brochure. John DiMura asked for comment at the next meeting. There was some discussion of the current version, and that the Friends were currently working on revisions. The principal concern seemed to be what logo or logos were to appear on the cover page. The options of using the Erie Canalway logo, the Hudson River Valley Greenway logo, and a Mohawk Hudson logo were discussed. It was noted that the Mohawk Hudson trail becomes the junction between the Canalway trail and the Hudson River Valley trails network, and that the brochure should reflect both entities. Don Odell noted that he had received some communication from Howard Halstead seeking input on any Mohawk Hudson logos, and that he had suggested that Andy Labruzzo be contacted as to the template used for the on-road signs. [Subsequent note: Howard indicated that a unique trail logo would be preferable to this road sign template.]

Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike on-trail signage. There was some discussion about this. As best can be summarized, the following viewpoints were expressed.

· The signage at trailheads, and on-trail signage for the trail from the west of Schenectady County to Waterford should be Canalway signage with local ownership/maintenance entities included below the Canalway logo, e.g., Schenectady County and Town of Colonie. (John DiMura, Pat Rush, Steve Marsh were noted expressing this viewpoint.)

· The Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail is an identifiable entity with some history, and should be so identified for the length of the trail in Schenectady County (currently from Rotterdam Junction) and Albany County (currently to Corning Preserve). This does not exclude Canalway (or Greenway or local logos), but does note that a Mohawk Hudson trail logo should be featured for the entire trail. (Don Odell and Jason Purvis were noted expressing this viewpoint.)

· The just starting Albany County connections study (connecting the Mohawk portion with the Hudson portion of the trail) needs to be given an opportunity to further delineate the current “disconnects” involving Cohoes, Waterford and Watervliet, and suggest some possibilities. (Don Odell)

q Ken Kovalchik, HRVG (Hudson River Valley Greenway)

· Ken reviewed the Hudson Greenway Trail Tour (covered in detail at last month’s meeting). Ken indicated that this coming Friday, July 19, is the deadline for joining the final part of day 10 from the Albany Corning Preserve Boat launch to Waterford on the afternoon of August 10. Interested parties should contact John DiMura by Friday. Also, if anyone is interested in joining the tour for all of day 10, it starts from Greenport Conservation Area in the morning. Interested parties should be there at 8:30 AM, and that the group will start biking at 0:00 AM sharp. Ken may be contacted for additional details. The bike ride from Greenport to Waterford is about 50 miles, and the numbers in the party are limited from Greenport to Albany.

2. Downtown Schenectady Trail Connection Project

q Steve Feeney. Schenectady County planner, presented the concept plan for connecting the existing trail head (coming from the west to Schenectady County Community College) with the State Street/Washington Ave. intersection in downtown Schenectady. He noted that this connection is being designed to be suitable for casual bicycle riders. Informational kiosks and some seating are being planned at the State St./Washington Ave. intersection. Basically, the bike path would parallel the existing access road from State St. to SCCC, and overlooking the Binnekill.

3. Other Business

q John DiMura distributed a draft of the Inn to Inn Touring along the Erie Canalway Trail: Albany, Schenectady and Montgomery Counties. He would appreciate suggestions, corrections, etc., but he needs them in the next couple of days.

q Due to the time (it was 5 PM at this point), those unable to provide updates were asked, and agreed, to postpone reports until the next meeting.

q The Outreach Plan, Trail Ownership and Maintenance items were also postponed to the next meeting.

4. Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for 3:00-5:00 PM, Monday, August 19, 2002 at the Waterford Visitors Center.

SUBMITTED BY:

Don Odell, recorder