Rail Trail

Price-Taylor Rail Trail Corridor Commission Westboro Community Center Town Hall October 19th, 2021 Minutes 1. Call Meeting to Order Meeting of the Price -Taylor Rail Trail Commission was called to order by Pr esident Dan Roiger on October 19th, 2021, at 7:07 p.m. at the Westboro Community Center Town Hall. Commission Members present: Bob Meyer, Marvin Kuenne , Dan Roiger , Gene Knoll, Jeff Hallstrand, Ron Kendziera, and Steve Thums. Ex-Officio Members: Jake Walcisak and Joe Grapa. Members absent: Jeff Mauch, Troy Larson. Others present: Buzz Meyer 2. Approve Minutes of the April 13th, 2021 meeting Motion by Gene Knoll , seconded by Ron Kendziera to appro ve minutes as mailed. Motion carried. 3. Approve the Agenda Motion by Steve Thum s, seconded by Marv Kuenne to approve the agenda as presented . Motion carried. 4. Treasurer’s Report The treasurer’s repor t was presented by Bob Meye r. Beginning balance of $ 15,797.45 and an ending balance of $ 10,792.45. Revenue included $175.00 in donations. Expenses totaled $5,000 in a contribution to Price County for improvements to the trail. Motion by Gene Knoll, seconded by Steve Thums to approve treasurer’s report as presented. Motion carried. 5. Trail Condition and Maintenance Walcisak presented an update for Taylor C ounty. Shoulders were mowed the week of June 14th. Grading occurred the last week of June. Spraying wa s conducted the second and third week of July. “No ATV” signs have been i nstalled at all road cross ings. Remainder of trail spons or signs have been installed, including a large sign on the Westboro gazebo. Jeff Peterson has conducted nuisance beaver trapping in spring and recently this fall. Side slope damage was fixed north of Cemetery Ave where a beave r dam washed out. Walcisak and Thums conducted removal of eighteen wind thrown trees in mid -July between Gunnar Road and the Price County Line. Excessive ATV traffic, with damage, between Chelsea Ave and Chelsea Lake Park Road. Walcisak will contact the Taylor County Sheriff ’s Department for enforcement/compliance action. A tree fell from County owned property near the Westboro ga zebo onto a priv ately owned garage. Walcisak has been attempting to contact the land owner. Eby’s Welding completed rehab of the last two bri dges in Taylor County . Grapa provided a n update for Price County. Trail has been mowed twice this summer. Primarily to control aspen sprouts. Trailside brushing was conducted by Luke Bacholl. Nuisance beaver trapping was performed in-house. 6. Price County Culverts and Gravel Projects Gravel project has been compl eted as planned. South 3 miles in Price County not graveled at this time. Bush Benders snowmobile club replaced three culverts. The large washed-out culvert on the north side of Spring Road was a lso repaired. Discussion occurred regarding future plans to finish the last three miles of gravel in Price C ounty and a wish list item of applying a smaller aggregate on top of the crushed gravel to facilitate ease of walking and biking. Sufficient funding is needed to progress significant improvements on the trail. 7. Price County Timber Sale Joe Grapa reported that Brian Kennedy has completed the harvest. All w ood has been hauled. Final invoicing is pending. Price County Forestry Department and Kennedy logging conducted landscape raking, box blading and dozer work of the trail post-harvest. 8. Center Avenue Utility Crossing Walcisak spoke with Sp ence at M edford Utility. Medford Utility install ed t wo power poles on Pine Line property with an overhead line. They did not receive permission for this crossing from the County and did not know there was a fee for a utility crossing. Discussion occurred regarding this topic and how to proceed. Motion by Steve Thums, seconded by Marv Kuenne to invoice Medford Utility $500 for this utility crossing. Motion carried. 9. Encroachment Update for Chelsea and Westboro Dryerson encroachment agreement: debris pile removed prior to deadline. Pearson was found to not be encroachment. Pe arson also ha d a professional survey conducted of his property boundaries. Walcisak mailed two letters to SAE New Beginnings without response. Walcisak will contact Taylor County Sheriff’s Department to identify the trailer and vehicle on County property so the owner can be contacted for removal. 10. Price County Trailhead Signing Sign has been installed and parking ar ea improvements include new gravel. DOT sign f or the intersection of State Highway 13 and Morner Road has been ordered. 11. Morner Road to County Road X The sale of this rail segment to Watco has not be finalized. Grapa will contact Watco t o inquire once the sale is complete. 12. Boy Scout Project Proposal Dan Roiger was contact by a local Boy Sco ut leader, Pam Henderson, for an eagle scout project on the Pine Line. T he project would be for bench building and installation. Discussion occurred supporting the project idea. Motion by Gene Knoll to establish a sub -committee made up of Walcisak, Roiger and Thums to work with the Boy Sco uts, seconded by Ron Kendziera. Moti on carried. 13. Agricultural Use Permits Renewal of Fris chmann’s 2017 agriculture use permit was approved and returned. This new permit will expire in 2024. Lamberty permit will expire in 2022. 14. Additional Items Needed to be Presented to the Committee • Steve Thums brought up a concern with horse riders not cleaning up the waste cr eated by their horses. Discussion occurred regarding adopting a policy or ordinance. No action taken at this time. • A recommendation was made to install a sign on the Pine Li ne indicating the location of the Chelsea Lake County Park. Walcisak will order and install the sign. 15. Set Next Meeting Date April 26th, 2022 7:00 p.m. 16. Adjourn Motion made by Gene Knoll, seconded by Bob Meyer to adjourn at 8:42 p.m. Motion carried. Submitted by Jake Walcisak, Taylor County Forestry and Recreation Administrator Price-Taylor Rail Trail Corridor Commission Westboro Community Center Town Hall April 13th, 2021 Minutes 8. Call Meeting to Order Meeting of the Price -Taylor Rail Trail Commission was called to order by Pr esident Dan Roiger on April 13th, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. at the Westboro Community Center Town Hall. Commission Members present: Bob Meyer, Marvin Kuenne, Jeff Mauch , Troy Larson, Dan Roiger, Gene Knoll, Ron Kendziera, and Steve Thums. Ex-Officio Members: Jake Walcisak and Joe Grapa. Members absent: Jeff Hallstrand. Others present: Dave Roiger, Buzz Meyer, Jeff Peterson. 9. Approve Minutes of the October 20th, 2020 meeting Motion by Bob Meyer and second by Gene Knoll to approve minutes as mailed. Motion carried. 10. Approve the Agenda Motion by Troy Larson and seconded by Jeff Mauch to approve the agenda. Motion carried. 11. Treasurer’s Report The treasurer’s re port was presented by Bob Meye r. Beginning balance o f $ 9,100.05 and an ending balance of $ 15,797.45. Revenue included $500 for a trenched u tility crossing from Xcel and $6,197.40 in stu mpage revenue from P rice County. Motion by Gene Knoll and second by Marv Kuenne to approve treasurer’s report as presented. Motion carried. 12. Price County Commission Members Troy Larson intro duced Joe Grapa as the new Price County Forest A dministrator and ex -officio member for Price County. Troy also introduced Ron Kendzie ra as the new at -large Commission member for Price County. Ron will be a strong silent sport asset to the Commission. 13. Trail Condition and Maintenance • Pine Line Commission members and Taylor County Snowmobile Grooming As sociation members removed a beaver dam and repaired a washout at the bridge located between Alfalfa Ave and Cemetery Ave. • Jordan Lutz and Joe Svejda from Taylor County removed hazard trees along the first mile of trail, which was not logged. • Culvert repair is needed just north of the Whit tlesey Ballpark bridge. The Snowmob ile Grooming Association will call diggers hotline and conduct the repairs. • The Commission authorized Jeff Peterson to tra p nuisance beavers near the bridge between Cemetery Ave and Elm Street. • Eby’s Welding and F abrication has started rehabilitation of the bridge between Alfalfa Ave and Cem etery Ave. This bri dge will be completed prior to the April 24 th Pine Line Marathon. Eby’s has requested to start rehab of the bridge b etween Cemetery Ave and Elm Street on Monday Apr il 26th. Taylor County has sent out the necessary press releases and closed the appropriate segments of trail. 14. Price County Culverts and Gravel • Joe Grapa reported that Olynick ’s hauled gravel lat e last year from Morner Road to just north of Ogema. The To wn of Ogema donated their grader and operat or. Joe will send an invoice to the Commission for their $5,000 finan cial commitment made to the Price County project. • Joe Grapa is working with the Price County Highway Department to address the culverts which partially washed out just north of Spring Road. Additionally, several culv erts will need to replacement in the future between Ogema and the county line. 15. Price County Timber Sale Joe Grapa reported that Brian Kennedy has completed the ar ea between the County Line and Ogema. Kennedy plans to finish this summer. Future maintenance will likely include mo wing of aspen saplings which are starting to sprout on the trail shoulder. 16. Morner Rd To County Highway X CN is s elling th eir rail and ope ration in this area t o W atco. Jak e Walcisak contacted Brian Buchanan from CN regarding the sale of this one mile. Buchanan inform ed Walcisak that with CN selling to Watco the Commission would have to wait until the sale is complete to discuss this future po tential project with Watco. Discussion was held regar ding potential funding and information from the Rail Trail Conservatory. 17. Dave Tlusty Land Transfer Request Walcisak presented a request from Dave Tlust y, adjacent property ow ner to the Pine Li ne, to transfer 560 square f eet of land from the Pine Line to him. His request was based on an errant survey conducted in 19 80 by Charles Offerman. Th is errant survey describes a small triangle, approximately 560 square feet in size, as belonging to Tlust y. However, this is in direct conflict with the de ed and legal description held by the Pine Line. W alcisak requested that Tlusty re- survey the property to produc e the correct legal de scription due to the land transfer process being very cumbersome. Tlusty agreed to this request. No action taken by the Commission. 18. Agriculture Use Permits Frischman re quest re newal of his 201 7 agriculture use permit of the Pine Line . This permit starts at Alfalfa Ave and continues north for approximately 0.75 miles. Frischman is required to sign the permit, deposit $75 .00 with th e Commission and provide pro of of liability insurance during the duration of the permit. Motion by Bob Meyer to approve the Frischmann agriculture use permit, second by Troy Larson. Motion carried. 19. Additional Items Needed to be Presented to the Committee • Dyreson Encroachme nt Agreement: still pile of debris on Pine Line adjacent to the Dyreson property. The encroachment agreement requires this debris to be r emoved no later than May 3 1st, 2021. Walcisak followed -up with a phone c all to Alexandr ia Dyreson. She explained that the pile of debris would be removed by the deadline. Taylor County will remove the debris after May 31 st at the expense of Dyreson with the potential to revoke her encroachment agreement. • Discussion was held r egarding potential en croachment by Josep h Pearson at the north end of Westboro. Walcisak inspected the issue and sent him a l etter on November 10th, 2020. Jeff Peterson informed Walcis ak that Pearson is getting a professi onal survey of his property. • Steve Thums informed the Commission that a camper is being stored on Pine Line property adjacent to the SAE New Beg innings property. T he Commission has an encroachment agreement with this a djacent landowner. Walcisak will requ est the landowner to move the campe r to a location that complies with the encroachment agreement. Walcisak sent a letter to SAE New Beginnings on Wednesday April 14th, 2021 addressing this issue. • Donation to the Town of Westboro for the use of their facilities. M otion by Troy Larson to donate $200 to the Town of Westboro, second by Jeff Mauch. Motion carried. • Price County Trail Signs : Discussion was had regarding a trailhead sign on Morner Road as well as location sign s on State Highway 13 on either side of Morner Road. It was suggested that an information sign and map be placed at the Morner Road trailhead as well to provide users with directions to Prentice. Troy Larson and Joe Grapa will work with each other and the Price County Highway Departmen t on this matter . They will bring information back to the Commission at the next meeting. • Steve Thums notified the Commission that there is frequent ATV use on the trail, especially in and ne ar Westboro. It was decided that signs should be placed at all road crossings in Taylor County indicating that winter-use of ATV’s is allowed but summer use was prohibited. Walcisak will check with the Taylor County H ighway Department for surplus signs and report back to the Commission. 20. Set Next Meeting Date October 19th, 2021 7:00 p.m. 21. Adjourn Motion made by Gene Knoll, second by Marv Kuenne to adjourn at 9:02 p.m. Motion carried. Submitted by Jake Walcisak, Taylor County Forestry and Recreation Administrator