Buffalo Trails Board
Apr 7, 2008
Author: Bill Cooley

Buffalo Trails Board

Minutes for March 3rd, 2008


A regular meeting of the Buffalo Trails Board was held at City Hall at noon on March 3, 2008.

The following board members were present:
Chairman Bill Mentock, Fred Grey, Jack Tarter, Jerry Gladson, Norb Lyle, Councilman Don Vogl
Colin Betzler, Alicia Bankston.
Absent: Bill Cooley, Ed Von Holst, Steve Nuckolls

Chairman Bill Mentock called the meeting to order at 12:04 pm.

Chairman Mentock noted a correction in the Feb 4 minutes—1.13 miles rather than 1.3 miles on page 3.

Jack Tarter made a motion to approve the minutes of the Feb 4 meeting. The motion was seconded by Norb Lyle and approved as amended.

The Clear Creek Middle School Proposal was added to the agenda. Mr. Tarter made a motion to approve the agenda. Jerry Gladson seconded the motion. The motion carried all voting aye.

An on-site inspection, of the proposed location for the historic 1880 bridge site was held Feb 25. Jack Morey, Colin Betzler, Alicia Bankston, Jerry Osborn, Bill Mentock and Bill Cooley attended. The City has received most of the Environmental Report letters back. There will be a meeting this week with the engineer and 3-Way to discuss materials and a timeline.

Tom Carpenter wrote a letter to the Mayor offering to purchase bells to give to bicyclers in order to make the trails safer. Don Vogl thought the Trails Board may be able to generate a list or provide contact information for those that are interested. Jerry Gladson stated how generous the offer was, however he felt that it was beyond the scope of the Trails Board to provide safety equipment to bikers. The Board generally agreed. Colin stated that the Police Department may have a safety program that could use the bells.

Culverts and trail were constructed and placed on the new Shiloh trail last week. The gravel will be ready to be laid this week.

The JCTA application was submitted Feb 27 and a copy was provided for the Board to view. The presentation of the proposal before the Johnson County Tourism Association board is March 11, 5pm at the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum.

National Trails Day is set for June 7. The Wild Bunch also has an event that day in the evening. Norb Lyle presented a flyer for the event and volunteered to help organize the event. A meeting to start organizing the event will be Wednesday March 12, noon, City Hall.

The hunting and leash ordinances discussed at the February workshop will be revised before they are referenced and included in the Master Trail Plan. The Planning Department will be responsible for updating/rewriting the Ordinances since this is a city-level issue.

The Trail Board budget as of February 26, 2008 is ,888.56. Trail Board budget requests are open and are due, in addition to a 3-5 year plan in April.

Lois Peterson, representing the Friends of the Klondike, announced that the Friends group met on Feb 7 and plan to meet again on March 10 or 11 to prioritize goals and to set up a work session in May.

Larry Gerard stated that the Clear Creek Development Park may not need a new environmental assessment if the trail use were to change.

Bill Mentock mentioned his meeting with the Mayor and noted that the Mayor’s preference for a trail name was Clear Creek Trail System.

Jack Tarter offered the name, Clear Creek Trail System of Buffalo, Wyoming and Johnson County as a possible name that could go by the nickname Clear Creek Trails.

Fred Gray commented that the public should be invited to participate and offer suggestions if the trail name is going to change.

There will two Open Houses to present the draft Master Trails Plan, April 21 and May 19. The Planning Department will release a press release prior to these meetings so that the public will be aware of such a meeting.

Norb Lyle made a motion to adjourn.
Bill Mentock seconded the motion.
The meeting adjourned at 1:15 pm.