Minutes for the meeting on Jan. 12, 2009
Jan 29, 2009
Author: Lois Petersen

Buffalo Trails Board
Minutes for the meeting on Jan. 12, 2009
Submitted by Lois Petersen


Meeting was called to order at 7:24 am with Board Members Bill Cooley, Jack Tarter, Lois Petersen, and Dave Palmerlee in attendance as well as Alicia Bankston. Newly retired BTB Chair, Bill Mentock, was also in attendance.

Motion to approve the agenda was made, seconded and passed.

Item 1: Officers for 2009: a motion was made by Jack and seconded by Dave to approve the following slate of BTB officers: Bill Cooley, Chair; Dave Palmerlee, Vice Chair; Lois Petersen, Secretary. The motion passed. Courtney Frost was recently appointed to the BTB by the mayor and Patty Reid will be our City Council representative to the BTB. There may also soon be a County Representative appointed to the BTB. We discussed the optimal number of BTB members – we can have up to 10.
Item 2: Budget Request: Capital Improvement 3-5 year Business Plan: The Board will need to begin working on setting goals to be addressed in the next 3-5 years. The resulting document will formalize the direction the Board will pursue in upcoming years and its priorities. One such priority might be the funding of a trails maintenance position. Tasks related to that position have been listed, but it must be determined how much time to budget for completion of each task. The Board Budget for 2009 is also an upcoming priority. Alicia brought the Board up to date on efforts to fund various Board projects and goals. A 500 gift that was given by Rebecca Frazier @ 15 years ago will be used to fund a portion of the Trails Day Dedication of the Historic Bridge which will take place on June 6th (National Trails Day – the first Sat in June) and will hopefully include the governor’s presence.
Item 3: JC Rec Board Applications: The Board is still considering submitting up to three applications for financial support from the Recreation Board: one to help fund a position for trail maintenance; one to fund the completion of the trail signage project; one to purchase a shed for tools used to maintain the trail system. Jack asked that Board members take a look at his shed, located at 582 N. DeSmet, as he is willing to donate that shed for Trails Board use. Lois drafted a grant request letter that can be used to solicit match money from a variety of community foundations and local organizations.
Item 4: Tool Shed application: (See above)
Item 5: Safe routes to school update: Bill Mentock wrote a letter in support of trails for this purpose. Dave suggested we think about adding a school representative to the Buffalo Trails Board as the school system has an interest in using trails for educational purposes, a school rep’s input on safe routes to school would be valuable, and schools have lots of students who might be willing to participate in service projects related to trail expansion and maintenance.
Item 6: Historic Bridge Update: There are still some aspects of the bridge needing completion when better weather arrives, but there may be some funds leftover when all is completed. Jack suggested the BTB write a letter to the Recreation Board asking permission that any remaining funds be used on other BTB projects such as signage kiosks.
Item 7: Discussion on matching funds from Lake DeSmet Conservation District:
Item 8: Formalize Dog Waste Station Duties: Bill Mentock would like to be relieved of previous dog station commitments now that he is retired. Further discussion of this will take place when new members are in attendance.
Item 9: Comments and questions: Bill Mentock commented that, upon talking with Sid Parker, there has not yet been any follow up from Friends of Eva Knepper with Phil Gonzales related to needed improvements to the EK Trail.
Item 10 Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 4:30 pm. If the City Hall is not available, we can use Dave’s office to meet.