Westwoods Trails Meeting
January 12, 2004
Guilford Community Center
Chair: Paul Proulx
Meeting Began: 7:35pm
Attendance: (9 people) Paul Proulx, Kevin Smith, Joe Kaufman, Jim Shaw, Joe Ortoleva, Fred Richards, Sandra Porter, Richard Judson, Simon Stewart.

Approval/corrections of minutes: Minutes for December 15 will be reviewed for the February 9th meeting along with tonight's minutes.

Resignations/New Members/Members news: No resignations, no new members. Ellsworth Mathias will be given a patch. He has been contributing many hours to cutting and cleans up.

GLTC Report: No GLTC members present.

CT Forest and Park: At the GL TC meeting on January 13th there will be a photo opportunity and story session regarding the "2003 Trails Award" for "Outstanding Organization in Connecticut". Susan will look into the possibility of displaying this plaque and the one from 1973 at the Community Center.

Trail Reports
Westwoods:
-Team A: See past work party
Nut Plains: Kevin Smith will get specifics for the bridges needed
Paul Trail: No report
Kampmeyer: (4 hrs) Joe Kaufnlan has begun the process of building the bridges.
Eastwoods: No report
Hoadly Creek: No report
Spencer Creek: No report.

Past Work Parties: (18hrs) Yellow Circle Trail 55 trees cut. There is probably only one more cutting day needed. Paul Proulx, Peter Johnson, Kevin Smith, Dia Robinson, Bob Hanschumacher

Future Work Parties: Paul will mark the Yellow Triangle for the next day of cutting.

Old Business: Tree removal update - about one more day of cutting is needed
Analyze Trail Design - Shelly Green was not present

New Business:
-Peter Otis contacted Paul to fmd out the official way to spell West Woods. It seems that in the past and presently it's been one word, two words each capitalized, two words with only West capitalized. No one present at the meeting could defmitively say what the official version is. Paul will research the history of the name.
-Kevin Smith proposed a monthly walk for the Guilford Community to help raise awareness about the trail systems. He presented it as an educational, proactive effort to raise awareness of the uses of the GLTC parcels. He suggested that the volunteer steward of each area would be responsible for leading the walk.
-The group had a discussion about the pros and cons of inviting increased usage of land, and encouraging use of all parcels. This led to a central question about the mission of the West Woods Trail Committee. Several members of the group on hand this evening supported the notion of our mission including stewardship and education leading to responsible use.
-The Environmental Club at GHS and Guilford Park & Recreation were mentioned as potential educational resources through which the public could learn more about the existing trail systems in town.
-Other questions came up for consideration as we follow this line of thought. The GLTC has many parcels. Who decides what parcels are developed? And how do trail systems come to be? This topic will be continued next month. In the mean time Paul will talk with someone at the next GLTC meeting about the idea of monthly walks.
-There was discussion about the next generation of trail maps. Work should begin very soon as our current supply is getting smaller. The next map should include Hoadly Creek, Spencer Creek, and East Woods. There is GPS information available for West Woods, but GPS info is needed for Hoadly Creek, Spencer Creek, and East Woods. Is anyone interested in working on this map?
-Greenway Trail: Jim Shaw did not have any new information to report at this time.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:5Opm.
Recording Secretary: Sandra Porter