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Minutes of Greenbelt
Committee, July 3, 2004
We had a very small Greenbelt Committee meeting today that started
at 8:30am. The only people present were RoseAnn and John McRoberts
and myself. But that's okay--everyone is busy and it is a holiday
weekend. They had missed the previous meeting so I updated them
on what we hoped to do.
Knapweed: Mary reported that she and Pam Nicklas
pulled knapweed on Colt. The knapweed is already beginning to
flower so now we must bag it. RoseAnn reported that she had put
a picture of some knapweed on the website (which is www.ponderosacommunityclub.org
by the way). John suggested that she also put a link on the website
to some of the agencies and descriptions of knapweed. RoseAnn
said she will do so. Mary also reported that she had contacted
the Noxious Weed Department of Chelan County and they said they
were checking on the weeds on Primitive Park Road and under the
power lines and that the beetles that eat the knapweed were still
there and were working on the knapweed, but that it takes a long
time.
Trails: John and RoseAnn reported they had
walked the Lupine Trail between Quarter Road and Riata where the
loggers have worked and that it is a mess and needs a lot of work.
John asked if the Ponderosa had purchased a chipper yet. Mary
said that she believed the Board was looking into it for Tim Olson's
proposal. The McRoberts also reported that they had not checked
the Mock Orange Access Trail as they couldn't find it. Mary reported
that she and Sharyl had not had time to check the Lower Aster
and Balsamroot Trails either. RoseAnn believed that some of the
trail signs might be missing or if not, then we need more signs
on the posts. We decided to go check out the Lupine and Mock Orange
trails after the meeting.
Meetings: Mary reported that it had been decided
that we would have Greenbelt Committee meetings on the first Saturday
of each month and work parties on the third Saturday of the month.
July has five Saturdays so maybe we could even meet on the 31st.
Neither Mary nor the McRoberts are available on the third Saturday
(July 17th). John reported that Reminders of the meetings are
helpful but that they needed them sooner. RoseAnn offered to send
out the reminders.
We adjourned the meeting at 9:30am to go check on the Lupine
and Mock Orange trails. John brought his digital camera and took
pictures of the trails. He will put them on the website. John
can also create GPS maps of trails so perhaps the Committee should
ask him to do so.
Lupine Trail: The beginning of the trail is
fine, but when you get down the trail approximately in back of
the Crosses cabin it disappears. There are chips and dead branches
spread around. The branches could be picked up by the Greenbelt
Committee. As you continue on, it becomes a real mess--you can't
get through due to a fallen tree and there are logs and slash
piles left there. As you get toward the end of the trail by Riata,
there is logging equipment and piles of logs and a large pile
of chips. At the end of the trail, we felt the loggers took down
too many trees. (Doug Pendleton was right, it is a mess.) (Pam
Nicklas says some of these trees were sick or dead.) (See John's
pictures.)
Action: We decided that the Greenbelt Committee
needs to find out when the loggers and clean up crews will be
finished on this greenbelt area so we can work on the trail. We
would like them to chip the branches and leave the chips in a
pile so we can spread them along the trail rather than blow them
all over. We also decided that the Committee needs to be more
aggressive about checking the greenbelt areas that are scheduled
for logging. And before the next greenbelt is logged, the Committee
needs to determine which of the marked trees are not okay to take
down. We don't believe anyone from the Committee nor the Board
did this before the Lupine trail trees were cut. We need to better
coordinate with Arnie Arneson or whoever is in charge of the loggers
on these matters.
Mock Orange Trail: We found the entrance to
the Mock Orange Trail. It is a little overgrown. We walked the
trail down to the river. It is not too bad. We think all it would
take is possibly someone with a weedeater or pruners or loppers
to take care of this years' growth and then haul the cuttings
out. The river is still too high for access.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Bunney.
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Leavenworth, WA 98826