November 2015 Meeting Minutes

Altadena Crest Trail Restoration Working Group (ACTRWG) Steering Committee

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

7:00 P.M. at Altadena Community Center (730 E. Altadena Drive)

0. Attendees: Robert Staehle, Steve Messer (CORBA), Lori Paul, Mitch Marich (Mount Wilson Bicycling Association), Marietta Kruells.

1. Desired adjournment time for this meeting?  8:00 p.m.

2. Decision on meeting Secretary & Recorder of Action Items.  Steve Messer agreed to act as Secretary.

3. Review Minutes and Action Items from last meeting.  Minutes were unanimously approved.

4. County / City / U.S. Government Announcements of any items not covered later on agenda: No officials were present, and no reports were available.

5. Any serious new trail conditions or problems requiring immediate attention:   CORBA and MWBA have begun restoration work on Ken Burton the previous weekend. Approximately 1/2 mile has been cleared in two days of work. Trail is grown over, but mostly intact tread.

Lincoln Avenue Water Company is working on replacing their pipes along the Sunset Ridge trail, but no indications of removal of the decommissioned pipe along the ACT from the reservoir down to Chaney Trail. They are required by their permit to remove decommissioned pipe. Motion was made to write a letter to the USFS to request that they enforce the conditions of the LAWC permit, and remove pipe from the Chaney Trail connector, between South Coulter reservoir and Chaney Trail road. Motion passed unanimously.

Murietta has been to a Lincoln Ave water company meeting. There are new wells being drilled at Raymond Basin, apparently without appropriate water rights. For historical reference, the road now called Chaney Trail was once called Sunset Ridge Road, and the connector trail was also called Sunset Ridge Trail. It was named after Doctor Chaney who ran a TB sanitarium.

AFC missed an opportunity to acquire a tax-default property in Canyon Crest. It was purchased by a private citizen for pennies on the dollar, and they now want to remove oaks to build.

6. Current Tasks

A. Re-grading to new County standards for erosion control on vulnerable ACT segments before predicted major El Nino winter: Mitch reported that approximately 1/2 mile of the east end of the ACT was graded, including some work to remove berms left by machine-grading. Culverts were not fixed.

B. Emergency acquisition of bear-proof food boxes for 5 sites in Millard Cyn Campground.  A single bear-proof box has been installed at Millard campground, paid for by donations from local residents. Additional boxes are planned for purchase and will be installed as funds allow.

C. Fence erected along ~200-foot segment of ACT above Windfall Ave (E of Rubio Gap and Stonehill? No updates were available.

D. DPW Devil’s Gate Reservoir (Hahamamongna Watershed Park) / ACT Trailhead / Recreation impacts?  No new information.

E. Status of proposed 18 New Homes (so-called “La Vina II”) on school site, though developer has failed to build the required public trail:   No new reports. Debate about whether this is relevant to trails, even though we all agree that it should not go forward.

F. La Vina litigation resolved: update & resumption of trail planning.  Marietta is disillusioned about whether the promised trail will be completed.

G. Rubio Cyn Gateway trail planning status / discussion with AFC: A proposedtrail alignment through the AFC property has been flagged and a geotechnical survey is underway to determine the feasibility and engineering requirements for a trail.

H. Update on locked Pinecrest Gate.  Mitch still checks on the gate, with no change in the status. Mitch continues to collect emails of those who are trapped. Gate is being closed earlier with the time change.

7. Other Old Business. Steve Messer has been given control of the AltadenaTrails.org domain name, and it now points to an Altadenatrails.org web site built on wordpress. A new email address has been created, altadenatrails@gmail.com which is set to forward to Steve and to Lori Paul/Rob Staehle. The web site is now live.

8. Other New Business. Steve Messer has been given a draft PDF copy of the revised Los Angeles County trails manual for review and comment.

9. Review of Task List for next meeting:  Marietta will email Graham Breakwell (special use permit officer for the USFS) to ask that the FS enforce the conditions of the Lincoln Ave Water Company, and have them remove the decommissioned pipe from South Coulter reservoir to Chaney trail road, and to find out if they are also required to restore the trail to its original condition.

Mitch will forward photos to Olga Ruano showing the work on ACT. Accuracy of ACT information on County Trails web site needs to be determined.

10. Upcoming Events: The next ACTRWG meeting falls on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 (2nd Tuesday of each month, unless cancellation is announced, 7pm at the Altadena Community Center).

11. Adjourn at 7:55pm