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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/23/1998 . . Southold Transportation Committee Southold Town Hall March 23, 1998 8:00 AM Present: Neboysha Brashich, Glynis Berry, Margaret Brown, Frank Field, Barbara Michelson, David Moore, Valerie Scopaz; Visitors: Tim Caufield of Peconic Land Trust; Doug Murphy of Eagle's Neck Kayaks and Tom Skabry Neb received a Regional Transportation Plan Update from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council including "New York Scenic Byways Program - Sixth Report" which included 1 1/2 pages about Southold and a map of our bicycle trails. He also reported on the "Letter to the Editor" from John Kramer regarding our bicycle routes, and showed us his response which included an invitation for Mr. Kramer to attend one of our meetings. Bicvcle Trails: Neb received a letter from Linda Goldsmith, President of the Board of Education of the Oysterponds Union Free School District dated March 17, 1998 stating that our request to use the school's small parking lot on Youngs Road as a "Park and Ride" location for our Orient Loop has been denied. Barbara and Margaret will select a new site, probably on Narrow River Road. Vision Forum II: Vision Forum II will be held April 30 from 7-9PM at the Southold High School. Some pictures for the contest have already come in. There will be ads in the local papers. The Steering Committee will meet at lOAM today to work out further details. Tim Caufield - Peconic Land Trust: Tim Caufield came as a follow-up to our last meeting. Barbara Michelson suggested that we connect our bicycle route to the Fort Corchaug park by a road from New Suffolk Avenue (possibly Locust Lane) up to the Main Road. Neb also suggested the possibility of kayaking in Downs Creek. Tim expressed the concern of the management committee about water access to the fort, i.e. vandalism and taking of artifacts. The Recreation and Management committees are reportedly working well and have Town Board approval. The Transportation Committee would like to have the National Park Service Department of Rivers and Trails take a look at the project but only if the Fort Corchaug committee is willing. They are interested in Park Service consultation but do not want to lose control of the work and do not want to give up work on the project. PLT is approved for an on- site management presence. The Town has put $130,000 into a capital fund for the project and $30,000 into the budget for one year to retain PL T services to coordinate all activities relating to basic preserve management. The Town Highway Department will do initial clearing and hauling, and a "Preserve Center" could probably be established in an old but renovatable house already on site. It would be staffed by Tim or/or the stewardship staff. The Transportation Committee needs to go to the State DOT to add this link to our Seaview Trails and put signs in place on Rte. 25. Tim will let us know if we can add Fort Corchaug to the Trail Head map for the Mattituck-New Suffolk Loop. Kavaks: Doug Murphy of Eagle's Neck Kayaks and Tom Skabry attended our meeting to discuss kayak launches and parking permits. They would like to be able to launch at Founder's Landing. They said some groups launch at the end of the causeway in Orient. Mr. Murphy takes groups to several different launch sites, but is very careful to be as unobtrusive as possible in terms of excessive numbers of cars parking. Eagle's Neck Kayaks and the Metropolitan Sea Kayaks Association have maps of water routes. Murphy has asked the Town for a way to issue parking permits. He suggested that he would be glad to purchase permits from the Town Clerk and sell them to his customers when they rent kayaks. The Transportation Committee would like to enlarge on this idea for bicycle day-trippers as well, perhaps having permits available at several places throughout town, such as bait shops, bicycle shops, marinas, and even convenience stores. With regard to funding new or improving existing kayak launch sites, Valerie reported on a meeting she attended Friday with Supervisor Cochran and Michael Frank, Commissioner of . . Parks for Suffolk County and a consultant for Habitat Restoration. Mr. Frank mentioned that he has ISTEA money available to do improvements along trails. It was proposed that Cedar Beach, Arshamomaque, Peconic Dunes, Inlet Pond Park, and Orient County Park could a1l be enhanced with more funding. The 20% match required for ISTEA funding could come from the Parks and Recreation fund, according to Mrs. Cochran. Tom Skabry also suggested the possibility of an overnight stop for kayakers, possibly at Cedar Beach. It would need only to be a simple camp site with access to restrooms and possibly showers. This would allow kayakers to do long treks by water. Incidentally, no boats may be launched or landed at Orient Beach State Park, even in an emergency. Lonl! Island Transportation Plan 2000: Valerie reported that an inventory and analysis of traffic problems on Long Island is being made, primarily from Riverhead west. However, she feels that traffic generated on the East End may be overlooked, especially seasonal traffic and traffic generated by the agricultural industry. She wrote a letter to Wayne Ugolik, the project director and received a response from consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff, etc's project manager Marvin C. Gersten who basica1lY said our traffic was not worth more consideration than it has already received. Valerie suggested we ask Supervisor Cochran to write a letter saying we do not agree with this assessment. The next meeting will be Monday, April 20, 8 AM at Southold Town Ha1l. Respectfu1ly submitted, Margaret H. Brown