Wakefield planners send SRTA lease to council

By P.J. GLISSON

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Wakefield - At a special meeting on Tuesday evening, the Wakefield Planning Commission voted to recommend that a three-year lease for the Split Rock Trail Association be submitted to the City Council for review.

The council is expected to consider the lease at its next meeting on Feb. 10, after which the lease will be returned to SRTA members for final review.

Termed as a "surface use lease," the agreement refers to about 10 acres of land in the Section 10 area, where SRTA members have worked in recent years to create more than three miles of trails for public use in hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Because members hope to expand the trails, City Manager Rob Brown said that the 10 acres will accommodate double the space now occupied by existing trails.

"The lease has been vetted by our attorney," said Brown in relation to City Attorney Ray O'Dea.

Neil and Liz Londo, along with Loraine Mussatti, were present at Tuesday's meeting to discuss final details with the commission. SRTA members also have met with city officials in the past to discuss the terms of the lease.

Mussatti said members of the trails group have been concerned that their efforts might be undone by the city.

"These are real snowshoe trails," said Neil Londo, who said they are thick with snow and have no issues with slush, as some trails with lighter snow loads do.

"There's nothing that stands out to me as a critical flaw," said Brown regarding the pending lease. "I think what the city is saying is we're reserving the rights to our property, but we're allowing use of it."

The city manager said it was important to continue to allow motorized vehicles, including snowmobiles, four-wheelers and maintenance equipment, to continue to access the land.

On the other hand, he said the city has no plans to develop in the trails region, which is in a former mining site.

"I don't see anything here of dire concern," said Mayor Dale White.

"We don't either," said Londo.

According to Brown, remaining concerns for the city are to address what zoning will be most appropriate for the area and to include the trail system and its intended growth within the city's pending recreation and master plans.

City officials also discussed options in how to improve parking for trail users.

For now, SRTA members said they will update their remaining association members on the status of the lease.

"I think we're all on the same page, which is absolutely a miracle," said Tara Hamilton, vice-chair of the commission. "If we all work together, we can all get something done."

In other business, the commission voted to approve a schedule of its 2020 meetings, with exceptions that the September and December meeting dates will change from the 8th to the 15th in both months. All other meetings will be on the second Tuesday of each month.

The next commission meeting is on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. in the council room of the municipal building. The public is welcome.