Committee Member Dan Holler, Trails Manager Joel Rathje and Project Manager Gretchen Haselbauer outlined the information in the Mammoth Lakes Trails System (MLTS) Fiscal Year 2022/23 Budget and recommended adjustments.
SPEAKING FROM THE FLOOR:
Jane Kenyon thanked the Trails Committee for helping to keep the public lands and waters pristine for all users. Ms. Kenyon said that she had been involved with the Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care Center since the 90s and had been alerted by them about fishing line accumulations when people had called to report wildlife becoming trapped in it. She requested the Great Sierra River Cleanup planning address the waterways by having volunteers access shallow waters to remove snagged fishing line, tree service personnel remove it from the trees above the shorelines, boaters to retrieve line that had blown into the waterside willows, and a diving company to prepare a baseline survey as to where the line and hook accumulations were in the water, and to remove fishing litter in an effort to reduce the plastics in our waters. She said that the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL) would provide a Zoom meeting with State Water Resources Control Board Research Scientist Dr. Scott Coffin regarding his research into microplastic particle concentrations in water on May 24th at 7:00 p.m.
Program Director Kim Anaclerio discussed the Tangle-Free Waters Program.
Committee Member Dan Holler summarized the revisions the Committee would like made to the budget in preparation for its presentation to the MLR Board as follows: Walk Bike Ride (WBR) Trails System node planning a little more focused, Grant and Other funding budget remove the $100,000 for the Community Host program which would instead be managed and funded by the Town, change the focus area for the $24,025 in Adopt-A-Trail funds from the Stewardship budget to the Maintenance budget and the $25,000 in Trail Host funds from the Stewardship budget to the Maintenance budget, and request $100,000 in Measure R Reserve funds for the Sherwins Area Recreation Plan (SHARP) Environmental Review and Construction program.
SPEAKING FROM THE FLOOR:
Pat Agnitch said that the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Data budget in the amount of $25,000 seemed excessive. Ms. Agnitch asked if the Trails Manager, now being part of the Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access (MLTPA) operations, would change who Joel Rathje reported to.
Mr. Holler clarified that Mr. Rathje's position would fall under the Office of Outdoor Recreation which was still under the Town Manager's Office, not MLTPA.
There was discussion between Mr. Rathje, Ms. Haselbauer, Ms. Agnitch, Ms. Anaclerio and members of the Committee.