May 2023 Minutes
Minutes from Regular Quarterly Meeting on May 1, 2023
Big Canoe Trails Committee
Minutes by S. Johnson
Mtg took place in person indoors at the Village Station.
Commenced at 4:04 p.m.; ended at 4:40.
Members in attendance = 29
NEXT MEETING is August 7, 2023 @ 4:00. - Venue : TBD
FYI: Meetings are scheduled for the 1st Monday of 2nd month of each quarter
(i.e. first Monday of Feb/May/Aug/Nov)
NEXT WORK DAY: May 17; top of Nancy Womack. JR and Bob K will lead.
NEW MEMBERS: Welcome to the following new BCTC members:
Rob Maza – will oversee portion of Nancy Womack Tr from Mtn Mint to Valley View
Tim & Lauren Mills – will oversee the Playfield Tr, Village Tr & Running Track.
DEPARTING MEMBERS: The following members have resigned from BCTC. Thank you for your contributions!
Kay Davis
Mike Martin
BCTC APPRECIATION EVENT – MAY 17
Steve Papke announced the Black Bear Society would like to annually recognize and thank the BCTC members for their hard work. This year’s event is a happy hour at the Black Bear Pub (BC Clubhouse) on May 17. Wear your BCTC hat and receive free drinks!
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS of BCTC
Playfield (lower area) – cleaned up the lower area by removing trees and treating stumps. POA’s requested goal: make it mowable again.
Red Loop Trail: Reopened the (recently discovered) access trail* to the paved Red Loop near the bear statue at the intersection of Wildcat Pkwy and Red Trillium Ridge.
High Gap Park: Reopened old access trail* (recently discovered) from Wildcat Drive to High Gap Park. This work is progressing.
*The newly reopened access trails (items 2 & 3 above) will be added to the BC Trail Map. New copies of the trail map (approx. 5,000 copies) will be available in 5-10 days.
Water Wheel – Installed a new 4” pipe to keep water flowing, but flow was too strong (overshot the wheel), so a 4” ball valve was added to slow the flow.
High Gap Connector (near Blazing Star Trail)– Dion Golden used his excavator equipment to dig new trench to replace the washed out trench.
High Gap Trails – 2 new benches added by Joe Tipton. He also added a short spur and overlook for one of the new benches.
Presentation to Leadership Big Canoe in March – Liz & Mitch made a 30-45 min presentation regarding BCTC and the trails.
Jeep Trail Tunnel – Joe Morris added a “one way” sign at the tunnel to discourage jeep drivers from turning around at the end of the trail. It’s intended to be a one-way trail beginning at Jeep Trail parking lot and ending at Mountain Mint.
Jeep Trail – Top 200 yards of Jeep Tr was cleaned up by the POA and POA added gravel to make the trail more passable for jeeps.
TRAIL RESPONSIBILITY REVAMP
Liz and Mitch are updating the trail responsibility list. Will be completed week of May 8, and any changes will be communicated one on one.
Trail Buddy Program: Considering the idea of a formal trail buddy program where BCTC members can contact neighboring BCTC trail stewards as “buddies” on various trails to indicate their availability to assist with particular trails when the main steward for that trail is not available.
Liz and Mitch will be vetting new BCTC member applicants. No limit on the number of BCTC members allowed, but tend to limit to around 50 members. UPDATE: Liz and Mitch have walked with 4 new prospective members over the last week and all will be joining the BCTC.
GENERAL MAINTENACE NOTES
Reminder: Inspect your trail at least once a month AND after storms.
It’s tick & chigger season; cut back the vegetation on your trails to create a minimum 3-foot wide corridor .
Poison Ivy – treat with Round Up. Reach out to Liz for supplies.
Dion Golden is now able to store his heavy equipment at the BC borrow pit area (thankyou, POA!). And thank you, Dion, for your help with your equipment!
Loose cables on bridges: Check your bridges, folks! Mike Sheely has tightened cables on his bridge and can instruct how it’s done. Dion Golden also indicated he has experience and tools to make this an easy project.
UPCOMING PROJECTS
The weekly “Fitness Friday” workdays will continue, as weather permits.
Trail “Walk About” – Liz plans to walk all Big Canoe trails to locate all structures and signage on the map. Goal is to have GPS coordinates for all structures. Begin this process in 2-3 weeks.
Memorial Day Hike – to commence at 9:30 am.; organized by Greg Dunlap, with hikes to be led by the Hansens. To take place on the John Williams and Covered Bridge trails. The boy scout hut will be opened to make restrooms accessible. Notices are being placed in Smoke Signals and facebook.
Replace barrel at still reproduction site: Steve Papke has obtained a wooden barrel (donated by Trout’s Liquor in Jasper) to replace the plastic drum at the still reproduction site.
Liz requested help installing and leveling the “kit” shed she purchased. Will be installed in the BCTC storage area at the BC borrow pit and used to store BCTC equipment and tools. UPDATE: Joe Tipton completed this and leveled the area and constructed the storage unit.
ARCHEOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS:
Mitch has requested POA to consider installing a display cabinet at the Clubhouse or other public location in Big Canoe to display the archeological artifacts discovered in Big Canoe. Still pursuing.
Mitch reached out to the professor of archeology studies at UNG (Univ North GA) to inquire if any students would be interested in visiting BC to view sites and artifacts and help with history and info regarding same. Have not yet received response; still pursuing.
Jeep Trail has two large holes present. Dion Golden suggested they may be the airshaft holes used for mining in the area. Could investigate and identify for hikers & visitors.
DONATIONS:
Doug Hanley’s family has offered to donate Doug’s chainsaws to the BCTC.
UPDATE: Mitch will meet with Doug’s son in the near future and place these units in the BCTC locked storage unit at the borrow pit.
Jeep Rides on May 20: The BC Jeep Club will offer jeep rides on the Jeep Trail on the hour for $10-$15 per ride. Proceeds will be donated to the BCTC. Contact Randy Zussman for additional info. UPDATE: Mitch spoke to Randy Zussman and this is off for now until he gets through some upcoming medical procedures. More to follow at a later date.
ADDITIONAL NEWS & COMMENTS:
Disharoon Bridge: BCTC members have repeatedly reinstalled this bridge on its footings when the level of Disharoon Lake is lowered for any reason. Seeking a more permanent fix, BCTC has requested the POA to address the issue. Lydell Mack (Dir. of Operations at BC) has said a new bridge is planned which will involve “floating” the bridge on permanent poles installed in the lake bed that will allow the bridge to float up and down as the lake level changes. This section of the Lake Trail will be reopened once the new bridge is installed. Timing unknown. UPDATE: Public Works placed the bridge back on its footings and bridge is safe for passage.