TO:                  Mayor William F. Martin, Jr.

                                    And

                        Members of the Lowell City Council

FROM:            Bernard F. Lynch, City Manager

DATE:             May 3, 2007

SUBJECT:       UPDATE TO COUNCIL MOTION OF 4/3/07 BY COUNCILLOR ELLIOTT

REQUEST THE CITY MANAGER RELATIVE TO THE APPLICATION FILED WITH DCR BY NEMBA FOR THE CREATION OF MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS IN THE STATE FOREST

_______________________________________________________________________________

Regarding the above mentioned motion, I have been in contact with Matt Coggins, DPD Director.  Matt stated that Christine Thomas, Environmental Officer and Pardis Saffari, Neighborhood Planner attended the April 26^th Friends of the Forest (FOF) meeting that discussed NEMBA’s (New England Mountain Bike Association) proposals for new trails and improving current trails in the Tyngsboro-Dracut-Lowell State Forest.  Representatives from FOF, NEMBA and GLICA (Greater Lowell Indian Cultural Association) and DCR were in attendance.

After Bob Gunita of NEMBA presented the different trail proposals, people in the audience had a chance to respond and express concerns.  GLICA representative Tom Libby stated that he would like to see nothing done in the forest.  He felt that closing old trails and opening new trails would still allow for the old ones to be used.  In addition to concerns with adding new trails, Mr. Libby disagreed with NEMBA’s request to have new improvements allow for ATVs to be used in the forest, since they are illegal in the first place.  Lastly, Mr. Libby stated that he had a petition with 319 signatures of citizens that agreed that no new trails should be added.  Other GLICA representatives stated concerns about new trails destroying natural habitats.

GLICA and NEMBA representatives have been making an effort to work on this disagreement. They had met and walked around the state forest before the meeting, and agreed at the meeting that improvements to current trails and closing “dead end” trails would be beneficial.

Kathryn Garcia, NE District Manager for the State Forest discussed the DCR’s points of concern before they approve of any new trails.  They are as follows: 1. Public safety: do the new trails improve safety in the forest, or do they hinder municipal emergency vehicles from coming into the park in case of emergency?  2. Environmental issues: do the new trails preserve natural habitats? 3. Public access: do the new trails improve access and use to the forest? Ms. Garcia also mentioned that DCR is not required to have a comment period or public hearing, but people are welcome to contact her with comments.

DPD staff conferred with Ms. Garcia after the meeting and DCR will continue to keep us updated on the trails project and their final decision.

If you have any questions regarding this, please let me know.  Thank you.