Banks of the Wabash Brochure

November 7, 2007 Meeting Minutes

Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail Chapter
November 7, 2007
Honeywell Center – Wabash, Indiana
Hosted by: Charlie Creek Foundation

1. Opening Remarks
Attending were: Donn Werling, Bob Schmidt, Carolyn Schmidt, John Gettinger, Brian Stirm, Ron James, Dan McCain, Rory Robinson, Ann Ridenour, Mike Beauchamp, Beth Stein, Heather Allen and Tom Castaldi.

Meeting was opened with Tom Castaldi thanking Beth Stein of Charlie Creek Foundation for their support along with her assistance scheduling our meeting, and for Lisa Iversen who maintains our blog site. Stanton Lambert had scheduled his Central Wabash River Corridor Region meeting prior to the Towpath Trail meeting. Many of the Central Wabash group also attends this meeting, and we welcome other groups to consider the same in future months.
The agenda followed a theme of: Membership, Markers and Manual.

2. Membership
It was agreed at the May 8th meeting by consensus that the group would be a chapter of the Banks of the Wabash, Inc. (BOW) with the ‘working’ name of “The Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail Chapter.” It was further agreed that the current moderator of the group, Tom Castaldi, advise the names on our email address list of our status and request everyone to apply and pay their BOW dues. Heather Allen, Wabash County Historical Museum Archivist and Associate Wabash County Historian, has agreed to lead a membership committee. The purpose is to increase our BOW membership to at least twenty-five members at which point our Trail Chapter will earn a seat on the BOW board. For every twenty-five memberships, another seat is earned. Heather expressed her intention to target those persons who will benefit from trails and requested that the BOW brochure be posted on the website.

Action plan: Ron James is providing a digitized copy of the brochure to be posted on the website. Tom Castaldi will obtain and send Heather a supply of brochure hard copies for responding to interested persons.

3. Markers
A discussion about the design and parameters of markers for roadways closest to the river and/or the canal include three types of signage:

1.) The “Canal Boat” silhouette 18” x 6” high banner used in the central Wabash area,


2.) The “Corridor Community” 24” x 24” “River Road” sign program and an 18” x 24” version with space at the top to accommodate the Canal Boat -18” x 6” banner, and

3.) The yet-to-be chosen sign being considered by the towpath group in Allen County.

Allen County Trails group made an inquiry about the use of the community entrance canal sign as used by the City of Delphi. Dan McCain and Dawn Ritchie, Manager of Fort Wayne’s Greenways, have been discussing an identifier such as the City of Delphi’s entrance sign.

Dan interceded with Delphi officials who expressed their concerns about loss of branding if the image were to be shared. Rory Robinson, of National Parks, read an email message from Dawn expressing her notion that the Delphi entrance marker should remain unique to that city and that Fort Wayne is interested in an on-trail sign. Both Bob and Carolyn Schmidt, Indiana Canal Society, serve on Dawn’s Towpath Trail advisory committee and offered helpful commentary.

Rory distributed an example of the lozenge shaped logo that depicts a horse towing a packet boat with the words “Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail” surrounding the image. It differs in some ways with the blue Canal Boat silhouette 18” x 6” banner used in Carroll County and proposed for use in Wabash County going forward. Rory agreed to cover the sentiments of the meeting’s discussion during his upcoming visit with Dawn. He recapped the fact that we are discussing markers for differing purposes:

1) a “River Road” marker measuring 18” x 24” will be made available to introduce the WRHCC Route. The River Road marker format provides for a space to identify an approaching “Water Trail,” “Heritage Trail” or a blue “Towpath Trail.” [Each trail will be identified with a separate color.] For this use, the meeting attendees agreed that on byways the 6’ x 18”, blue, Canal Boat, banner directional sign be used once county/community approvals are obtained.

2) a “Trail” marker away from a roadway on a towpath may have a slightly different appearance such as the Fort Wayne group has expressed an interest, however, the name “Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail” use should be encouraged and consistent.

Action plan: Ron is in the process of obtaining quotes and production of the “River Road” program. He is in the process of having to determine the number of the markers. The WRHCC Commissioners will make the final determination.
Rory to meet with Fort Wayne Trails group.

4. Manual
Wabash Erie Canal Towpath Trail Workbook Manual – Ron James
Rory Robinson addressed our May 8th meeting and recommended WRHCC produce a Workbook or Manual as a first step explaining the case for our mission to connect/mark a trail along the Wabash Erie Canal Towpath and Wabash River. Further that the entire Towpath Trail can be tracked and included in a manual to be used for shaping our idea and marketing it to others. Our group can play a significant role with local official contacts, historical data and locating the towpath as related to historical sites.

The Trail Manual will serve as leadership tool to lead our effort to include:

• An overview or analysis of the situation as we find it


• Typographical map segments of 4-6 miles (perhaps in 1 /2 to 3 miles in urban areas)


• Current and proposed trail heads and access points


• Ownership


• Current condition


• User facilities and status


• Prospective/current partners


• Existing trails


• Recommended actions by Towpath Trail Chapter and other partners


• Interpretive and scenic opportunities


• Design standards


• Development contact info and directory list


• Data entry and design


• History and etc.

Rory recommended a “questionnaire” form be developed with information that is necessary for each segment of the trail that will probably be included within chapters comprised of the various counties that make up the Towpath Trail. It will serve to tie the project together since it will involve many individual trials, where to place focus and where no support is available.

Action plan: Ron James will prepare a draft for a questionnaire. Tom Castaldi will prepare a draft of the Situation Analysis vision portion.

5. Meetings:
Mark your calendar for future Wabash Erie Canal Towpath Trail meetings. Unless otherwise announced they will take place:

• March 13, 2008 during the WRHCC meetings at a location to be determined.
• July 10, 2008, possibly in Fort Wayne;
• November 19, 2008, possibly in Delphi.

6. Meeting adjourned

CTIC Monitoring Workshop November 30

www.conservationinformation.org/?action=events_trainingworkshops_idemworkshops

CTIC and Tetra Tech are hosting a monitoring workshop in Greensburg (Decatur Co.) on November 30th. The workshop will be focusing on using monitoring data to support the planning process and meet checklist items.

Please forward the link to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks!