Brevard/Transylvania County Ecusta Trail Advisory Board  Date: February2 28, 2024 Members:  Location: City Hall Council Chambers  Maureen Copelof, Mayor Aaron Baker, Council Member Larry Chapman, County Commissioner Mark Tooley, Conserving Carolina John Ditillo, Friends of Ecusta Trail Wilson Hooper, City Manager, Ex Officio Paul Ray, Planning Director, Ex Officio Meredith Carli, At-Large Member (Zoom) Clark Lovelace, Tourism Development Authority  Addison Bradley, NC Cooperative Extension Dir (absent)  Chris Burns, Chair Henderson County Ecusta Trail Advisory Board Ex Officio  (absent)  Staff:  Katherine Buzby, City Planner  Guests:  Tad Fogel, Friends of Ecusta Trail Kristen Cozza, Conserving Carolina (Zoom) Matt Revis, Friends of Ecusta Trail Newsletter Lonnie Watkins, Volkert Inc. Vicki Eastland, Land of Sky (Zoom) Billy Parrish, Heart of Brevard Steve Williams, NCDOT (Zoom)  3Citizens  A. Welcome & Call to Order B.Certification of Quorum C. Approval of Agenda carried unanimously.  Committee Chair Maureen Copelof welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm.  Quorum was certified by Chair Maureen Copelof.  Motion by Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Lovelace to approve the agenda as presented. The motion    Brevard/ransyvanias County Ecusta Trail Advisory Board  D. Approval of Minutes from. January 31, 2024 Meeting  Motion by! Mr. Ditillo, seconded by Mr. Baker to approve the meeting minutes. The motion carried  unanimously. E.Updates/Discusions  1. Conserving Carolina- They are still trying to determine where the Ecusta Trail property ends over by Oskar Blues and may have to work with the Transportation Board to determine this. Itr may be necessary to amend the grant(s) application based on the termination point in the 2. Planning Department- Received al list of amenities that defines what will be covered by which grant or local match. This is at tentative list and subject to NCDOTapproval. All amenities must be within the 100' ROW (offsite not covered). Offering a special presentation to City Council on March 18th as part of the request to further study the Pisgah 3. Transylvania County- Was notified of article in Hendersonville newspaper about all the 4. Tourism Development Authority (TDA)- The TDA board has approved the release of the current pledge to the City for construction of the trail and has issued a new broader pledge ($1 million over multiple years) that covers expenditures related to "development of and/or access to" Ecusta Trail and amenities. The next stepi is they need a letter from the Cityabout how the $250,000 budgeted yearly funds are requested to be allocated (specific details 5. Henderson County- They had a presentation at the last meeting about the planning staff partnering up with adjacent businesses called the Trails Partners Program. The goal is to have at two-way conversation and have businesses come together. They are working on 6. NCDOT- Presented a timeline for the Brevard side of the trail with an estimated let date of June 2026, with construction start estimated around. August/September 2026. 7. City of Brevard- The Quarterly Newsletter is out and will be sent to adjacent land owners next week and the May/June issue will focus primarily on the public meetings later in the summer. The City will contact Henderson County planning to discuss getting updates from 8. Friends of Ecusta Trail- They are tweaking their roles going forward based on feedback they have received. They are working on the Economic Impact Study and getting updated cost estimates from the people doing the study. They are also having formalized discussions about getting their Operations group (trail management group) created and the roles/responsiblities of the group. The Operations group will be composed of: the Chairs of both Advisory Boards (Maureen Copelof and Chris Burns); Planning! Staff from both the City  future.  Health property for a collaborative park/trailhead. problems that are arising with the Ecusta Trail construction.  requested) and presented at their March 28th meeting.  agreements between Henderson Co and churches about parking.  the Trails Partners Program.  of Brevard and Henderson County; and Friends of Ecusta Trail.    Brevard/Transyvania County Ecusta Trail Advisory Board  9. Public or Citizen Input- Questions about construction timelines were answered.  F. Next Steps  Continue working on ongoing progress as discussed.  G.Set Date for Next Meeting  The next meeting oft the Brevard/fransyvania County Ecusta Trail Advisory Board is scheduled for March  27that3 3:30 pm. (last Wednesday of the month at 3:30 pm).  H. Adjourn  There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:43 pm.  Maureen Copelof, Co-Chair Mlampl3 attble Katherine Buzby, City Planner  Minutes Approved- 3/27/24