Rock Alley Action Team

 

Meeting Minutes: Monday, October 17th, 2011

 

Attendance: 7 people

 
1. Recap of current Greenway Events

• a. The entrance project for the Love Your Block Grant is put on hold due to a safety concern for the Greenway.
• b. Penndot and DPW recently met at the greenway to discuss the removal of the fence for the entrance project.
• c. Although the greenway is owned by the city, Penndot owns the fence (because of the greenway is adjacent to 376). They will be padlocking the gate in the near future until a new fence is put in place, closer to the greenway’s drop off.
• d. This may affect the bike trail project due to its close proximity to our site
• e. PWSA- Was going to give us a spigot for the community garden/community orchard, but they don’t have any water on that side of the street
• f. DPW thinks we will overwater and cause the hillside to crumble

2. City’s legal dept and Jason Kambitsis from City Planning commented on the Rock Alley project

• a. A question posed in earlier meetings was: “Why can’t we build a trail on the greenway when other greenways also have trails?”
• b. The greenways in the city are passive, meaning they can’t be built upon. The trails that are on other greenways in the city were already in place prior to the greenway designation.
• c. In order to create a trail on the greenway, we will need to have the city change legislation or make an exemption.
• d. The exemption (or easement) seems to be the most practical way to achieve this goal, since change in legislation takes time

3. We want to generate more interest in the Rock Alley group

• a. Have OPDC’s community organizer, Tara Sherry-Torres, help spread the word
• b. Table at the Oakland 2025 event on October 27th at St. Nicholas’ Greek Orthodox Church from 6-8:30PM
• c. Send people to the www.rockalley.org website and the Facebook group.
• d. We also need to think about how we can get them involved, once we generate the interest.
• e. Large scale marketing plan may be to utilize Google Satellite. Google retakes aerial photos every three years, and they are about to do it again. If we do something large enough, they may be able to see it.

4. Looking for a landscape architect to look at the site

• a. We will not be able to use Pfaffman & Associates to do the trail design and soil testing.
• b. We will apply for funding from Community Design Center Pittsburgh (CDCP) to hire a landscape architect.
• c. However, we currently have a grant with them and we cannot apply for another until we use up the money that we have now. This will probably occur sometime early next year.
• d. Dave and Phil will compile a list of all the issues that we have run into on the Rock Alley project to present to the landscape architect.

5. To Do List

• a. Ask Penndot, what we need to do in order to open up the tunnel
• b. Visit the www.rockalley.org website and figure out what we need to add/delete/edit

6. Our next meeting will be Monday, November 21st, 2011 at Community Human Services from 6:00-7:30PM.

Rock Alley Action Team

 

Meeting Minutes: Thursday, September 8th, 2011

 

Attendance: 10

 
1. Recap of Last Meeting

• a. Focused on OPDC’s resources (specifically legal resources)
• b. Perhaps have a lawyer step in (which OPDC has available)
• c. However, we may need to hire a specialized lawyer to deal with our specific situation
• d. OPDC’s lawyer can provide a connection for us to do so
• e. Not necessary at this point, but something to keep in mind
• f. Additionally considering bringing in a landscape architect (and/or professional surveyor)
• g. We need to ask the architect what trail is needed
• h. The firm used to create the master plan does have one available
• i. Looking into hiring a student from CMU or WVU

2. Still no response

3. Website Concept For Design

• a. www.rockalley.org
• b. Phil Garrow gave an overview of the website
• c. He’s provided a brief introduction paragraph and a map, but he needs help filling out the other pages
• d. Homework: visit the website!
• e. Contemplating creating a Facebook group so that everyone can share information with one another
• f. We need somebody to run this group and the website—Maybe the Promotions & Distributions team

4. Things to Consider

• a. Area was designated as a greenway, which could be a potential problem with putting in trails
• b. Dave claimed that he has documentation stating that we are permitted to install trails when we designated the site a greenway
• c. The regulations put in place might force us to make a wider trail (ADA compliance)
• d. We need preliminary fundraising for these costs
• e. Community Design Center is a possibility (applications due November 1st)
• f. Entranceway to Greenway
• g. End of September
• h. Two day project

5. What Do We Want?

• a. We want a connection between Oakland and the Eliza Furnace trail at the bare minimum
• b. Ideally we would want an ADA compliant path, but that could turn into a multimillion dollar project
• c. So what if it costs more money? Let’s find the funding
• d. This will help us get the best project (shoot for the stars)

Rock Alley Action Team

 

Meeting Minutes: Thursday, August 11th, 2011

 

Attendance: 7

 

Purpose: Connect West Oakland, South Oakland, and the Business District with the Eliza Furnace Trail and 2nd Ave.

 

1. Dave Panasiuk took us on a walk down the actual site for the trail

• a. Visited the tunnel (…from behind the fence)
• b. Saw foundations of the old tenement housing
• c. Discussed history of the site

2. Updates

• a. Elly Fisher was able to talk to Jason Kambitsis from City Planning about setting up a meeting during the day.
• b. We will be visiting Mt Washington Community Development Corporation to discuss how they created their trail at Emerald View Park. This will also be a visit during the day.
• c. If anyone is interested in attending the meetings during the day, please email Samuel K Su at ssu@opdc.org with your availability. We will send out an email as soon as we get a set date and time.

3. Website information

• a. The site is up (http://rockalley.org)!
• b. Phil Garrow will be working on the site for our group and he is looking for some concepts for design. We touched on a few topics for the website, and we are still open to more related topics.
• c. 2 proposed paths for the trail: a direct route (possibly steps) and a bike path.
• d. History of the area
• e. A volunteer page
• f. Funding information
• g. What we have done as a group
• h. Please submit any information or related topics to http://rockalley.org/uncategorized/hello-world/#comments and Phil will be able to add it to the website

4. Next Meeting

• a. Thursday, August 25th from 6-7:30PM (bi-weekly meetings) at Community Human Services’ community space

Rock Alley – Connecting Oakland to the Eliza Furnace Trail

 

July 28, 2011

 

Attendance: 9

 

Meeting Minutes

Trail Concepts:

• Friends of the Riverfront sent costs to develop the trails that exist along the riverfronts.
• Security Issues around the tunnels were discussed. These are valid and important issues that we will have to figure out how to address when the time comes.

Fundraising:

• Love your block grant — $500 for an entrance to the greenway. Phil Garrow brought a design for the entrance. Other ideas to incorporate include bulletin boards and educational trail signs.
• Peoples Garden Grant Program – opportunity to apply for educational trail signs. Deferred to the Fundraising committee to evaluate and possibly apply.

Name:

• Rock Alley
• Connecting Oakland to the Eliza Furnace Trail
• Rock alley is the name of a former street that went through the greenway.

Next meeting:

• Bring content for website and press kit
• Committees will meet during the meeting and report out at the end.

Community Beautification, Greening, and Public Spaces Action Team

 

Meeting Minutes: Thursday, July 14th, 2011

 

Attendance: 14

 

Purpose: Connect West Oakland, South Oakland, and the Business District with the Eliza Furnace Trail and 2nd Ave and establish communication between organizations for other greening efforts.

 

1. Introductions

2. Recap Action Forum/Dialogue process

3. Review Phil Garrow’s Topographical Map of the area and a potential design for the trail

4. Sustainability projects of the Oakland Business Improvement District

• a. Contact Alex Coyne (alex@oaklandbid.org) if you want coffee grinds or if you want to donate used oil.

5. Identifying all key partners

• a. OBID, CHS, OTMA, One Call, PITT, Oakland Task Force (OTF), Graduate School of Public Health, Highmark, Carlow, CMU, Point Park, UPMC, Western PA Conservancy (surveyed this as a low-mid range cost project), Pittsburgh Trail Advocacy Group (PTAG), Technology Drive, Pittsburgh Historical Landmark, Innovation Works, URA, Allegheny Conference, BACA, Friendship Community Church, Schenley Farms, South Oakland Community Alliance, Oakland Community Council, Sponsor Change, Pittsburgh Cares, Venture Outdoors, REI, City Planning/City Engineering, Phipps Conservatory, Parks Conservancy
• b. Mt Washington CDC- They are currently building trails on similar terrain.
• c. Friends of the Riverfront- They are contracted by the city to steward the trails in Pittsburgh.
• d. Oakland Transportation Management Association- Georgia, the Executive Director of OTMA, has a close contact at Pittsburgh Historical Landmark
• e. Western Parks Conservancy & Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

6. Creating Committees

• a. Finance Committee
• b. Tina Reed (Chair), Justin Lamorella, Samuel Su
• c. Volunteer Committee
• d. Justin Lamorella (Chair), Patricia Richards, Dean Richards, Hayavadhan Thuppal, Jeriah McMillan, Jake Mohin
• e. Promotion & Distributions
• f. Michelle Panasiuk (Chair), Lizabeth Gray, Phil Garrow

7. Next Meeting

• a. Thursday, July 28 from 6-7:30PM (bi-weekly meetings) at Community Human Services’ community space
• b. Meeting Agenda: We will have a panel of guests who are experienced in trail building/trail maintenance to discuss the possible ways to approach this project: Friends of the Riverfront, Student Conservation Association, Mt Washington CDC, Western Parks Conservancy, Oakland Business Improvement District (OBID), and Oakland Transportation Management Association (OTMA).
• c. Bring a name for our Action Team (Green Team is already being used by the OPDC’s LEADS program)

Community Beautification, Greening, and Public Spaces Action Team

 

Meeting Minutes: Thursday, June 30th, 2011

 

Attendance: 11

 

Purpose: Connect West Oakland, South Oakland, and the Business District with the Eliza Furnace Trail and 2nd Ave and establish communication between organizations for other greening efforts.

 

1. Introductions

2. Recap Action Forum/Dialogue process

3. Priorities for Individual Team Members

• a. Repurposing vacant lots, cleaning parks, general cleanup, finding sustainable ways to clean up Oakland, connecting trails, creating signage, tree planting, bike path for Boundary St, improving the Greenway, proper communication between groups/organizations, make the trails look like it is not someone’s backyard
• b. Will focus on “connecting West Oakland, South Oakland, and the Business District with the Eliza Furnace Trail/2nd Ave.”
• c. Will seek organizations to work on the other related dialog items as to not duplicate efforts (e.g. Keep It Clean Oakland does cleanup projects)

4. Potential Partners

• a. Pittsburgh Trail Advocacy Group (PTAG)
• b. UPMC
• c. City Planning/City Engineering
• d. OPDC/OTMA/OBID
• e. Phipps Conservatory
• f. Technology Drive  Parks Conservancy
• g. Friendship Community Church
• h. Possible “Tour guides” for the trail
• i. Southside Slopes/Urban Hike/Oakcliffe Housing Club

5. Next Meeting

• a. Thursday, July 14 at 6PM (bi-weekly meetings) at Community Human Services’ community space
• b. Meeting Agenda: creating a work plan for connecting West Oakland, South Oakland, and the Business District with the Eliza Furnace Trail/2nd Ave.
• c. Bring a name for our Action Team (Green Team is already being used by the OPDC’s LEADS program)