March 8, 2010 Update Volunteers willing to serve as the Friends of the Northaven Trail’s Board of Directors met on March 2nd as an initial organizing meeting to discuss the organization’s (FoNHT) legal formation, meet the Project’s lead architecture firm, discuss the structure under which the Board will work, and identify the scope of the Board’s role in connection with the development of a active volunteer effort to oversee the development and maintenance of the Northaven Trail into a community asset.

To date, prospective Board members are Warren Parham, Lee Kleinman, Larry Jones, Ben Johnston, Krisann Peters, Gwen Holmes, David Clark, Len Auman, Jeff Genecov, Martha Parks, and Terry O’Connor. The Board is in need of person(s) willing to serve on the Fund Raising Committee as an Event Coordinator.

Lee Kleinman, serving on the Board as an Advisor and a District 11 Dallas Parks Board member, summarized the history of the project, which dates back many years, sources of funding for the Trail’s initial construction, and the partnership between the City of Dallas, Dallas County, Oncor, la terra studios and FoNHT.

Kris Brown, la terra studio, was introduced to Board Members.  la terra studio will be the principal project architect on contract with the Dallas Park & Recreation Department to create the Trail’s Master Plan and perform preliminary engineering work in connection with planning the Trail’s construction.

The City has allocated approximately $2.6 million from the 2006 Bond Program to finance Phase I, which will be a 12-foot concrete pathway from Preston Road to St. Michaels.  Funding to connect from St. Michael’s to the White Rock Creek Trail will be included in Phase II and we anticipate that Dallas County will participate in the funding of this section.   Future expansion of the Trail is planned to connect the Trail from Preston Road west to Denton Drive, then on to the Irving’s Campion Trail. The Trail will run east-west from Central Expressway to Denton Drive through the Oncor Electric utility easement. The City’s master plan is to build an interconnected trail system that will encircle the City of Dallas and provide bike trails of over 250 miles in length.

FoNHT is being organized to oversee and manage the Northaven Trail’s development from the neighborhood’s perspective. FoNHT’s principal objective is to create a community asset that will benefit walkers, riders, pets, and children and create a closer sense of community amongst those who live in the neighborhoods along the Trail.  FoNHT’s role in the development of the Trail will be to serve as a community advisor to la terra and the City; raise funding to finance improvements (landscaping, benches, water fountains, etc) ancillary to the Trail itself, manage the installation and continued maintenance of Trail landscaping, and oversee the Trail’s use by the Community as a safe and beautiful enhancement to neighboring communities.

Members at the Board Meeting decided to formally organize as a 501(c) (3) organization by the beginning of April.  Members will be on hand to create awareness and solicit volunteers for FoNHT at Tour Dallas on April 3rd.  The Board will meet on April 6th to formally adopt the FoNHT’s organizational documents and discuss the formation of Board committees for the following initiatives: fund raising, landscape design, landscape maintenance, marketing and communications, safety, volunteers and community awareness.

Ben Johnston, Director of Communications and Marketing, has agreed to spearhead development of FoNHT’s logo, further develop FoNHT’s website, and create a community blog that will enable volunteers to remain engaged with the Board during the early phase of the planning process.

The next Board meeting is scheduled for April 6th, 2010.