Landowners and Fairbanks Trails Inc. ask borough for written maintenance agreement for Scarlet Trail

Landowners and a local trails nonprofit urged the Fairbanks North Star Borough Trails Advisory Commission on Jan. 27 to develop a written maintenance agreement for the Scarlet Trail that clarifies who may conduct routine maintenance and what qualifies as trail improvements.

The request came during the commission's public-comment period, when Ted Swem, who identified himself as a trail user and property owner on Reindeer Drive, and Stan Justice, president of Fairbanks Trails Incorporated, addressed commissioners with overlapping concerns about maintenance authority and long-term stewardship.

Swem told the commission the Scarlet Trail is “recognized in the new trails plan as the most well known and firmly established trail in the borough trail program,” and asked that private landowners be included as a third constituency in any formal agreement for category B trails. He recommended the agreement distinguish routine maintenance from improvements that alter alignment or width, and said the trails plan (page 43) calls for maintenance “by borough as resources allow or by formal agreement with trail user groups.”

Commissioners asked whether user groups would need to be 501(c)(3) organizations to enter agreements with the borough; Swem said he was not proposing that landowners form a nonprofit and instead urged borough leadership to invite landowners, user groups and borough staff to draft the agreement. Commissioner questions emphasized the need to define who would sign and enforce any arrangement.

Stan Justice, who said Fairbanks Trails Incorporated is a one-year-old 501(c)(3), described ongoing projects and an interest in a formal service agreement. Justice said the group has worked with the Student Conservation Association and hopes to have two or three interns next summer to assist with brushing, drainage work on Equinox and Scarland grooming, mowing parts of the ADMA trails and a Zephyr Creek reroute. He said a service agreement with the borough would help secure funding and support for those projects.

Commissioners and staff noted the trails plan already envisions either borough maintenance or formal agreements with user groups and asked staff to clarify how such agreements would be structured. Staff and commissioners also confirmed to the public that user groups currently are not required to be 501(c)(3) organizations to work with the borough, though incorporation could make some administrative steps easier.

The commission did not take a formal vote on a maintenance agreement at the meeting. Commissioners suggested next steps including drafting a formal agreement at a future meeting or working session and inviting landowners and user-group representatives to participate.

The commission’s discussion concluded without a timetable; commissioners encouraged continued public engagement and follow-up through staff channels.

Ending: The commission will consider the topic again if staff brings a draft agreement or a specific agenda item for the commission’s review; members of the public who offered input were thanked and urged to follow staff announcements about future meetings.