The Saratoga County Trails and Open Space Committee voted to authorize a license agreement allowing a contractor to construct a roughly 200–300-foot connection from the Forest Grove development into county forest land known as the Ed Bullard parcel and heard staff updates on trail use, volunteer support and environmental review work.

The vote to authorize the license agreement — which staff said would permit Belmonte Builders to enter county forest land to construct a natural-surface connection that will tie the development’s internal trails to the county’s existing multiuse path — was taken by voice vote and carried without recorded opposition. The committee earlier also approved the meeting minutes by voice vote.

Jason, Office of Planning and Economic Development staff, told the committee the connector will be a natural surface path — likely dirt, wood chips or stone dust — and that the development’s internal trails will also access the county forest land. He said the contractor will need a license to enter the county property and make the connection. "We'll need a license agreement for that contractor to not only enter on the county forest land, but it'll be about probably 2 to 300 feet of connection into our existing trail system," Jason said.

Jason provided broader office updates, saying the county is managing seven open-space projects (two from 2024, three from 2023 and two from 2021) and that four open-space/farmland protection applications were received; two were farmland applications and two were open-space applications totaling a funding request of $600,560. He said applications were due June 13 and that a subcommittee will evaluate them; the chair said he would appoint and solicit members to serve on that subcommittee and named Joe Grosso as an appointee.

The committee also heard trail-related operational updates. Jason reported the county’s 2024–25 timber harvest has been completed and is awaiting some restoration work before final closeout, and said staff are beginning planning for the 2025–26 harvest. He described three new automated trail counters installed on the Zim Smith Trail — at Round Lake, Elizabeth Street (Mechanicville) and Underpass Road — and cited unexpectedly high usage numbers from the Round Lake counter: "Some of those are over a thousand a day. I think in Round Lake, since they were first installed, we're up around 13,000 people already have gone through that counter since the June," Jason said. He added that Round Lake’s Antique Festival alone contributed about 4,000 passes on a single day.

Jason said usage and counter data will help shape future grant applications and decisions on the Zim Smith Trail and that the county met recently with the New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration on environmental assessment work related to the Zim Smith project. "We're relentless on it," Jason said of efforts to move the environmental review and permitting process forward.

Committee members discussed electric bicycles on county trails. Committee remarks noted there have been no formal complaints received at this time on the Zim Smith Trail; staff and members discussed e-bike classifications (class 1–3) and enforcement challenges, noting that a bike’s programming can change how it operates. The committee reiterated that Graphite Range Community Forest currently prohibits e-bikes, and staff reported no complaints there.

Volunteer support and stewardship were highlighted: Saratoga PLAN volunteers logged more than 1,480 hours across county parks and preserves in the first half of 2025, including roughly 140 hours on the Graphite Range Community Forest. Jason said the county will continue working with Saratoga PLAN volunteers and contractors to address maintenance issues, citing recent coordination to remove a downed tree on the Zim Smith Trail.

Jason said he will bring a memorandum of understanding to the committee in the coming month related to a "Northern Gateway" acquisition supported by a donor and led by Saratoga PLAN; he said the acquisition would be at no cost to the county and would become the northern entrance to the Graphite Range Community Forest after trail work is completed. The committee was also informed staff are arranging a meeting with National Grid about trail crossings and horse usage near the Merrell parcel and Merrell Lake State Park.

No statutes, ordinances or other legal authorities were cited during the recorded discussions.