Midway council amends easement language to allow 20-foot evacuation corridor, probe-stitch trail access across Lundin property

Midway City officials and the Lundin property representatives agreed on amended conservation-easement language that grants Midway a restricted 20-foot-wide corridor for wildfire evacuation and access and an easement for a public Probe Stitch trail across the Lundin property, officials said at the reconvened meeting.

Wendy, reading proposed paragraph O of the conservation easement, said: "There shall remain a right for Midway City to maintain and use for wildfire evacuation and access purposes only a 20 foot wide corridor with a surface that remains pervious to the soil which shall not unreasonably interfere with the cultivation of existing farming practices and will provide signage such that in an emergency situation evacuees and emergency vehicles recognize this corridor as an emergency route." That language was accepted as the baseline to be incorporated into the conservation easement and the related purchase-and-sale documents.

The parties clarified limits on how the trail and corridor may be altered. Midway will be permitted to "maintain" the Probe Stitch trail to keep it passable — for example, filling rutted or eroded areas and making minor safety repairs — but will not be allowed to "improve" the trail into a paved or significantly altered roadway without the required legal access on the north and/or south. Participants repeatedly emphasized that maintenance must preserve a pervious, soft-surface backcountry condition and that imported soil or other materials would be subject to screening requirements; NRCS certification or similar assurances were discussed as a condition before bringing new fill onto the property.

A new southern "Olympic Way" default route was described: a 20-foot unimproved evacuation corridor running from Olympic Way up to the Probe Stitch that would be included in the easement as an existing default option unless the city secures a preferred route first. The council and staff agreed the easement and purchase-and-sale agreement should include both preferred and default-route exhibits and provide a mechanism to remove a default route from the recorded easement if the preferred access is later obtained.

Parties also agreed on access-control details. The city code requires a minimum 13-foot crash gate for vehicle access; participants said a 4-foot pedestrian 'man gate' could be accommodated within the 20-foot easement so walkers and bicyclists can pass while preventing livestock escape. The group discussed angler-style step-over devices to enable pedestrian passage while keeping cattle from getting through; Lundin representatives retained approval rights for pedestrian access details and gate design to ensure livestock management.

Council members and staff said Midway could use condemnation powers, if necessary, to secure connecting access across adjacent parcels to make Probe Stitch usable for emergency evacuation. Participants stressed that no physical improvements would occur before finalizing and recording the conservation easement and that existing access features would be treated as a "freeze-frame" existing condition to be maintained rather than improved.

After staff agreed to draft amended easement and purchase-and-sale language reflecting the meeting agreements, a council member moved to amend the earlier motion to incorporate the day's mutual agreements with the Lundins; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll call: Jeff, JC, Lisa, Kevin and Craig responded "Aye." Meeting participants said the formal recordation steps and the council's approval of minutes remain part of the procedural process before recording final documents.

The council asked staff to draft clean language capturing the agreed points promptly so the conservation easement and purchase-and-sale agreement can be finalized and signed.