Washington County committee approves small, landowner‑requested snowmobile‑trail reroutes

Becky Babkin, trail coordinator for the Washington County Snowmobile Association, presented proposed phase‑one changes to the county’s snowmobile trails, saying they reflect landowner requests and will produce only minor mileage differences.

Babkin said the package includes “four, five, six trail changes for this year” covering Hartford, Grandville and Batten Kill and that staff will update the association’s seeker form and prepare two resolutions for the full board packet, including a negative declaration. She told supervisors most reroutes were local relocations—“somebody building a barn in the middle of trail, so we’re scooting it around”—and that officials will check sight lines and signage for road crossings.

Supervisors moved and approved accepting the trail changes at committee. The committee’s acceptance will be incorporated into the documentation sent to the full board; Babkin asked that public‑works counterparts help evaluate and, where appropriate, fund or install road‑crossing signage to increase safety.

The action: the committee voted to accept the trail changes and forward the related resolutions (including the negative declaration) to the full board for formal consideration. No mileage totals were offered at the meeting; Babkin said the net change in trail miles would be “not much.”

Looking ahead, staff will complete the updated trail maps and seeker form, confirm whether state or county signs will be provided at road crossings, and ensure those details accompany the resolutions when the items reach the board.