SARANAC LAKE – A second open meeting held by a village trustee drew more than a dozen people, and created a lot of suggestions for how this village should handle the proposed rail trail.

Village Trustee Rich Shapiro, who is also the village representative to the stakeholder group coming up with a conceptual plan for the trail, held a second open meeting Tuesday to take suggestions from the public on what type of amenities the trail should offer within the village limits.

Shapiro had planned to walk the 2.3 miles of track in the village Tuesday afternoon, but a representative of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad intercepted the group and said they were not allowed to be on the tracks.

“The weather was miserable; it was cold and flurrying and windy,” Shapiro said. “A representative of the scenic railroad told us we were not allowed to trespass on the tracks to walk them even though the train is not running on Tuesdays. We’ll just have to wait until Dec. 1 to walk the track.

“I think we probably have the information we needed, it just would have been a lot better to physically see it as opposed to zooming in on aerial views.

“It’s unfortunate that they’re still fighting the battle at even this little local, inconsequential level. Because all it is is an annoyance; it doesn’t change anything.”

Shapiro held a similar meeting last week, but much of the time was spent discussing the public’s concerns about snowmobiles and the removal of the tracks. Tuesday’s meeting was much more productive in terms of gathering public input on the design of the trail.

Giving each topic 10 minutes, Shapiro and his wife Lindy Ellis said that another meeting would be set up within the next two weeks. Shapiro said there is a closed-door meeting of the stakeholder group scheduled for Friday, and he wanted to bring the public’s recommendations back to the rest of the stakeholders. So far, Shapiro is the only representative of the stakeholder group to host public meetings.

Several people again raised concerns about snowmobile use in a general concerns segment of the meeting. Environmental concerns were also raised, as was parking.

Shapiro asked attendees to look at aerial maps he provided to determine if there were secondary access points to the trail that were not immediately evident. The group also discussed where signs should be placed to direct trail users to businesses, attractions and amenities within the village.

Some of the attractions named include The Pines, the Robert Louis Stevenson cottage, Moody Pond, Baker Mountain, the walk of fame, the Lake Colby beach and the Saranac Laboratory of Dr. Trudeau.

Shapiro also asked attendees to think about areas of concern, like backyards that butt up against the corridor but have no buffer. There were also concerns raised about user conflicts, fencing and speed limits. One person asked Shapiro who would be granting easements to access the trail from various points within the village, and Shapiro said any planned access points are already owned by the state or village.

Historic features discussed at the meeting included several of the attractions listed above, along with the train depot and Pine Street cemetery.

The group also identified points of interest that could be highlighted like the Adirondack Carousel, the farmers market and Lower Saranac Lake.

On the form and function of the trail, there was concern expressed that the Office of General Services, which oversees contracts and construction for the state, would implement a “cookie-cutter” plan for the trail.

Village Community Development Director Jeremy Evans said he wanted to make sure that Saranac Lake’s wants were followed by OGS, saying he distrusted the bureaucratic machine to follow through.

Evans went on to ask if OGS would just pay lip service to the village’s requests and then go ahead with their own design. Shapiro replied, “I hope not. I’d be pissed if it was.”

The group also talked about where to place porta-johns and how to prevent vandalism, where benches and bike racks should be placed, and other items they would like to see along the trail like mileage markers and potable water stations.

Shapiro said there would be a retired Rails-to-Trails Conservancy representative at the stakeholder meeting on Friday to help with determining signage along the trail.

At the end of the meeting, there were more than 10 pages of notes on large sheets of paper, and Shapiro said he would type up the notes to take to the stakeholder meeting. He also collected the marked-up maps that attendees had written on.

“Tonight went very well I thought,” Shapiro said after the meeting. “People understood the constraints I’m under and they understood the needs that I have to get information on the construction (and) design aspects.

“Tonight was definitely more productive (than last week). I think we got a lot of good ideas. People were more positive, not going on their own agendas so to speak. I’m going to take the information I got from these two meetings and I’m going to collate it and try and boil it down a little bit.

“(I’m) going to try and get as close to what we’re asking for out of the design group. At this stage of the game, it’s really a blank sheet of paper for the design group. And so (I’m) really trying to put them in the direction we want.

“I think Saranac Lake is ahead of the rest of the communities in that we are getting public input at this point. We’re ahead of the curve. We’re doing a good job on this.”