MINUTES
Open Space Committee January 11, 2006 / 7:30 pm
Present: Judy Brainerd, Glen Collins, Laura Freeman, Kaitlyn Merrill, Dave Read
Sue Horton, Loretta Nielson and Sue Haley
Approval of Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Dave moved and Glen seconded to approve the November 16 2005 meeting minutes. APPROVED: unanimously.
MOTION: Glen moved and Dave seconded to approve the November 17, 2005 meeting minutes with one clarification under the design and engineering section of the minutes.
APPROVED: unanimously.
MOTION: Glen moved Sue Horton and seconded to approve the December 14, 2005 meeting minutes.
APPROVED: unanimously.
Land Acquisition:
Nothing to report.
Open Space Management:
After the Storm Park Cleanup:
Wiley Park: Wiley Park is not officially closed, but a major clean up effort remains. There is no protocol for this magnitude of cleanup – at the moment some town employees are blocking the entrance road with logs while cleanup work is in progress. This has upset some townspeople who want to use the park. It was suggested that while clean up work is in progress, the park could be posted to notify people as to which section of the park is currently closed and that people should use the park at their own risk.
Per Kaitlyn, Peter from Natural Resources and Americorps have already done a lot of work to clean up the trees, but there is still a huge amount of work to be done. The first service day of the Americorps pilot project was spent on Wiley Park cleanup. It might be necessary to hire a contractor to get the cleanup done.
Getting the park to be safe is the first priority, therefore the cleanup effort to date has focused on clearing the trees around the trails, driveway, parking area and playground.
Budget to Clear Wiley:
Per Loretta, at the BOS meeting the DPW was given $30K for additional storm cleanup but none of that was earmarked for Wiley Park cleanup. The budget for next year was presented at the BOS meeting and there were no budget items for the cleanup of Wiley. Loretta pointed out that Wiley is a park enjoyed by all. She suggested that CPA money might be used to cleanup Wiley Park. The Friends of the Arboretum are interested in the cleanup work to protect their trees. Loretta suggested the Friends of the Arboretum and Open Space work together to make a CPA proposal application to clean up Wiley Park. She will also ask the Advisory Board to make it a triple effort to get this proposal approved. Glen said that it is a great idea but the main issue he sees is that funds will not be available till July. We need the cleanup done
now. We need to figure out how to fund the cleanup until we can get reimbursed from the CPA funds.
The Committee is very concerned about the current state of the parks (especially Wiley Park), and getting the cleanup done so the parks will be available for use in the spring and summer and most importantly so that they are safe.
Other Parks:
Judy walked Nickerson and it isn’t really that bad – near the road there a bunch of trees to clear. Laura reported that SECA has a lot of trees down and the Aschettino property has a dangerous branch suspended over the trail.
Wiley Park Bridge Progress
ADA Variance: The variance was denied by the Architectural Access Review Board. The Town will appeal their decision.
Bridge Notice of Intent: Order of Conditions was recorded.
Bridge Final Design and Bid Process: Plans will be done in less than a week then we can send it out to contractors for bids. The structural engineer came up with different idea for supports other than the helix screws. The plan will go out for bids when it is done.
Mutt Mitt Boxes:
Nauset Kennels generously agreed to donate 2 mutt mitt boxes and Judy will approach the Eastham Veterinary Hospital as well.
CPA Application:
Discussion ensued with respect to the open space CPA application for trail signs. It was mutually decided that we may as well do Wiley, Nickerson and Meservey and Cottontail trail signage. Judy suggested we ask for 10K and up the number of signs that we put in for. Sue Haley said they could discuss signage for the 1651, although at this point they don’t want to attract too much attention to the smaller trees. A Braille trail is a thought for the trail too. Judy will prepare a draft application and get it out to us. We will give Judy feedback. 1651 signs make the proposal historical and the trail use aspect of the project qualifies it for recreation too. Judy asked Sue about listing the Advisory Board as a co-sponsor of the CPA Application. This seems like a good idea.
Old Business:
Open Space and Recreation Plan- Jim is the new Natural Resource Officer. Kaitlyn and Jim are reviving the plan and getting it going again. It just has to be packaged up and mailed out. It is about 95% complete.
1651 Forest
They are meeting next week. Loretta reports from the Friends that they are tentatively ordering some tupelos for the spring planting.
Conservation Commission
More revetment projects are going before the Commission.
Community Preservation Act Committee
The old gas station on Route 6 is an on-going fiasco. DEP has a huge lien on the property. Discussion ensued with respect to this situation.
The deadline for proposed CPA project applications is approaching. The CPA Committee had their informational public hearing – a lot of people showed up and tossed out lots of CPA ideas: schoolhouse, cemeteries, housing folks etc. Glen received a letter from the BOS asking about a 20 acre parcel north of the Tilcon plant and whether it would be a good candidate for the CPA funds. Glen responded to the BOS that input from the WRAB and Open Space groups was required before an evaluation could be made.
Next Meeting: January 25, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.
Sue Haley moved to adjourn. Sue Horton seconded. APPROVED: unanimously
Adjournment at 8:52 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Laura Freeman
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