MINUTES
Open Space Committee January 31, 2007/ 7:00 pm
Eastham Town Hall
Present: Glenn Collins, Bob Cook, Frank Dobek, Laura Freeman, Sue Haley, Sue Horton, Katelyn Merrill, Dave Read and Dana Griswold of AmeriCorps
Approval of Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Frank moved and Sue Haley seconded to approve the January 10, 2006 meeting minutes.
APPROVED: unanimously.
Open Space Management:
Open Space Management Plan
The Open Space Management Plan has been sent to the state.
Wiley Park Signage
Dana from Americorps has put together some ideas and quotes for the signs to put up in the parks. We will start with Wiley Park. Katelyn brought a large scale map of Wiley Park with the trails shown on the plan so we can decide where to put the signs. Discussion ensued.
The Committee decided we should develop 5 large interpretative signs as follows: (They are approximately $500 apiece)
1. History of Kettle Ponds should go near the Wiley Park Beach along the trail from the parking lot to the beach
2. Herring Run sign should next to the herring run along Herringbrook Road
3. Wildlife Theme to include more than just one critter. Bob Cook will look into this.
4. Succession Sign can go near the 1651 Forest and where a lot of the trees came down in the storm
5. Sue Haley will put together some info for a history of/introduction to Wiley Park sign for the trailhead
Discussion ensued with respect to smaller signs
There will be some smaller signs (6 or so) to identify the dominant tree species in the Park. Mounting the sign on a small post in front of the tree was desirable.
We can give the Green Grant sign to the Recreation people for their use and move the History/Intro sign in its place.
We need to flesh out the text and design of the signs and also to get input from the other groups (1651 and Recreation and Sandy Bayne & the Eastham Pond Stewards) involved with Wiley before we can order the signs. Once ordered, it should take 3 weeks to get the signs. It would be ideal to get them installed before summer. Dana has done a lot of work on this project. Thank you Dana!
Community Preservation Act
The final number requested in the CPA Application for the bridge is $47K. This number was arrived at as being the average of the three most reasonable bids obtained during the bidding process of the project.
1651 Forest
There is a meeting scheduled in February to talk about spring planting and the budget for that.
Next Meetings: February 28, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
Sue Haley moved to adjourn. Sue Horton seconded. APPROVED: unanimously
Adjournment at 8:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Laura Freeman
In 2006, very few parcels were available for review by the Open Space Committee to be considered for acquisition by the town. However, we reviewed two parcels that were presented to the Community Preservation Committee for acquisition. Thos two projects did not meet the criteria for funding through the Community Preservation Act.
We finalized the planning and design stage of the ADA accessible footbridge to be built across the creek between Bridge Pond and Great Pond. This bridge will provide the connecting link for a contiguous 88 acres of open space from Wiley Park to Cottontail Acres. This bridge is in the process of being constructed with its completion scheduled for 2007.
The Committee applied for and received funding from the Community Preservation Act funds by vote at Town meeting for the Glacial Ponds Project. The funds were used to purchase educational materials, maps and improved signage and to purchase and install “mutt mitts” dispensers throughout the Glacial Pond Parks and the South Eastham Conservation Area. The green grant youth council awarded grant money to Eastham which was used for the purchase of the display case at Wiley Park.
We continue to receive assistance from the Americorps program in helping with our ongoing efforts to better manage our Open Space parks. Katelyn Merrill of the Eastham’s Natural Resources Department and the rest of the Department have been very helpful in maintaining our Open Space Areas to comply with the Open Space Plan. Many thanks to all of them. Our Committee accepted with great regret the resignation of our chairwoman, Judy Brainerd who moved to Orleans. We welcome our new members Frank Dobek and Bob Cook.
Finally, we thank the volunteers and walkers who help to keep our open space areas safe, attractive and pleasant places to enjoy.
Respectfully submitted,
The Open Space Committee
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