Open Space Committee
November 28th, 2007
Eastham Town Hall
7:00 PM
DRAFT MINUTES
Members present: Sue Haley, Sue Horton, Frank Dobek, Bob Cook
Prospective member present: Steve Gulrich
Members absent: Glenn Collins, Dave Read
Staff present: Rachel Hutchinson, Henry Lind
Mr. Dobek made a motion to approve the minutes from October 24, 2007, with a modification to correct the spelling of Mr. Bianci’s name. Mr. Cook seconded the motion, and they were approved by all.
3 wayside panels at Wiley Park have being installed and 2 more will be installed after the contractors finish the foot bridge.
The Conservation Commission approved a notice of intent for removal of submerged weeds in the swimming area at Wiley Park. A contractor was hired to rake and barge the weeds out to about 6’(?) depth. It is expected that this will need to be repeated every 3 years to keep them under control. Some old matting from a previous attempt to control weeds was dug up and removed.
A wildfire management group for the Town has been formed and includes the fire marshal, a representative from the Department of Public Works and the fire management officer for Cape Cod National Seashore. The fire management plan was reviewed with the group and Rachel met with the Dave Crary, CCNS fire management officer, on-site. Clean-up from December 2005 storm will be completed, then thinning out the fire breaks and dead snags will begin. Mr. Cook had some concern and so discussion ensued about the degree of removal of dead snags and trees less than 10” in diameter. The language in the plan is confusing as the snags are to be cut at the 25’ high point and not removed totally which alleviated some of the concern. Debris is to be piled and burned.
The burn area noted for Nickerson refers to the debris that has been piled up since the December storm. No additional debris will be removed at this time.
Mr. Gulrich asked whether volunteers could be used to assist with the project. It was suggested that they could assist with the moving and stacking debris, but not with the burning. The 1651 group would be a good source of volunteers as well. Americorp is already scheduled for 1 full day in early December. Burning can not take place until January due to state regulations. The process is expected to take about 1 day for each of the two burn areas.
The foot bridge project is moving along. Some staking has occurred. Holes for footings are to be dug next Tuesday. Temporary access across the creek will be on pallets that are dropped into the water, but will allow fish to move through.
Mr. Gulrich noted that trail directional and trail head signs needed replacement or improvement. Mr. Lind reminded the committee of funds that were made available from a previous Town Meeting.
Mr. Lind noted that there is some interest in having a development plan for the Walter’s property outsourced. Discussion ensued over a concern with the overdevelopment (for recreational purposes) of this parcel of land bought with Land Bank funds. The property has potential for CC Rail Trail users as there is significant frontage along the trail. Otherwise the property seems to have little potential for recreational use and might be best left in its natural state for the value of conservation. A field trip will be planned in the spring to analyze it.
Committee members last month individually surveyed all the trails in town to analyze redundant and excessive social trails which can create confusion and have the potential to impact wildlife. Mr. Cook presented his suggestions. There was some discussion but there was consensus to remove or brush over some small sections in each area. Care was given to continue to provide short loops for those who prefer shorter distances.
Ms. Haley brought up the point that some social trails may be a result of some very popular outdoor scavenger hunt activities, such as geocaching, letter boxing, and ecaching. These are web-based programs that provide clues or GPS coordinates that lead to either hidden caches (Tupperware boxes) or objects along trails. She discovered on the websites that there are several placed in the town open space lands.
Ms. Horton made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Dobek seconded. All approved and meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM. Next meeting is scheduled for January 2nd, at 7:00 PM at Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted by:
Sue Haley
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