Town of Newbury
Open Space Committee Minutes
Meeting: 7:00PM February 28, 2007 at Newbury Town Hall
Present: Martha Taylor, Dan Streeter, Geoff Walker, Matt Kozazcki, David Powell, Marlene Schroeder, Judy Tymon,
Minutes of 1/11/07 were approved as submitted by voice vote.
1. Dan Streeter reported on several items
-Border to Boston Trail: this trail initiative is moving ahead in both Georgetown and Topsfield with public meetings etc. One issue for Newbury is the section through Fish and Wildlife Area(martin Burns area) –so far State has been rather unresponsive. Two areas to work with - Byfield and the Highfield Road to Train Station section. Is Beacon Properties involved with this initiative in their development of Little River Village ?
National Grid, the current user of the old railbed on which much of the trail will run is not responding to inquiries, etc..
Communities in Essex are: Peabody, Danvers, Topsfield, Boxford, Georgetown, Newbury, ??? OSC should support this project.
2. Natural Heritage has recently issued a new pamphlet about invasive species –should be up on web site soon. Also this agency is to return as a line item in the budget in the coming year –but don’t hold your breath !
3. Newbury may be in line for a phragmites mitigation grant to cover area from upper creek to Plum Island Bridge. State has decided that aerial spraying will not be considered for use in this kind of area.
There is a potential market for phragmites reed as thatching material, but this is fraught with issues concerning harvesting damage to marshes, etc.. –no easy solutions !!
4. Community Needs section of OSP should include updated information about use of recreation facilities –this to be done via a questionnaire sent to teams, etc
5. Also the section on Regional Trails will need updating
6. Inventory of land parcels – changes to State Chapter 61 are in the works at the State levels. OSC needs to review the ownership and acreage data on Chapter 61 parcels and consider doing a map of these parcels.
7. The whole issue of agriculture, its survival in town and its relationship to open space needs review with regard to Master Plan goals, development threats and other land use issues.
8. Plum Island Access Plan This Plan was a study done by Vine Associates, Newburyport for the State (DCR) in 2006 after a joint request from Newburyport and Newbury to examine the issues of parking, beach access and public restrooms on the developed portions of the island. Public access to the beach remains difficult both in terms of actual usable ways (only ten of 80 identified ways are used currently) and the provision of structures that minimize environmental degradation. Mike Carbone has summarized the major features of the report for the Committee.
9. More information is needed about the status of:
-Town owned lots on PI
-Parking at the top of the Island
-the Father Sears Park
-the status of the Beach Committee
10. Water access;
-Newbury Estuary Plan has material on water access
-Parker River access points potential, off Rte 1, at Mill on Central street, at Triton/Recreation fields area
11. Explore the idea of a Parker River Greenway stretching from Triton through Town lands and Governor’s Academy to the Sound. Public access both to and out of the river.
12. Committee voted to send a letter to the Selectmen to request that mowing of grassland areas at Central St Rec. fields be delayed until at least July 15, or later, to protect nesting birds. This will also save, labor, and energy etc.
13. Vernal pools on Town owned open space need to be identified and registered with State. Possibility of closing Boston Road on key couple of nights of frog and salamander migration ?
14. Need to review and update:
-maps of open space –how current must this be
-Action Plan
-any new MVPC data
15. There was considerable discussion of existing open space in the town and its relationship to public access to conservation restriction lands resulting from OSRD projects such as Caldwell Farms and Scotland Woods. Who holds restrictions and under what scrutiny ? What access is there/will there be for recreation (passive/active) and town based activities (Boy Scouts, etc).
The Parker River corridor is once again an important area of concern.
16. Dan Streeter reviewed the development threats posed to lands south of Newman Road which abut the Lower Green and Old Town Hill. Should the Town/community move to secure in some way part or all of this from development.
17. This item last item, and others above, raises the issue of having Newbury adopt the Community Preservation Act as soon as we are able.
NEXT MEETING WILL BE WEDNESDAY, 28RD MARCH AT 7:00 PM AT TOWN HALL
David Powell, Recorder
Submitted , March 8, 2007
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