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Town of Old Lyme Open Space Committee Meeting
Old Lyme Town Hall
Minutes: November 12, 2010
Chairman Diana Atwood Johnson opened the meeting at 08:38 am with OSC
members Bruce Baratz, Amanda Blair, Peter Cable, Bill Dunbar, George
James, Ted Kiritsis and OLCT liaison Christina Clayton in attendance.
On a motion by Bill, seconded by Ted, it was voted to approve the
OSC meeting minutes of October 8, 2010.
Open Space Commission Status
There was an opening discussion concerning the status of the proposed
establishment of a Town of Old Lyme Open Space Commission. George
indicated that he had met with attorney Cassella to convey concerns
that an Open Space Commission, as defined in the draft charter, might
operate independently of the other Town land-use authorities. Diana
responded that, as its charter was defined and as was intended, the
Open Space Commission would meet with and work with the other Town
Commissions and officials. There was discussion of and disagreement
with a letter from David McCulloch to the Selectmen suggesting that
the reason for promoting the OSC to a Commission was to essentially
provide enhanced stature for the organization.
Properties
a) Graeb property
Diana reported that the realtor representing the Charles Graeb
property on Alpha Avenue at Rogers Lake said that the asking price for
the 0.16acre property was $8,000. No further action has been taken.
b) Ames property
George reported that the Conservation Commission had given its
approval for the purchase of the Ames property for open space. Diana
indicated that she would attend the next Planning Commission meeting
to seek its approval for the Ames property purchase.
Diana discussed the effort on the memorandum of understanding with
Steve Ames, and, in particular, background work on the use of the road
on the Ames property for public access to the open space. Attorney
Edward Cassella has indicated that use of the road for public access
could not be under consideration because the Town would have no rights
to its use, unless the town were to buy one of the Ames’ building lots.
There has been agreement on a Town payment schedule for the
property. The schedule involves payment of one-half down of the agreed
amount, with the balance to be paid over the next 3 years, with no
interest. The terms of the payment schedule will be added to the
memorandum of understanding with Steve Ames.
Subdivisions
a) Old Lyme Hills
Diana noted that runoff from the grading and roads on the Old Lyme
Hills subdivision would empty on the land identified by the developer
as the designated open space. The OSC recommends that the Town not
accept the designated open space in favor of the Town, because the
Town would be assuming a distinct liability. George noted that the
Conservation Commission has proposed an alternative – to that
specified by the developer - open space designation that would be more
conducive to resident use and would avoid runoff.
b) Ekelund property
The Ekelund property subdivision documents required by the Planning
Commission have been approved by the Commission. Following discussion
Bill made a proposal, seconded by Bruce, that Ekelund property
remaining acreage in the recently approved subdivision be appraised,
so that the Ekelunds can be approached about selling the remaining
land to the Town as open space. The motion was approved unanimously.
Diana will take action on this.
OLCT Report
Christina presented the OLCT report, describing the status of the
Lohman property.
Old Business
a) CL&P environmental grants
Diana said she had proposed construction and installation of bluebird
houses, under the CL&P program, as a project to the Boy Scouts and
that the proposal had been enthusiastically endorsed.
b) Town website
Diana had been approached, and had agreed to prepare a history, with a
picture, of the Barbizon Oak in Champlain North for posting on the
Town website. Diana observed that she had looked for the Barbizon Oak
on the “Notable trees of CT” website, but that it was not listed.
c) I-95 expansion
Peter reported that the ConnDOT Transportation Infrastructure Capital
Plan 2010-2014, accessible on the DOT website, has no mention of I-95
expansion from Branford to the Baldwin Bridge; and, regarding I-95
expansion from Old Lyme to Rhode Island, it categorizes that project
as a “major unfundable initiative”. It is noted that “unfundable”
designates that no source of federal funding has been identified (note
that “unfunded” indicates that a funding source – or agency – has been
identified but no funding has been designated). This effectively means
that the I-95 expansion is a dead issue for the foreseeable future.
New Business
a) Open space animal and bird sighting list
Diana made note of the existence of a master list of animals and birds
that she and other observers had seen on Town open space.
b) Open Space Maintenance Report
George distributed to the committee copies of the November 2010
Maintenance Report on Town Owned Open Space. The report discusses
trail status on Champlain North and South, Ames, Bartholomew, Awwa
development and Noyes.
At 10:25 am on motion by Bill, second by Peter, it was voted to
adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Cable
Revised minutes for the 11//12/10 meeting as corrected by Christina Clayton are attached as a Word file and reproduced below,
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