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Open Space Commission Minutes 09/11/2015

Town of Old Lyme, CT­ Open Space Committee Minutes

Town of Old Lyme Meeting Minutes
Friday, September 11, 2015

In Attendance: Diana Atwood Johnson, Chairwoman, Amanda Blair, Vice Chairwoman, Peter Cable, Bruce Baratz, George James, William Dunbar, Alternate Mary Stone, Land Steward Lisa Niccolai
Absent: Member Evan Griswold

  • Meeting was called to order at 9:05
  • All in attendance observed a moment of silence in remembrance of 9/11/2001.
  • Welcome/Introductions­
  • New Secretary Suzann Gintoff Vautrain
  • Naming of Voting Alternates: none
  • Approval of Minutes of July 10, 2015
  • Motion to approve by Amanda Blair, seconded by William Dunbar.
  • Motion to approve minutes passed unanimously.
  • Amanda Blair motioned to delete the last paragraph of the July 10, 2015 minutes as this discussion was made after the conclusion of the meeting. Motion was seconded by William Dunbar, motion approved unanimously.
  • New Business:
  • Ames Parking: Chairwoman Johnson contacted Ned Pfeiffer, owner of the Ames parking lot, about taking down a tree and regarding use of their lot for parking for access to Ames as this lot is not owned by the Town of Old Lyme. Ned commented that town hall folks are not aware that the lot is private property. Chairwoman Johnson agreed Open Space will make public aware that this a private lot. Chairwoman Johnson remarked that in the future, it may be beneficial to have a more formal arrangement between Open Space and Auto Works, but for now both parties seem happy with the current situation. Old Lyme Public Works recently was sent to mow the Ames Open Space entrance Pfeiffer was happy. Ned, however, did remark that there was a pile of dirt in the space still there from an old project, Chairwoman Johnson will add the removal of this dirt to the Open Space to­do list.  Finally, a kiosk and new maps are in progress for the site.
  • Bartholomew Tree: Wilcox Tree has been hired to remove this large tree. Work was done by Jason Wilcox who did a great job at a reasonable price. Chairwoman Johnson noted that Buttonball has been paved recently and Ms. Niccolai reported that there is an apron there that is difficult to get cars past, Chairwoman Johnson will speak to Town Crew to take care of this situation.
Town Public Works Department Annual Work: Chairwoman Johnson asked Mr. James whether the town crew had mowed at the Wickford site, he indicated that they had.

  • Land Steward Report: Lisa Niccolai
  • Ms. Niccolai reported that she spent a lot of time this summer putting up more trail markers which will correspond with the maps she also did. The next supply of trail markers are in so she can finish up adding plastic triangles color coordinated to the maps, which will help people who are less familiar with the trails. Ms. Niccolai believes it is now much easier to navigate these trails. Ms. Niccolai also looked at all the kiosks and reports that most are in really good shape, so, she will get tin/plastic road signs (weather proof) which can be mounted onto the kiosks which will correspond to the markings in the woods which will meet the goal of making the trails more user friendly. Signs will be ordered in the next
week or so (including signs that will orient the user as to where they are in relation to local roads). Ms. Stone was very appreciative of these signs
on her most recent visit to the Barbizon Oaks, as she was able to visit without getting lost. Chairwoman Johnson remarked that this is a very big endeavor and that over the course of the next few weeks, every trail will be newly marked and within a month the maps and kiosks will be
available and they will all be color coordinated. An inventory of kiosks
has been done and Ms. Niccolai has made recommendations as to where those should go.

  • Old Business:
  • Trail Maps: The Day has a website with a listing of trails, however the site has the properties owned by the Land Trust. Chairwoman Johnson sent Judy Benson at The Day the new maps and corrected the ownership, and also asked that she add Champlain North, which she will do when she comes out and walks the trail herself.
  • Chairwoman Johnson also asked Ms. Niccolai to make recommendations as to where the maps should go up and on which websites, such as MyTownTrails. Regarding the Town of Old Lyme’s website, a user must currently go through two links to get to Parks and Rec.to find the trail maps, Chairwoman Johnson would like the link on the front page, which will be discussed with Ruth Roach. Chairwoman Johnson requested suggestions regarding any internet sites which the maps could be included on, certainly, AppGEO/GIS­ where a user to clink on the link and a map would appear for the trails. Ms. Niccolai indicated this might be accomplished via a .pdf or a town wide trail layer. Chairwoman
Johnson indicated this can be done, it is a matter of how much it might cost.
  • Chairwoman Johnson discussed budgetary concerns in light of the Land Steward position not being filled for half of the previous budget year. Therefore, there are unexpended for projects we were not able to complete. A carry forward was made in the amount of $3000.00 for maintenance and $3000.00 for the expense account, this money must be spent by June 30, 2016.
  • Boundary Issues:
  • Hillwood West­ Ms. Blair suggested contacting Tony Hendricks who did the original survey. Chairwoman Johnson was able to send over maps with notes regarding where the possible boundary issue is. Mr. Hendricks was recently out at Hillwood for the survey and to locate and flag the permanent boundaries and move the sign onto Open Space property and define the trail. Mr. Hendricks was the surveyor on Ames and Dr. Awwa properties, so he will assist in those properties as well.
  • Ms. Blair suggested taking the new maps and surveys to the assessor’s office so that any property owners could have access to this information. Chairwoman Johnson noted that there is an instance with Champlain North in that the map shows Open Space owning all the way to the road, however this is owned by the town and not protected open space, also, Evergreen Trail, shows as Open Space, but, again is not protected open space, but is owned by town.

  • Ecklund Pond:
  • Chairwoman Johnson remarked that both the draught and cutting the phragmites has contributed to unbelievable growth of native vegetation including cattails and native grasses. Three or four phragmites stands remained, but because of the draught Malcolm was able to cut them down early about two weeks ago Chairwoman Johnson noted that before you could not see the ducks because of the phragmites, but now you can not see them because of the native cattails.
  • The contract for removal is for three years, this is the second year. The agreement is only to cut, not to use any pesticides. Chairwoman Johnson noted that the Town of Essex is using a chemical and it would be interesting to see how their pond looks.
  • Mr. Baratz asked how far north is Malcolm able to go, Chairwoman Johnson stated that he is going wherever he is able to get to.
  • Chairwoman Johnson noted that there is a Green Heron nest at the pond and a month ago there were three baby Green Herons at the nest. However, this is where the subdivision is to be built, Mr. Dunbar notes that one of the lots has a sign indicating “site work.”
  • TNC/Adam Whechel:
  • Hoping to have someone from TNC to discuss the Hazard mitigation properties. Chairwoman Johnson would like this to occur at the next scheduled meeting and invite other boards to attend as well. At the state level, all plans are being revised and CELP is also involved in hazard mitigation, so it would be good to have both involved. Ms. Blair noted that the next meeting is scheduled for the Friday of Columbus Day weekend, so this may need to be rescheduled. Further, she noted it might be beneficial to change the time of the meeting and invite the community to promote Open Space. Chairwoman Johnson would like town employees and Board/Commission members present as well. It was agreed that whenever the meeting is scheduled, some PR would be beneficial to get others from the community involved.
Other Business:

  • Mr. James contacted all Boy Scout leaders and heard back from Paul Reed of the Lyme/Old Lyme Boy Scouts, Mr. Reed will survey his troops and see if there is any interest in building the Ames and Champlain South bridges.  Ms. Blair suggested also contacting the Girl Scouts about whether they might have any interest. Ms. Stone indicated there is an extracurricular group at L/OL High School (Heather Freed­ possible contact at the Community Service Club). Ms. Stone will get in touch with the groups at the high school. Mr. Baratz suggested contacting the Navy at the Sub­Base to see if they would do any projects. Ms. Blair suggested the Coast Guard. Further, Ms. Niccolai can help with the design of the bridges, per Chairwoman Johnson.
  • Mr. Cable mentioned there is a public information meeting 6­8 pm on Smith Street, on the National Guard’s property at Stones Ranch in East Lyme and its impact on surrounding communities. They are inviting public from Lyme, Old Lyme and East Lyme because the area touches all three towns.  Attending the meeting might give an idea as to what is going on in East Lyme.
  • Mr. James noted that there is an overgrowth of pine saplings and scrub trees at Lords Wood (Awwa) Open Space, which is really quite a mess.  He noted that if there is interest in creating a pine grove, it must be done soon (as the previously cut down pine forest is trying to grow back). There is still an issue of access to the north section which has not been resolved­ Chairwoman Johnson noted there may be opportunities for discussion with Dr. Awwa. He also noted there are about 15 trees down across the trails in Ames which are obstructing trails.
Finally, Mr. James would like the Open Space Committee to focus its attention on the Barbizon Oak behind the Old Lyme Inn on Champlain North. It is being overgrown by trees around it which are killing off the lower branches­ he
suggests clearing around the tree to save it. He also notes this should be one of OS’s central images and should receive a lot more attention from the public. He suggested that the OL Inn and Florence Griswold also use this as a walking objective for their patrons.  Ms. Niccolai concurred that the area needs clearing Mr. James also noted he spoke with the tree warden and he is willing to indicate which trees should come down. Mr. James wondered what to do with the wood after, let it rot, sell, use it? Chairwoman Johnson noted someone came and took the wood from Buttonball.  Ms. Niccolai suggested that due to access issues, returning the nutrients to the site is a legitimate use and wildlife piles could be made and within five years most would be gone. Ms. Stone noted she spoke with Ken Kitchings (owner of OL Inn) and he is interested in clearing a path from the OL Inn parking lot to the Oak so that visitors to the Inn could access the oak. It may be beneficial to contact him and coordinate. Chairwoman Johnson will contact Wilcox about getting an estimate, but agrees with Mr. James about the importance of the tree and taking care of it. Chairwoman Johnson noted this may be a responsibility of other departments in the Town, including the Tree Commission. Regarding a path from Old LYme Inn’s property, it would have to
be determined whether there is direct access to the Town’s Open Space ownership of parcels and whether the land is wet where the trail would go.

  • Adjournment
  • Motion to Adjourn by Chairwoman Johnson, seconded by Bill Dunbar.
  • Motion to adjourn approved unanimously.
  • Meeting Adjourned at 9:55 am

Minutes submitted by: Suzann Gintoff Vautrain