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Open Space Commission Minutes 11/13/2015
Town of Old Lyme, CT- Open Space Commission Minutes

Town of Old Lyme
Meeting Minutes
Friday, November 13, 2015

In Attendance:  Diana Atwood Johnson, Chairwoman, Bruce Baratz, George James, William Dunbar, Alternate Mary Stone, Land Steward Lisa Niccolai


  • Meeting was called to order at 9:06 am
  • Welcome/Introductions
  • Naming of voting alternates: none
  • Approval of Minutes from September 11, 2015
  • Motion to Approve by William Dunbar, seconded by Bruce Baratz
  • Motion to Approve passed unanimously.
  • Motion by Mary Stone to amend the minutes to reflect the accurate title of the Open Space Commission  in header, not Open Space Committee.  Motion to Amend seconded by Diana Atwood Johnson, motion approved unanimously.  
      
      4.  New Business
  • Roger Tory Peterson Unit of Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge:
  • Chairwoman Johnson sent email to commission members with this report as a reference. This report can be used to reflect on how the Open Space Commission (OSC) is working to redefine priorities with the State’s new Green Plan and the new Wildlife Plan, Peterson Plan and Nehantic Plan.  This report provides a great deal of information without having to reinvent the wheel.  Mr. Griswold noted that he received a copy of an email from Paul Spitzer to the Fish and Wildlife Commission about the Peterson Habitat.  Mr. Spitzer is not in favor of having a parking lot at the bottom of the hill of Whippoorwill.  Mr. Griswold believes this would be a dangerous location to have parking as people drive too fast and swerve on this road, he notes this is a windy, hilly road, with a curve at the bottom.  Mr. Griswold believes this is not a good location for a wildlife viewing station because of these issues. He believes a loop trail from the York house would be much better than a viewing platform which would not provide much visibility of the wildlife in that area anyway.  This may be something to discuss with Fish & Wildlife, the possibility of a loop trail, with parking up at the York house.  Chairwoman Johnson remarked that this project is far off in the future and many changes to the plan may occur in the meantime, but that commenting would be beneficial.  
  • Chairwoman Johnson reminded the Commission there was a group created by the US Fish and Wildlife group, Friends of the Peterson Unit, but a portion of those interested broke off into the Connecticut Audubon Society group that is creating a virtual center to raise money to purchase a property on Shore  Road.  She stated that US Fish and Wildlife indicated early on that volunteers are needed in order to man all necessary work at the Peterson location, or they would not proceed with the development at York house.   
5.   Land Steward Report:  Lisa Niccolai
  • Ms. Niccolai reports that plastic diamond markers are on the trails now, they are color coded to match the maps that are on the website.  Maps have also been printed out on metal which replace those on the kiosks and there will be some up on various intersections in the woods- the installation of these has begun.  The hope is that this will make the properties more user friendly for the public.  
  • Mr. James moved the access trail for the Hillwood West entrance, Ms. Niccolai posted and moved the sign, so this location is fully on town property, not the neighboring property.  This was also done at Lord’s Wood, Mr. James did the trails, and it is now marked and flagged by the surveyors.  The hope is to get this off of Mr. Awwa’s property.
  • Kiosks:  work is progressing on these, some have been upgraded and some are in the process of being upgraded.  Ms. Niccolai has found a family they enjoys post hole digging, so they will be digging and installing upgrades, repainting, installing new ones at locations, such as Bartholomew, which do not currently have them.  
  • Work is being done to remove down trees.  Town is concerned about liability, so this process has been tricky to manage.  
  • Barbizon Oak- replacing posts at this location and can reuse the upper part of the kiosk, there is also a map to go there.  This area will be spiffed up quite a bit with tree removal and new kiosk.  
  • Town was also able to get out and mow at some of the entrances which were overgrown during the summer.  The mowing has opened up the entrances and they look quite nice now.  At the entrance to Wickford, there are threatened Blue-Winged Warblers (near the anthills), this area can not be mowed until July after the nesting is over.  OSC has succeeded in getting the town to mow this on a regular basis.  
  • Chairwoman Johnson remarked at how great an accomplishment it is that the OSC has succeeded at marking every single trail on all properties.  All the signage is improved and up and maps are available online.  She also wrote a piece for the events calendar online.  This piece talks about all the work that has been done by the OSC.  Chairwoman Johnson will feature a map of each open space location in each Events Calendar.  She remarked at where OSC started with a paper booklet and where OSC is now with wonderful digital improvements.  She is thankful that the town granted OSC the funds to have Ms. Niccolai who accomplished this work over the summer.  
  • Mr. Griswold asked whether this was a timeline for the new kiosks to be installed.  Chairwoman Johnson stated that a builder is still needed for three remaining, Bartholomew, Champlain North and Ames.  She would also like to put a kiosk at the entrance to Wickford to alert the public to the opportunities there.  
        6.  Next Steps:

  • MyTownTrails work over the winter.  The hope is that Ms. Niccolai can work to get all the trails up for the public to view on this website during the winter months.
  • Adopt a property/Property Sheets/Points of Interest (winter project):
  • Chairwoman Johnson would like Commission members to volunteer to take on one property each to make the existing property descriptions currently available on the Town’s website, more substantive and user friendly for the public. This would include a write up of further information about each of the properties, including the points of interest, wildlife, flora and fauna, the history that is known.  This would all be put together in a packet and made available on the website. Chairwoman Johnson also put out a request in the Events Calendar online, asking the public to contact her with any information they may have on the properties.
  • Mr. Griswold agreed to take on this project for the Bartholomew Property.
  • He suggested approaching this project as a layer cake approach, looking at geology, soils, plants, ground cover, midstory and trees, and looking at differences in vegetation which affects when wildlife is there based on the quality of soils, wet/dry, etc.
  • Chairwoman Johnson suggested using the Uconn Clears program which has soil information as a reference, DEEP coordinates with this program as well. Roger Tory Peterson can be helpful with the project, as well as, The Land Savers book the Florence Griswold produced in conjunction with the Historical Society.   
  • Mr. Baratz and Ms. Stone would like to go out with Mr. Griswold to see how he approaches this project.
  • Ms. Stone agreed to take on Champlain North.
  • Ms. Niccolai can help with the mapping and overlay.
  • Eklund Pond does not currently have any trails, but Mr. Baratz suggested this might be a good place to start to walk and map it.  Chairwoman Johnson indicated this is a pet project of hers and that the boundaries need to be known and access at this point is still questionable.  
  • Geocaching- this is another consideration for each property to attract new people, also a new virtual form of geocaching may be another idea.  Ms. Niccolai remarked that likely there are many geocaches on the properties already.   Chairwoman Johnson suggested doing something unique to OSC to encourage the school kids to get involved.  
  • Mr. Griswold remarked that mountain bikers use the trails frequently and questioned whether OSC may be able to enlist their help with trail maintenance.  Chairwoman Johnson stated that the role of Ms. Niccolai is to help with the maintenance of trails.  She also sent out a notice on the Town's Website and The Day seeking Open Space Commission members and bridge builders.  She has not had any response yet, but suggested a mountain biker may be able to assist in those positions.  
  • Mr. Griswold indicated that there is a new member on the Wetlands Commission that may be interested in applying for the OSC.   She is an environmental science major and new town resident and Mr. Griswold will speak with her.  

Old Business:

A. Boundary Issues:
  • Hillwood West is off the list- sign is up with a new trail which is marked.  Marilyn Clark has been notified.
  • Awwa’s property- all markers have been recovered and Ms. Niccolai, Chairwoman Johnson and Tony Hendricks are going to go out there to see what can be done to make the entrance visible.  Private Property signage will go up going down the driveway to make sure people know the right way to go.   Chairwoman Johnson is still trying to get a new guardrail in to fix the old broken wooden one.  She also stated that town has not accepted the road, so it is not the town’s responsibility to mow it, it is Dr. Awwa’s responsibility.  Dr. Awwa may have an interest in making the improvements necessary before the town accepts the road in the coming months.  OSC is willing to work with him in any way possible to help make the site look better.
  • Evergreen Trail- town has Open Space that is about an acre, but the boundaries have not been identified.  Mr. Hendricks is working on identifying the boundaries, he has also been to the Sanders property to work on boundaries.  Chairwoman Johnson would like Ms. Niccolai to meet with Mr. Hendricks to go over these boundaries and see if anything else is necessary to protect the public.  Mr. Hendricks has also gone out to Steve’s property to mark boundaries as Steve requested (private road/private property).  
  • Bartholomew Boundary:  need to define boundaries, problem regarding cows breaking through the stonewall and wire fence, cows ate all the understory.  Need to be able to identify boundaries to keep cows off Open Space Property.
  • Sanders Boundary- Chairwoman Johnson asked Ms. Niccolai to mark boundaries/waypoints with her phone/GPS.  Ms. Niccolai would like a survey map for this project.
Mr. Griswold made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:41, motion seconded by William Dunbar, motion approved unanimously.  

Chairwoman Johnson made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 9:54 seconded by Evan Griswold, motion approved unanimously.


        B.  Ames:  
  • Chairwoman Johnson is looking for creative ideas on how to remove the chips in that parking lot and use them someplace else.  Mr. James and Ms. Niccolai have identified trees on Ames map which are at issue.  Chairwoman Johnson has contacted First Selectwoman/Town Crew twice but has not heard back yet as to whether they will take on the work.
        C.  Champlain North/Barbizon Oak/Old Lyme Inn Trail
  • Chairwoman Johnson contacted Wilcox who will do the work when conditions are suitable to get a large truck back in there.  He will cut down the trees and remove the wood and big vehicles are necessary for this work.  
  • Chairwoman Johnson spoke with Chris Kitchings who indicated that they are interested in creating a trail from the Old Lyme Inn property.  
  • GIS view, can see the old trail to the Barbizon Oak from this view.  
  • Concern is about wetlands in this area which were created by the construction of Interstate 95.  Unsure about how wet this area is, Chairwoman Johnson asked Mr. James to go out and look at this area.  Mr. James indicated this is a job for a crew for a few hours to remove the Japanese Barberry and can create a trail, he states this is definitely doable.  There is a question as to whether the Nature Conservancy must be contacted for permission before any vegetation can be removed from this area under the original deed.  Mr. James will bring the deed for review.
        D.  Winter Seminar:
  • Hazard Mitigation and the State contact with a link to the CELCP Study.  Old Lyme is an important part of these reports and this could be the focus of the Winter Seminar.
        E.  Stones Ranch Project:
  • Mr. Cable was absent for this update.  Mr. James attended but stated there was no report, nothing heard from them.  Chairwoman Johnson cited the website for reference, www.StonesRanchJLUS.com which gives details of the project.
  • Chairwoman Johnson noted the November 13 paper (The Day) had an ad for a Spec House at the old Tooker property- this land has been approved for a seven lot subdivision.  Open House this Sunday, November 15.   Chairwoman Johnson and Mr. Griswold noted that there are many unsold houses in Old Lyme.  This is likely a result of sellers under the misbelief that house prices are going up in Old Lyme as they are in other areas of the country, unfortunately, this is not the case, and many existing list prices need to be discounted.  Mr. Baratz remarked that many people are moving out of Connecticut.
Final Updates:
  • Mr. James:
  • Ellie Czarnowski is interested in the bridge project construction and will contact Dave McCullough to see what Wetlands Commission would look at.
  • Mowing of Lord’s Woods- Mr. James spoke with town crew and indicated they have a mower available with an arm that can go over the guardrail.  Town said it is available to mow this property at Lord’s Wood which would cut down on the weeds and invasive species that are spreading onto Dr. Awwa’s property.  Mr. James also noted that the birch saplings are growing and need to be cut to release the pines.  Chairwoman Johnson believes this area needs to be handled individually with saws and the use tar on the stumps.  
  • Mr. Dunbar:
  • Mr. Dunbar asked how much time is left on the phragmites agreement.  Chairwoman Johnson indicates there is another year, he has been in this year and will begin again next year depending on the winter and how much water is in the area.  Currently, there is not much water in this area.  

7. Adjournment:
  • Mr. Griswold motioned to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Dunbar.
  • Motion to adjourn approved unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 10:12 am

Minutes submitted by:
Suzann Gintoff Vautrain