Town of Old Lyme Open Space Committee Meeting
Old Lyme Town Hall
Minutes: February 13, 2009
Chairman Diana Atwood Johnson opened the meeting at 08:30 with OSC members Amanda Blair, Chris Bourne, Peter Cable and Ted Kiritsis in attendance. Also in attendance were Bob Doane, Doane-Collins Engineering Associates, to discuss the proposed Marsh subdivision, Steve Flannigan, Flanagon Associates, to discuss the current real estate climate and prospects for open space acquisition, Anna Silberberg, OLCT Chairman, and Old Lyme resident Bill Dunbar.
Diana introduced Bill Dunbar as a potential new member of OSC. Diana also noted for the record an expression of thanks to the Board of Finance for restoration of open space funds in the new budget and their thoughtful attention to the OSC request at their budget meeting in February.
Marsh Subdivision
Bob Doane described the proposed Marsh subdivision on Buttonball Road, which consists of 53.75 acres divided into 8 lots. The northern-most lot, which is one third of the total acreage (17.5 acres), will be kept as farmland – that is, a hayfield for grazing. The intent is that the other 7 lots will be developed mostly for Marsh family members, with open space and conservation easements. The open space will be owned by a homeowners association; also, a waiver is being sought to reduce the required 15% land set-aside for open space to 12.6% for this development. The owner’s argument for the waiver is: because the intent is that the land will be mostly remaining in the family and because one third of the land will be kept as farmland, a lower open space designation is appropriate in this case. The Planning Commission will have a
public hearing at its March meeting for discussion of the plans for the Marsh subdivision.
Later in the meeting the Committee discussed the request for a waiver to the 15% open space designation being sought by Marsh. It was the Committee consensus that OSC does not favor the waiver and wants 15% of the development property to be designated open space. The Committee concluded that there was no guarantee that the lots will remain in the family, nor was there a dependable conclusion that the land kept as farmland would remain farmland. Diana will write a letter to the Planning Commission expressing the opinion of OSC.
Steve Flanagan: Prospects for Land Acquisition
Steve Flanagan discussed the current and projected real estate climate, with the intent of providing OSC with insight into the prospects for acquiring open space in this weak real estate market. Steve observed first that real estate prices have not reduced much yet, but that sales have virtually stopped. He said that housing prices will reduce from the pressure associated with supply and demand, but he noted that land will be more squeezed than housing because of relatively fixed construction costs. That is, he concluded that land values will reduce much more than housing. Less desirable land and subdivisions will sell first in such a market. In response to a question from Diana, Steve noted that there are several reasons why town assessments of property will differ significantly from market values, including the fact that assessments are
necessarily out-of-date. It was concluded that there should be opportunities for open space acquisition, but the most desirable land will still be challenging to acquire.
On a motion by Chris, second by Amanda, the minutes for December 12, 2008 were unanimously passed, and the minutes for January 9, 2009 were also unanimously passed subject to the following correction by Diana: In the first paragraph under “Lord’s Woods”, delete “but noted that there are issues associated with Lord’s Woods development that take precedent over OSC’s remediation payment” and replace with “Atty. Casella~proposed~that as part of the Open Space Committee agreement to~extend the $70,000 payment, we will ask for completion of the other outstanding~items”; and in the same paragraph under (2), replace “placement of suitable marking delineating open space” with “marking the property boundaries, Town Open Space, and Conservation Easement lands”; and in
the same paragraph under (3) replace “removal of tree stumps…” with “tree stumps to be cut to the ground…”.
New Business
Diana said that the March meeting would have to be rescheduled because she and other members of OSC would not be available for the scheduled March 13, 2009 meeting. Diana will notify members of the rescheduled March meeting.
Trail Book
Peter reported that he had been working with George James and Tammy Noyes to gather GPS data for 12 trails in Town (the 8 trails in the last trail book plus 4 additions of OLCT trails). He said he is also looking for effective mapping software for the scale of the trails to appear in the new trail book. A surprise development in the trail book project was the news that the Conservation Commission has reissued the old trail book using funding from a State grant. This development changes the timeliness of producing a new trail book, but he and Anna had reaffirmed the desirability of producing a new book with improved maps, trail descriptions and with new trails added.
Old Business
a) Conservation easement document
There was discussion of the draft document, especially concerning the degree to which enforcement activities could remain in the hands of volunteers. On a motion by Peter, seconded by Ted, it was voted unanimously to approve the draft document.
b) Lord’s Woods development
Diana reported that attorney Casella did not agree that requesting near-term payment of $5k from Dr. Awwa, as a sign of good faith, was an effective action because agreements with Dr. Awwa on other parts of the negotiation had already been reached. Adding this additional request could only serve to cloud the negotiation.
c) Percent wetlands in open space designation
Work is in progess on a draft policy.
d) I-95 expansion
Ted and Peter attended a meeting in East Lyme on roadbed repairs and installation of median dividers between exits 72 and 74 on I-95 to begin this summer. These activities do not involve I-95 expansion work, a project which is now scheduled to begin in 2019. However, it was stated by ConnDOT representatives at that meeting that 2014 is the potential date to begin expansion from the Connecticut River to exit 71 on I-95.
At 11:05 on a motion by Ted, second by Peter, it was voted to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Cable
| 
