Town of Old Lyme Open Space Committee Meeting
Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall
Minutes December 8, 2006
Chairman Diana Atwood Johnson opened the meeting at 08:35. In
attendance were OSC members Amanda Blair, Peter Cable, Ted Crosby,
Evan Griswold, Connie Kastelowitz and Ted Kiritsis. Also attending
were Judy Glover and, later, Walter Kent, OL Assessor.
Diana introduced Judy as a potential OSC replacement for Jennifer
Hillhouse. Diana noted that Karen Erickson has also expressed interest
in serving on the OSC.
On motion by Diana, seconded by Ted Crosby, the minutes for October
13, 2006 were approved.
Johnson Property Survey
On November 10, Diana led both Teds (Crosby and Kiritsis) and Peter on
a survey of 12+ acres of property she owns on Mile Creek Road with
frontage on the Black Hall River. Diana is proposing a swap of her
Mile Creek property for the town-owned Tantummheag town landing
adjacent to her residence on Tantummheag Road. Messrs Crosby, Kiritsis
and Cable agreed to form an ad-hoc committee, chaired by Ted Kiritsis,
to examine the pros and cons of this offer and to report back to OSC.
In following discussion, Amanda suggested including in the
consideration an analogous swap of property, consisting of three acres
of marsh, owned by the Blairs near the old swing bridge to be
exchanged with town-owned property on Buttonball Road adjacent to the
Blair residence. The two proposals will be kept separate, but Amanda
will provide site information to OSC at the next meeting on the two
parcels in her proposal. Evan noted that such exchanges of private and
public lands are common within the National Park Service activities.
Boy Scout Open Space Projects
Diana reported on a meeting on November 20th scheduled as a follow-up
to a Boy Scout inquiry. Diana and George met with the Boy Scouts to
discuss potential stewardship projects on town open space suitable for
designated merit badge work. At the meeting the Boy Scouts reported on
trail clearing work they had conducted in Lyme. Among potential open
space stewardship tasks needing attention, Diana and George described
the problem of prohibited ATV activity on Champlain North; George
recounted his conversation with Don McNaughton detailing the extent of
damage caused by the ATVs at Champlain North. No specific project for
the Boy Scouts was decided upon at the meeting, but it was agreed that
the Boy Scouts would get back to Diana with a specific proposal and
plan. Discussion following Diana?s report focused on the problem of
prohibited ATV use, including deliberate vandalism, and of the
difficulties in stopping unwarranted ATV use.
Stewardship Plan
In addition to engaging the Boy Scouts in projects supporting
stewardship of open space, other groups were identified as potential
assets in the protection and maintenance of open space. Amanda
suggested the Williams school, which has day-programs focused on
environmental stewardship, as a source, and Diana proposed using the
OL high school Green Crew. As a component of the OSC stewardship plan
for next year, Diana would like to promote scheduled and
well-advertised workdays when interested town residents could
participate. Regarding the stewardship work to be conducted, Ted
Crosby suggested that the Wetlands Commission should be queried
regarding standards and plans for building paths and trails in wetland
areas. Amanda noted that town markers designating open space should be
placed on open space properties, and that this should be noted on the
Mylar records in Town Hall.
Property Updates
a) Griswold/Whitley Black HallWoods LLC property.
Diana, Tim Griswold and Richard Strauss (Black Hall Club) met to plan
how to urge the owners of the Black Hall Woods LLC property to move
forward on the joint purchase of the property by the town and Black
Hall Club. Diana said that she had received a correspondence from a
principle in the LLC indicating that a review of the planned purchase
was in progress, but it seems likely that other options for
development of the land probably are being investigated.
b) Four Mile River Road property.
Diana has spoken with Steven Harney regarding an offer of obtaining a
two-acre parcel on Four Mile River Road. The property is adjacent to
an OLCT open space tract.
Conservation Easements and Land Valuations
Walter Kent spoke with OSC about the valuation of land having
conservation easements. It was hoped that, as land becomes ever more
expensive, use of conservation easements as a tool to preserve
property would prove useful. Walter reviewed the provisions for land
specified as excess land under Public Act 490 dealing with farm,
forest, and open space land valuations. He noted that it is most
financially advantageous to property owners not wishing to develop
their land to obtain open space designation. He indicated that there
is no general rule for estimating the effect of a conservation
easement on property valuation, because such a determination is
situation specific. He also noted that, locally, there haven?t been
examples of property appraisals involving a conservation easement.
Proposed Developments
a) Burr Road Pedersen Subdivision.
The 17 lot subdivision plans with conservation easements and open
space designations were reviewed. Diana presented the draft of a
letter to Bob Doane, developer, expressing OSC concerns about the
proposed open space for the development. On a motion by Evan, seconded
by Ted Kiritsis, it was unanimously approved to send Diana?s letter
with the addition of a management stipulation amended by Ted Crosby.
b) Four Ponds Meadows Subdivision.
Diana circulated a legal document prepared by the Four Ponds developer
as the proposed determination of common use open space and
conservation open space easement for the subdivision. From the
document, it appeared that the most use-restrictive definitions of
common open space and conservation easement were being applied, with
no substantive difference between the two designations being apparent.
Diana asked that the committee members review the document and
transmit their thoughts to her.
Conservation Easement Reviews
Diana requested that members press on with assignments of preparing an
inventory of conservation easements on property in town.
Zoning Commission
Diana was to attend Zoning Commission meeting on December 11, 2006 to
discuss proposed changes on open space subdivisions and green
neighborhoods. However, Ted Kiritsis, Zoning Chairman, noted that,
though it is an agenda item, discussion and vote on the proposed
changes will be continued until the January Zoning meeting when legal
counsel can be present.
On motion by Ted Kiritsis, second by Evan, it was voted to adjourn the
meeting at 11:05.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Cable
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