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March 12, 2019
Open Space Committee Minutes                                                                            March 12, 2019
Present: Rick Gardner, Deb Cary, Karen Rossow
Missing: Kelton Burbank
Others: Kim Houde

Meeting began at 7:05 p.m.
  • Minutes from February were approved.
  • Landowner Information Session:
  • Deb is still working to contact the Newell family that owns the land across from Post Office Place, which is for sale.
  • Rick will work on an article for Redemption Rock News in April summarizing our meeting.
  • Trail Around Princeton (TAP) update:
  • Will hold on Goodnow park walkthrough (postponed in February due to weather) until the snow is gone. Will invite the Gals to join us.
  • Will plan to delegate further work on Gleason Road projects until the Trails committee is in place (later this month).
  • Kelton has promised to prioritize talks with the Goodnows and the Clearings Team to try to get permission to use those trails.
  • Princeton Hikes! Program:
  • Last two hikes went well, still a lot of participation. 25 to 30 people joining us now.
  • Hikes program for the Council on Aging will begin this month (March 28 2PM Wachusett Meadow).
  • Rick’s greatest concern is for the size of hikes. We should to figure out how to come to each hike prepared to split into two groups. Rick will work at soliciting more leading help, maybe from the new committee.
  • Rick proposed sending out a survey to the hike mailing list to see what people like, what changes people would like to see, etc. We reviewed a draft. OSC agreed that this is a good idea.
  • Calamint Hill Conservation Area Trails:
  • Work will continue on the West Side trail when the snow permits.
  • NOI for the east side trails and the wetlands needs more work. DEP had several questions and more measurements are needed, plus a plan to replace wetlands consumed by bridge posts. Rick and Brian will work through this when the snow clears. Also a Wetlands Survey is required and this will require another legal notice in the newspaper.
  • Voted: to approve a spending money for a posting in the T+G for the wetlands reporting.
  • Rick is proposing that the work for this project be distributed to two or three groups on the trails committee: clearing, bridge construction, and signage. See notes on Trails Committee below.
  • Trails Committee
  • First meeting of the new trails committee is planned for March 26 (Tuesday) at 7. Rick will send out invitation and agenda by this weekend. We reviewed the agenda for this meeting.
  • The plan will be to start with a short 3-4 slide presentation to re-state the scope and major immediate projects. Then ask each member to introduce themselves and state their interests. Then we will try to assign projects.
  • We discussed the roleof Open Space given the new committee:
  • The new team will handle the visioning, planning, construction and maintenance of the trails. OSC will still stay involved in the visioning (where do we need trails) but will provide input to the trails committee.
  • OSC will be freed up to work more generally on Open Space planning and action. The scope will be broader and time will be less focused on trails
  • We want to get back into activities such as identifying high-value parcels for conservation.
  • Conferences
  • Karen will plan to attend the Open Space Conference in April. Deb may attend also
  • Deb will be attending the AMC trails conference at Wachusett Mountain on June 1. Others are invited.
  • Charlie Cary is attending the Land Trust Conference on behalf of PLT.
  • Rick will attend the November Mass Trails Conference. Others may as well.
  • Princeton Land Sales
  • The town is planning to divest 11 parcels of land, and OSC was asked to review them to see if any are worth keeping as town properties, or conserving in some way. We reviewed the maps on all 12 properties.
  • We found 3 properties that may be useful for trail projects and we will check abutters and access and ground to see whether we want to ask to save these. Rick will get back to OSC on these.
  • In addition, one property we think should go to DCR.
  • Summary of work to-do
  • Deb contact Newells re land off Worcester Road.
  • Rick write article for Redemption Rock News on Landowner options.
  • Deb/Karen register for the April Open Space Conference
  • Rick trails committee meeting and continued work with Concom on CHCA trails.
  • Rick invite Laura Gal to Goodnow Park walkthrough, and plan to explore connection through booth property to Brooks Station Road.
  • Rick update trail documentation to add info on restrictions.
  • Rick check out town parcels and report back.
  • Next meeting:  Tuesday April 2 at 7PM in the Small CR.
  • Meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rick Gardner