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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOpen Space Comm. 02/01/2021Town of Mansfield Open Space and Recreation Committee RECEIVED February 1, 2021 OFFICE MEETING HELD VIRTUALLY USING GOTOWEBINAR PLATFORf 611 F,, L 2 P 133 Present: Perry DiMascio, Vice Chair; Rebecca Foster; Sharon Friedman; Katelyn Gonyer, Conservation and Environmental Planner. k. Tic The vice chair read the following notice: Whereas both the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health have advised residents to take extra measures to put distance between themselves and other people to further reduce the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, Governor Baker has issued an order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, Massachusetts General Law c. 30A, §20. In order to satisfy the Open Meeting Law requirements, today's Town of Mansfield Open Space and Recreation Committee meeting will available to the public via GoToWebinar and Mansfield Cable. The instructions for joining via GoToWebinar are in the Meeting Notice on the Town's Website at www.monsfieldma.com and then clicking on today's date on the calendar. 1. The Open Space and Recreation Committee meeting was called to order at 6:06 pm. 2. Old Business: • Approval of November 30, 2020 minutes: Ms. Friedman made the motion to approve the minutes of November 2020 as written. Ms. Foster seconded the motion. Ms. Friedman - in favor Ms. Foster— in favor Mr. DiMascio — in favor Motion passed 3-0-0. Ms. Gonyer said tonight she would like to discuss how to move forward as a board. She said a lot was done in the last two years but the Committee now needs to focus more on being an advisory board. She will send out a hardcopy of the Open Space Plan that will need to be updated in 2023; this will be on the April 5, 2021 agenda. Ms. Foster said if this committee is more an advisory board instead of an action committee then some of the things talked about previously do not apply. She said she noticed the Recreation Department has been doing a lot more with Open Space such as a photo contest and scavenger hunt with prizes. She said maybe the Open Space Committee's role is to develop ideas to engagethe community and work with the Recreation Department versus doing it on our own. She said she would be happy to work with Facebook. Ms. Friedman said this committee is an advisory and resource group and her role is to report back to the Planning Board and, if there is something coming up in Planning that could benefit Conservation or Open Space, to pass along the information and do something similar that was done with the Master Plan to make contributions as to what needs to be done. She said she sees this as the main goal of this Committee. Mr. DiMascio agreed with Ms. Friedman and Ms. Foster and said he always felt his position would be in an advisory capacity. Ms. Gonyer said the next meeting will be to review the Open Space Plan. Ms. Gonyer updated the Committee on work that has been done on the conservation areas. She met with Mark Cook, DPW, to do a whole maintenance plan for the Oak Street entrance to Great Woods and has also started to work out all the details for the Trail Management Plan and what needs to happen at each area; she noted the town is now responsible for mowing the fields at Great Woods, which historically have been maintained by volunteers. She said she will prepare a budget, to be placed as a warrant on the May Town Meeting, for a revolving budget for any maintenance work. Ms. Gonyer said she and Jennifer Carlino, Norton Conservation Director, put together a Mass Trail Grant for $25,000.00 to install six new kiosks for each of the six conservation areas. Ms. Gonyer said she worked with Mike Ahern, Operations Manager, regarding the building of the kiosks and the cost of labor and materials for the kiosks will be taken out of the grant, as well as the cost of new signs, trail maps and imagery of the areas. She feels the Committee should work on and complete one project at a time. She mentioned a new member would be needed from the Conservation Commission. Ms. Friedman asked about the Recreation Department member. Ms. Gonyer said the original point was to be able to have a board comprised of each town department and said her thought was if no one from Recreation Department was willing or able to be on the board the position would go to a citizen at large. She said she would maintain contact with the Recreation Department staff and said, when changing the Charge, the Recreation Department will not be removed from the name because it is part of the grant procedure. She said the new GIS Manager, Chris Slinko, will be integral when a new plan is done. Ms. Friedman asked if there would be any possibility that there could be a new trail or an existing trail made handicapped accessible with the grant money. Ms. Gonyer said there is an Eagle Scout project proposed at Mill Pond that will have a handicapped accessible viewing area; the Eagle Scout project will also be a monument to all the residents that were lost during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Friedman said as various committees begin to collectively look at the development plan to try to figure out how to manage pockets of open space and habitat areas as new development comes in, especially with the transportation overlay, the question would be how can that happen so that it has the density to make it viable but also have open space and walking space. Mr. DiMascio said the Governor just signed the new transportation bill to address zoning issues. He said they have basically relaxed the zoning regulations for any land located within a half mile of a train station to increase the density in the transportation areas. Ms. Friedman said even though the density has to be done, maybe one of the mitigations could be that the state would be allowed to do this but in return, if the state owns other property in town, they have to devout a certain amount of that property to Open Space, much like the sidewalk mitigation. Ms. Gonyer will talk with Shaun Burke about this. Ms. Gonyer said she gives Mark Cook and crew a lot of credit for putting the time into the Great Woods area; the old farm rock walls were restored, the big hay rake will be restored and relocated to the entrance area, trees have been removed along with small brush and invasive species, existing trees and the overgrowth were removed and new trees added in the cemetery, and trees were planted along Oak Street. Ms. Gonyer said if any of the members have any thoughts or things that need to be on the next agenda, to let her know. 3. Adjourn: Motion of adjourn at 7:00 (Ms. Friedman/Ms. Foster) Ms. Friedman — in favor Ms. Foster — in favor Mr. DiMascio — in favor. M to ii pass 3-0-0. ( _,", 4A a a oa-a. Perry Dipgascio, Chair r Date