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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOpen Space Comm. 04/29/2019Town of Mansfield Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes April 29 , 2019 RECEIVED iO`NN CLERKS OFFICE Present: Chair Diane Simms, Chris McCluskie, Allen Bryer, Sharon Friedman, Perry DiMaJOIQ, X#iJVhqAC&rgD (Recorder), Guests: None P�ANSFIELD MASSACHUSETTS The meeting of the Town of Mansfield Open Space and Recreation Committee was called to order at 7:OOpm by Chair Diane Simms. Ms. Simms introduces the new Committee member Allen Bryer. Ms. Simms verifies the schedule for the next meeting: May 13, 2019. Ms. Simms schedules the next site walk: Corporal Hardy, May 8, 2019 at 6:OOpm. Ms. Simms explains how the Committee has restarted. She says they need to decide on what their goals should be. She references the Charge of the Open Space and Recreation Committee. She asks the Committee members to read the charge. Ms. Simms goes over the Charge. She says they started looking at all the goals under Open Space and who the responsible party is. She says if they're not the responsible party for that item then they need be in an oversight position. She says it doesn't fall under the purview of the Open Space Committee until the end of the charge. She asks the Committee to review these charges and then set their goals for the year. Ms. Friedman says she doesn't think it's their charge to apply for grants. Ms. Simms agrees with this but says the information they provide will help her when applying for grants. Mr. DiMascio says they can identify the items and someone else applies for the grant. Ms. Simms displays the goals on via projector and asks the Committee to review. Ms. Simms says one of her goals is to have all Town Trails to be walkable. She says she knows of one that is no longer walkable. Mr. McCluskie asks who would do the work. He asks if it would be Town employees or volunteer days. Ms. Simms says it could be both. She discusses having a sponsorship of the trail. A Committee member would go out, observe the trail, and provide critical feedback. Mr. DiMascio agrees with this and suggests labeling them with an alphabetical system; with safety being the biggest metric. Ms. Friedman says she walked the White Trail in Great Woods and it was in bad condition. Ms. Simms asks if this was a trail recently cleaned. Ms. Friedman says yes. She was going to go clear and clean the area but was told it's under the Conservation Commission. Priorities in verifying Trail Walkability is discussed with the following being ranked: 1. Safety 2. Signage 3. Repair 4. Possible Improvements Ms. Simms says she read a lot of comments from residents that they aren't aware of the Town's Trails. She'd like a goal to be community outreach; specifically about the trails. Mr. DiMascio mentions family fun night and that someone could run a table at the event. Ms. Simms agrees with this. Ms. Simms says the NRT has published trail guides and trail maps. She says they have a table at Family Fun night. She says the NRT maps contain all of the Town properties. Ms. Simms says she'd like to have the NRT and Open Space partner more and suggests they run the table together. Ms. Simms says this is the second goal for the Open Space Committee. She would like to see a future goal be education about the value of Open Space. Mr. DiMascio asks if that's a part of Ms. Conyer's education program. Ms. Simms says that won't be able to occur this year. She suggests running something out of the library. Ms. Friedman says the Audubon has started to run programs out of the library. Mr. Bryer asks if they can make a soft goal on education. He says there are a lot of places to outreach to within Town. Ms. Friedman says that some of these items be brought to other Committees and should also be brought to the attention of those working on the Master Plan. She says that, not only should the trails be walkable, that some of the trails should be good for those with mobility issues. Ms. Simms asks if that should also be a goal for 2020. Ms. Friedman agrees with this. She says they should try to identify at least one more, or part of one more, trail to have access for those with mobility issues. Mr. Bryer says to look at trails with the most amount of parking available. Ms. Friedman says there should be someone with knowledge on this issue to help advise them. She also mentions special signage for those who are vision impaired. Ms. Simms says that another goal is provide quarterly oversight to the Conservation Commission. Ms. Friedman asks if this is a goal or a charge. Ms. Simms asks the Commission if this should be a goal. Mr. Bryer says that Foxboro has a special committee that meets once a year over the foundational aspect of the Open Space and Recreation Committees. He says in their case it does fall under their charge. Mr. DiMascio asks if this special board has any special appointees. Mr. Bryer says he doesn't know but they do act as two distinct entities. Ms. Simms says if they receive an update and not much has changed how they should pursue these changes. Mr. DiMascio says to keep pushing the issue. Ms. Friedman says yes, but sometimes you need to change the question. Mr. Bryer said he'd like to add a goal of having measurable relations between NRT, Planning Board, Recreation Commission, and the Conservation Commission. Ms. Friedman says the NRT is a private non-profit. She says the planning board has a fair amount of input when there is development. Mr. Bryer says going back to the formation of this Committee it was presented as a bridge element between the other commissions. Ms. Simms says any Committee or Commission that is listed in their charge should have a measurable relationship. Mr. Bryer says synergy of these goals would be mutually beneficial. Ms. Simms opens the conversation to having committee member sponsored trails. She says they'll distribute the trails between each other for committee member sponsorship. Sweet Pond, Corporal Hardy, and Great Woods remain for sponsorship. Ms. Friedman takes Corporal Hardy. Mr. McCluskie takes Great Woods. Mr. Bryer takes Sweet Pond. Ms. Simms asks them to review the properties and provide a small write up. She wants them to come together next meeting to decide what properties need funding. Mr. DiMascio says the amount may be limited to the bid amount. Ms. Simms will follow up with Ms. Gonyer on this. Ms. Friedman says to first determine how much of this is available in the Conservation Commission funding. Mr. DiMascio says it can be quite expensive going through the bidding process and suggests they look at smaller projects to avoid paying for administration. Ms. Friedman questions how much is under the charge of the DPW. Mr. DiMascio agrees with this because he's seen the Town be more proactive around these types of projects. Ms. Friedman suggests they meet with Mr. Azinheira to find out how much the DPW is contributing to trail maintenance. Ms. Simms asks the Committee to come together with their findings and create a packet of information on the trails. 2 Item tabled for next meeting. Item tabled for next meeting. W Mr. DiMascio says he's done some research on this and has provided the language, from personal documents, to Ms. Gonyer. Ms. Friedman says Lou Andrews has also sent this language to Ms. Gonyer. u Item tabled for next meeting. - Ms. Simms suggests they wait until the Town is ready. cis ags u1 mb llri- 'iiiiii Jil'i o a 9 r Item tabled for next meeting. WN Srgn bstgns to bpp re . Item tabled for next meeting. tTI St►du1e4?t►gt,epY/�imuaY7y4x! Next site walk will be at Corporal Hardy on May 8, 2019 at 6:OOpm. They will meet at Maple Street entrance. Meeting Minutes from October 29 2018 *Motion made to accept minutes made by Mr. McCluskie, 2"d Mr. DiMascio Vote 4-0-1 PASSED Meeting Minutes from January 28 2019 *Motion made to accept minutes made by Mr. McCluskie, 2"d Mr. DiMascio Vote 3-0-2 PASSED Meeting Minutes from March 25, 2019 Item tabled until next meeting after edits are made. Site Walk Notes from April 17, 2019 *Motion made to accept the notes made by Mr. McCluskie, 21d Mr. DiMascio Vote 5-0 PASSED XIS Ad ouinmeut *Motion to adjourn made by Mr. DiMascio, 2"d by Mr. Bryer at 8:12pm Vote 5-0 PASSED 3 �,«;�IM44�-O s// 3 f/9 Signature of Chair Date Approved