Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOpen Space Comm. 08/5/2019Town of Mansfield Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes August 5, 2019 RECEIVED TOIL/N CLERKS OFFICE Present: Chair Diane Simms, Allen Bryer, Sharon Friedman, Perry DiMascio, Christopher GeoNLA(I @4), A 9; Sb Guests: None ."1h^ NSFIELD MASSACMUSFTTO The meeting of the Town of Mansfield Open Space and Recreation Committee was called to order at 7:00pm by Chair Diane Simms. -Item Tabled - Ms. Simms asks if anyone has ideas for the OSRC website. Ms. Friedman says what and where the trails are is most important. She says it'd be great to add in the Trail Distance. Ms. Simms says it'd be good to have pictures of the trails as well. Ms. Simms would like to put the Goals for 2019 on the site along with the Charter for Open Space. Mr. DiMascio says it's a good idea to advertise trail conditions as well. He says you can include a disclaimer that the trails are only checked a certain amount of times a year. Ms. Friedman says it'd be good if there's a way for residents to submit updates on the trails via the website. Mr. Bryer says they should include the signage language on the website. Ms. Simms says they should include laws on the website. Ms. Simms says this is one of the Goals for 2019. Ms. Friedman asks how this would interface with the Recreation Department. Ms. Simms says she was thinking of things like a one-off presentation on Vernal Pools at the Mansfield Library or a visit to the water treatment facility. Ms. Simms says this is something she'd like to be directly involved in and she'd like to partner with Audubon on some of these events. Ms. Friedman says it'd be interesting to have something surrounding "food": What kind of food do birds, deer, and even people eat from nature? Ms. Simms wants to have something on "How to build a butterfly garden?" Ms. Friedman suggests the same thing for hummingbirds and bees. Ms. Friedman says they could do something seasonal like Maple Syrup. Ms. Simms says Vernal Pools. Mr. DiMascio says he would like to see something on the "Food Chain" or the "Food Web". Ms. Friedman suggests having something on the Mansfield Green and to have a presentation on where brushes, compost, and other recyclables/composting go. Ms. Simms asks where they would have these. Ms. Friedman says they have an Environment Club at the High School that may want to get involved. Ms. Simms says she can get more information together and start to organize the events. Mr. Bryer says they should consider who will run these events. He says this Committee should be more of a facilitator of these items and to find someone else to run the event such as the Boy Scouts. Ms. Simms will create a list of topics based on this conversation and will break it down by age group. She says they can then prioritize these topics at the next meeting. Ms. Simms says she's had conversations with the NRT about maintaining the kiosks on Town Property for Town trails. She's says she's looking to have it added into a Town Plan. She fields for other thoughts on the kiosks. Ms. Simms says it's not Keep Mansfield Beautiful, Volunteers, or the NRT because it's Town property. Mr. Bryer says he doesn't see Town Employees changing information on Town Kiosks. Ms. Simms asks if it's fair for the Town to take on a once -a -year clean up. Mr. Bryer says yes but where is the limit on their ownership. Ms. Simms says they usually only put new flyers on the kiosk. Mr. Bryer says he wants to see the kiosks cleaned and improved; he just has concern over ownership of who will perform the action. Ms. Simms says each kiosk should have its own map, state hunting capabilities, and other pertinent information. Mr. DiMascio asks if they're Town property or Conservation property. Ms. Simms says she'll have to double check. Mr. DiMascio says if it's under Conservation then it would fall under Conservation's purview. He says he believes it wouldn't fall under the DPW. Ms. Friedman says it could be an employee or it could be someone who needs to do a heavy duty service project. Mr. Bryer asks if the Conservation Commission has jurisdiction of the kiosks. Ms. Simms says she'll verify that. She says she'd like to avoid it being an ad hoc volunteer; she wants it to be a part of a maintenance plan. Ms. Simms says she will pose this question to Ms. Gonyer. Mr. Bryer says they should identify a standard for all kiosks. Ms. Simms asks what items every kiosk should have. Items for Kiosks: -All Town Trail properties map -Specific Trail Map for individual trail -URL to the Town website (QR Code) -Availability of Hunting -Trail Distance -Comments, Concerns, Feedback Query Point -Item Tabled - June 24, 2019 Meeting Minutes Item tabled due to required edit. Mr. DiMascio provides an update from the DPW. He says he's had little communication returned. He says he's outreached to Ms. Gonyerto see if she's had any communications with Mark Cook regarding an update on the DPW's progress with the outstanding Trail Safety issues. He says he's tried to physically go visit with Mr. Cook but hasn't been able to get in contact with him. Ms. Simms asks if he can elevate it to the head of the DPW. Mr. DiMascio suggests they write a formal letter looking for an update on the safety issues. He says some of these items may have been resolved but they're not aware of any updates. Mr. DiMascio offers to draft a letter and provide it to Ms. Simms. Ms. Simms says she's been out of state and doesn't have any updates. Ms. Friedman says there are no updates from the Planning Board; as they're currently focused on the Master Plan. A general discussion is had on Open Space and the Planning Board in regards to how developers are currently building in Town. Mr. Bryer provides an update on Recreation. He says he forgot to bring his folder pertaining to this update. He says they feel very good about the scope of age for those attending Town Parks and Recreation. He says they're very dedicated in their role. He still needs to send them information on "How would they expand the parks?" Mr. Bryer states they're taking his questions under advisement and he will return with more information. J _+....0 3 xti• ter=.,. '�aJ tJ _"' ry C'-.7 r."",;-sr ,L ?}Ts,,'�-�t,}i"'6`w"r J n✓ �:x,-,v .,-,-'''" %-. ?�-",x:.,. ., ....,a.-r 'S-.i...,.... F- "'.,.,.`z.,''S_ r *Motion to adjourn at 8:06pm made by Mr. Bryer, 2nd by Mr. DiMascio. Vote 4-0 PASSED Signature of Chair Date Approved