Loading...
2001-02-13City of Beverly, Public Meeting Minutes BOARD: Open Space and Recreation Committee SUBCOMIMITTEE: DATE: February 13, 2001 PLACE: Beverly City Hall COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman David Gardner, Charles Raymond, Kathern Tracey, Richard Baker, Robert Buchsbaum, Ellen Flannery, Cindy Modugno, Kathleen Skrabut, Bill Squibb, Guido Lauranzano, Anthony Paluzzi ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: City Planner Tim Cassidy RECORDER: Jeannine Dion Gardner calls the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Review of City Parks Survey Gardner states the Open Space and Recreation Committee has agreed to review the status of individual parks across the City/or the survey section of tho Open Space and Recreation Plan. Cassidy states she will forward the updates to David O'Connor at the Cecil Croup so that he can come to the next meeting with an "almost" final version of the Open Space Plan for the committee to review. Discussion of Open Space and Recreation Plan Goals Cassidy states there were a series of five goals from the last Open Space and Recreation Plan. 1) Preserve and enhance Beverly's existing open space and acquire more parcels in the future to create a designated greenbelt. 2) Increase public access to the waterfront. 3) Increase and enhance recreational opportunities for Beverly residems. 4) Increase environmemal awareness within the community. 5) Preserve and enhance Beverly's historic resources. The committee members provide comments. Among the comments are the following topics: 1) Funding 2) Integrating the Open Space and Recreation Plan into the Master Plan 3) Public participation 4) Establishing a"Beverly Clean-up Day" Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes February 13, 2001 Page2 5) Target properties that are privately owned and approach owners to negotiate (annual land forum). Cassidy concurs that funding is very important issue and the City has never established an Open Space fund. Perhaps there should be a very broad goal to establish the appropriate mechanisms to fund the acquisition and maintenance of open Cassidy states she will send the committee's comments to David O'Connor at the Cecil Group and ask him to incorporate them into the draft plan for further discussion. Gardner informs committee members that he has been meeting with Representative Mike Cahill, Ed Becker and Tina Cassidy to discuss recruiting someone to approach local landowners to discuss the acquisition of land for open space. It comes down to the person who has the money. The mayor has committed to perhaps $250,000 for parks and recreation. Representative Cahill has secured a grant for $1.2 million from the state and there is $250,000 Self-Help Grant. He states Cahill and Cassidy will be meeting with the mayor very soon to discuss how everything fits together. Baker recommends pursuing the non-profit organizations. Cassidy states she would speak with members of the Pilot Committee and inquire about what the committee's role is. She will provide an update the next Review/Discussion of Norwood Pond Report Gardner states the Norwood Pond Commission recommended that the City's Parks and Recreation Commission and the Open Space and Recreation Committee be charged with designing specific active and passive recreational improvements for the entire area. He states this committee has made a lot of progress in terms of inventory and mapping but there is a tremendous amount of work to be done. A two-hour meeting once a month is not enough time to get things done. Gardner states he has been talking with Cassidiy regarding how to organize the committee's work so that it can be more effective. He recommends the Open Space and Recreation Committee assume the role of policy and review and establish subcommittees (i.e. parks & trails, public participation, active recreation, funding, acquisition, regional). Gardner asks the members think about the recommendations. The members agree to discuss the committee's organization and its direction at the next meeting. Overview - Community Preservation Act Cassidy states this past fall the legislature and the Governor signed into law the Community Preservation Act. In basic terms, the law states communities can decide to impose up to a 3% surcharge on the local property taxes that every single landowner would pay. The percentage of the tax could be anything from 0% to 3%. The law requires a community to spend at least 10% of those funds on affordable housing, open space preservation and historic preservation (each) Open Space and Recreation Commiitee Minutes February 13, 2001 and the remaining 70% can be spread in any percentage you want amongst the three topics. There are two methods by which a community can adopt the Community Preservation Act: by vote of the City Council or through a referendum vote of the local community. There are matching funds available, determined by a complex formula. The ranking dictates how much of a match a community would receive (ranging from 10% to 100% of funds). Cassidy states she needs more information on where the City would be in the ranking to determine what the matching amount would be. If the City were to pursue the referendum, it requires that it be submitted as a ballot question at least 90 days before the next election. A presentation regarding the Community Preservation Act will take place during the March 20, 2001 City Council meeting. After the presentntion has taken place, the City will be eligible to apply for up to $30,000 in funds to help with the master plan. Cassidy states there are a lot of different constituencies in any community vying for the same amount of funds. There would need to be a lot of consensus building and getting approval of the Community Preservation Act in Beverly would take the work of several committee to accomplish. Master Plan Workshop Cassidy informs members that the Transportation and Infrastructure Workshop is scheduled to take place Thursday, February 7, 2001. The other Master Plan Workshops are scheduled as March 8th - Diversity in Housing March 15th - Economic Development March 29th - Open Space and Residential Development Next Meeting The next Open Space and Recreation Committee meeting is scheduled to take place on March 5, 2001. Paluzzi: Motion to adjourn, seconded by Baker. All members in favor, no one opposed. Motion carries. The meeting adjourns at 8:45 p.m.