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2004-09-01 City of Beverly, Massachusetts Public Meeting Minutes BOARD: Open Space and Recreation Committee SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: September 1, 2004 PLACE: Beverly City Hall BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: David Gardner (Chairman), Robert Buchsbaum, Elizabeth Dunne, Anthony Paluzzi, James MacNeil, Paul Knight, Pam Kampersal, David Brewster, Suzanne Beaudion ABSENT: Ellen Flannery, Bill Sqibb OTHERS PRESENT: Amy Maxner, Planning Department RECORDER: Jeannine Dion Chairperson Gardner calls the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. David Santomenna, Essex County Greenbelt – Conservation Restriction Discussion David Santomenna, the Director of Land Conservation from the Essex County Greenbelt states the group has been working for the past couple of years on a proposed conservation restriction on land on 140 Hart Street owned by William Loring. He explains there is a state and local approval process for all types of Conservation Restrictions. In Beverly, there must be approval from the City Council and the Mayor. The Conservation Commission was asked to review and hopefully recommend to the City Council that they approve it. It is also helpful to get a recommendation from the Open Space and Recreation Committee. Santomenna provides an overview of the 21-acre parcel of land, which contains open field, forest and wetland habitats. He explains that it contains wetlands and riparian corridor that contributes to the upper reaches of Chubb Brook and other perennial streams. What is proposed is a conservation restriction on 19 ¾ acres of the parcel, leaving an envelope of approximately an acre around the existing house unencumbered. He further explains the main elements of the Restriction. Kampersal states she thinks it is wonderful that the Lorings are willing to put a Conservation Restriction on such a beautiful property without too many “bells and whistles” because it makes a stronger and more enforceable restriction. Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes September 1, 2004 Page 2 of 6 Maxner states she has a copy of the draft Conservation Restriction language and she will provide copies to members if they would like to read it. Some discussion ensues regarding the specifics of the Restriction. Members agree this is worthy of support. Paluzzi moves to write a letter to City Council in support of the proposed Conservation Restriction at 140 Hart Street. Seconded by Kampersal. All members are in favor. Motion carries 9-0. Acceptance of Previous Minutes Kampersal provides amendments to the minutes. Paluzzi moves to accept the Open Space and Recreation Committee minutes of July 7, 2004 as amended. Seconded by MacNeil. All members are in favor. Motion carries 9-0. Sweeney’s Land – Potential for Community Gardens – Maxner/Gardner Gardner states he spoke with Peter Seamans regarding the cemetery. Seamans confirmed that the Cole Street property was purchased for cemetery purposes and that eventually they will be developing it for that purpose. He thinks it should be built out slowly and believes that partial use of the property, as gardens should continue. Gardner states he also spoke with Stella Mae Seamans with the Beverly Conservation Land Trust regarding use of the property behind Sweeney’s for the gardens. He is awaiting a response on this discussion. Review of Open Space Residential Design (OSRD) There is discussion regarding the Open Space Residential Design. Members are encouraged to make their comments and E-mail them to Maxner. Maxner states the Planning Board reviewed it and made preliminary comments and it is now back with Scott Houseman and John Thomson for further revisions. She will find out the status for an update at the next meeting. OLD BUSINESS Signage update – Beaudoin, Dunne, Kampersal The members of the subcommittee met and plan to meet again on September 7, 2004. Maxner states she contacted the Self Help grant director to explain to what the City is looking to seek money for. She was told signage does not meet the focus of these types Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes September 1, 2004 Page 3 of 6 of grants. They work mostly with acquisitions, conservation restrictions, easements, acquisitions and larger projects that mostly focus on one parcel of land. Maxner states she searched the Department of Environmental Management website for a grant that deals with trails and trail projects. She found the Recreational Trails Program. The application deadline was in April. Maxner states it would be helpful for the Committee to have a design and a more definite plan in place before grant money is sought. Gardner recommends that Maxner contact the Beverly Conservation Land Trust to see if they may have obtained some money that could be used for a signage project. Maxner states she finally spoke with Dennis Tarsook. He referred her to a Regulatory Handbook for all types of signs. She printed out the section that dealt with recreational and cultural interest area signs and provided copies to the subcommittee and can provide copies to the other members. Kiosk Update – Kampersal Kampersal states she spoke with Barney Bouton of the Boy Scouts. He will start after Labor Day choosing one spot and constructing one kiosk at a time. After some discussion, they determined the kiosks will go four feet into the ground and won’t need cement. She explains that all of the six roofs are done, the back doors are painted white and everything else will be natural. Her husband has assembled them into kits. When a Boy Scout picks up the kit, it will be taken to the site, put together on site and put it in the ground. Kampersal asks who will be taking charge of the kiosks to add maps, and other information. Gardner states that at least initially this Committee could do that task, but states that the Parks Commission will own the kiosks. The Parks Commission will be meeting tomorrow night to discuss signs and maps in further detail. Kampersal has a question regarding keys for locking the doors to the kiosks. Some discussion ensues regarding locks and master keys. Gardner states he will raise this topic at tomorrow night’s Parks Commission meeting. Tanzella Update – Maxner, Gardner Gardner states he has attended several meetings regarding the Tanzella property with Planning staff and the applicant. There was discussion regarding “cluster” development on the site. He provides an overview of the proposed project which proposed a cluster subdivision. Discussion ensues regarding the plan and Gardner agrees to draft a comment letter to the Planning Board for Committee members to review. Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes September 1, 2004 Page 4 of 6 Gardner asks is anyone has other topics for discussion Discussion Regarding Informational Articles Regarding Open Space - Kampersal Kampersal states she received a phone call from a neighbor regarding contacting the newspapers to put in and editorial sort of section highlighting the different open space properties and include articles about the natural history of those areas. She thinks it would be an opportunity to inform readers that there are areas for people to use and perhaps generate help for stewardship along the way. The neighbor asked Kampersal to help prepare information for Norwood Pond because she has been involved with Norwood Pond for several years. Maxner states there could be natural history profiles on various properties. Buchsbaum states the OSRC could be advisors on an effort like this. The members agree that it is a good idea and will discuss it further at a future meeting. Norwood Pond – Kampersal Kampersal requests that the committee make Norwood Pond a priority for Conservation Restrictions because of the risk of potential development. She provides an overview of the Norwood Pond site and asks if members support working towards asking the City if it would consider putting Conservation Restrictions on the land if there is going to be an overpass. Kampersal states the Norwood Pond Association has hired a lawyer, who is also a Conservation Commission Chairperson from another town, who has offered to attend an upcoming Open Space and Recreation Committee meeting to talk about how to proceed with Conservation Restrictions. Gardner suggests that this topic be put on the agenda for the next meeting and decide how the members would like to proceed on this topic. Old New England Wall Research Project – Tom Scully Tom Scully states for a couple of years he has collaborated with a teacher in Beverly High School on various historical projects. Every spring a topic is chosen that is interesting and an opportunity is provide to students to do research and learn about the history of Beverly. This spring they are thinking about doing a study of old New England walls. There are some old New England walls on Green’s Hill. There is a gentleman who is an expert on old New England walls who would like to do a workshop and help reconstruct one of the old walls, which would be something the community would be invited to. A Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes September 1, 2004 Page 5 of 6 group walked Green’s Hill and could not find the walls probably due to the very dense vegetation in that area. Scully states he would like to get a larger group of people to see if they can find the wall, which is depicted in old pictures. He suggests that the property be investigated in late October or November when vegetation has died back. Members agree this would be an interesting project and agree that a late season walk of the property makes sense. Green’s Hill – Clean-up Maxner states she has received a call from Sheila Fields at the Senior Center. She has a group of Landmark students who are looking for another clean-up project and there was discussion about cleaning up the Green’s Hill area. They can offer two 1 ½ hour shifts. Gardner recommends that Sheild Fields contact the Parks and Recreation Commission. NEW BUSINESS Review of Gardner Future Committee Project Memo Gardner provides the committee members with a project list and a confidential list of potential property acquisitions. Gardner outlines several important projects: · Signage · Kiosks · Henderson Road fields · Wenham playing fields · Conservation Restrictions at Norwood Pond · Land acquisitions · Trail maps · Airport trail Gardner thanks the members for their support over the past five years. Members thank Gardner for all his hard work on behalf of the Committee and that he will be missed. Election of Officers Gardner states there are three offices to fill: Chairman, Vice Chairman and Correspondence Secretary. Gardner asks if there are any nominations for the position of Chairman. Kampersal moves to nominate Robert Buchsbaum for the position of Chairman of the Open Space and Recreation Committee. Buchsbaum accepts the nomination. Seconded by Paluzzi. All members are in favor. The motion carries 8-0. Open Space and Recreation Committee Minutes September 1, 2004 Page 6 of 6 Gardner asks if there are any nominations for the position of Vice Chairman. MacNeil moves to nominate Paul Knight for the position of Vice Chairman of the Open Space and Recreation Committee. Knight accepts the nomination. Seconded by Kampersal. All members are in favor. Motion carries 8-0. There are no nominations for the position of Correspondence Secretary. Dunne will remain as the Secretary for the time being. The Committee can discuss nomination of this position at the next meeting when all members are present. OTHER BUSINESS Discussion Regarding Conservation Restrictions Kampersal asks if the members would like to have someone come in to discuss the topic of Conservation Restrictions in further detail. Buchsbaum states that it definitely a topic to become educated on and thinks this can be further discussed at future meetings. Benches at Bass River Knight asks if the granite benches at the Bass River strip mall is owned by the City as he has noticed that they have been tipped over. Gardner states that that property is privately owned, but open to the public. Adjournment There being no further topics for discussion, Dunne moves to adjourn. Seconded by Paluzzi. All members are in favor. Motion carries 9-0. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday October 6, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting is adjourned at 9:45 p.m.