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2006-03-01 CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD: Open Space and Recreation Committee SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: March 1, 2006 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Robert Buchsbaum, Chairman, Elizabeth Dunne, Tony Paluzzi, Patricia Adams, David Brewster BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Ellen Flannery, William Squibb, Pam Kampersal, Suzanne Beaudoin STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Amy Maxner RECORDER: Maryann DiPalma The meeting was delayed due to lack of a quorum. It was decided by the group present to wait until Robert Buchsbaum could arrive. While waiting for a quorum, an informal discussion was held concerning the Earth Day walks. The target audience for the Norwood Pond walk is the City Council so it was discussed what day would be the better day, Saturday or Sunday. Robert Buchsbaum, Chairman, arrives at 8:00 p.m. and called the meeting to order, and the discussion continued on Earth Day walk events. Earth Day Walks Dunne questioned whether there would be an explanation of the places where the walks would take place and possible room on the flyer or in the newspaper article for directions. Maxner states she hopes to pin down the dates for each walk and establish a theme for each. She explains she has not heard from the Beverly Conservation Land Trust with regard to the theme they propose and will follow up with them on this. Paluzzi asks about rain dates. Members agree this should be rain or shine event as rescheduling may be too difficult. Members discuss the following walk schedule: nd Norwood Pond ??, vernal pool exploration theme, Saturday April 22 from 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Maxner will contact Ron Johnsen to confirm his willingness to lead the walk. Park and gather at the end of Elnew Avenue. th Beverly Conservation Area ??, leader BCLT, Sunday April 30, tentative time 2:00-3:30 p.m. The leaders, Jane Brusca or Stella Mea Seamans, will be Beverly Open Space & Recreation Committee March 1, 2006 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5 contacted about a theme for this walk. The meeting place will be at the end of Greenwood Avenue at Stone Ridge Road. Lynch Park ??, tidal pool exploration will be on May 6 @ 1:00 p.m. This walk would take 1 to 1 ½ hours and will be hosted by Barbara Warren of Salem Sound Coastwatch. Park and gather in the parking lot at Lynch Park. th Phillips Reserve ??, wildflowers of spring will be on May 13 , leader Erika Sonder. The walk will start at 2:00 p.m. and will last to about 3:30 or 4:00 p.m. Park and gather at the parking area just off of Route 97, across from Beverly Airport. st Beverly Conservation Area, ?? May 21 , The Birds Are Back, from 9:00 a.m. to about 11:00 a.m., leader David Brewster. Caution to all participants, bug spray is needed. Park and gather at the end of Greenwood Avenue at Stone Ridge Road. th Alt Woodland, ??May 28, forest ecology and will take place at 1:00 p.m. to about 3:00 p.m., leader Robert Buchsbaum. Park along sides of Grover Street and Old Planters Road and gather at gate on Grover Street. Maxner states Essex County Greenbelt will be hosting a mountain biking event on May th 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Beverly Conservation Area (Witches Woods) and asks if the Committee would be willing to help advertise this in its flyer. Members see no problem with this idea. Acceptance of Previous Minutes Buchsbaum asked if there were any comments or changes to the February 1, 2006 meeting minutes. Paluzzi moves to approve the minutes as written. Adams seconds. All in favor. Motion carries 5-0. Signage and Trail Marking th Buchsbaum states he and Eric O’Neil, 8 Grader, put up markers at the Beverly Commons. He explains they went up Greenwood Avenue/Witches Woods to Route 128 and were able to place quite a few trail markers, but more could be done. Brewster states he placed a couple of markers at Greens Hill on the Bridge Street side and they are visible from the street. Beverly Open Space & Recreation Committee March 1, 2006 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 Sally Milligan Park was discussed briefly and members noted that a new sign is needed since the contractor who built the houses broke the existing sign. Brewster states the DPW placed a sign indicating that the City does not maintain the road. Maxner states Tina Cassidy has been in contact with the contractor about having a new sign made and she will inquire of the status of this. Natural History Newspaper Articles Buchsbaum states that the article on Norwood Pond written by Ron Johnsen has yet to be published. Adams states she will call and inquire of the status of this. Brewster states the Earth Day walks should be the next series of articles to be placed, and the flyer should be put in both papers more than once. Members agree. Dunne states she would write a piece on Earth Day for members to review. Semi-Annual Report to the City Council Buchsbaum states he will draft a report for members to review and try to get on the Council’s March or early April agenda. Open Space Network Meeting Buchsbaum states in the interest of time management he will update the Committee next meeting on the latest network topics. Vitale Site Land Swap – Conservation Commission Dunne states she has drafted a letter, which is incomplete but wanted to get feedback from members. She expresses concerned about a precedent that could be set if the swap were to take place. Buchsbaum asked if there were any comments on Dunne’s letter. Brewster states it is well written and is on point. He questions if the Mayor is aware of the Article 97 process, as he thinks a public hearing is warranted. Beaudoin asks if the land must be turned over, or if there could be joint custody between the Commission and the Parks Commission. Maxner states that a hearing is definitely required but is not clear from any of her research whether joint custody is an option. Maxner informs the Committee that the Conservation Commission will be walking the th Pole Swamp Lane parcels on Saturday March 25 at 8:00 a.m. meeting at the end of Preston Place. Beverly Open Space & Recreation Committee March 1, 2006 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 Dunne agrees to further revise the letter and states she will try to attend the walk with the th Commission on the 25. Open Space & Recreation Plan Update Buchsbaum states that he, Maxner and Tina Cassidy met with Roland Adams, the City’s GIS coordinator, to discuss the mapping requirements and briefly reviews those requirements with members. Maxner states Roland Adams has already produced a couple maps since then which can be reviewed tonight. Buchsbaum reviews the priorities for watershed protection zones, and explains there are essentially three zones: Zone A is 400 feet from the actual edge of the reservoir; Zone B is 200 feet from a tributary feeding the reservoir; and Zone C includes everything else within the basin. Buchsbaum questioned how the Committee wanted to proceed. He asks the Ward Reps to look at Section 5 and Section 4G, and suggests that the Ward reps get together separately to meet and go over each Ward for evaluation. Buchsbaum then stated that Roland needs to give us an update on acreage for each Ward, and a Map of privately owned land and publicly owned land, and possibly provide a spreadsheet or a type of matrix for this map, as descriptions of each parcel are needed. Buchsbaum gives a quick summary on the revisions he has done so far: Sec. 2—revised and complete Sec. 3—hasn’t changed Sec. 4—well on the way Sec.5 –as stated above Sec.6—Community Goals: Buchsbaums states there is a need for someone to look at this. Beaudoin offers to check this section. Buchsbaums states that in the analysis of needs, the priority parcels to protect need to be stated. 5-Year Action Plan: Brewster suggests the following priorities should be incorporated into the update: ??CPA ??Norwood Pond CR ??Tall Tree area behind Endicott College – trail easements ??Rights of Way – research and maintain Buchsbuam states the Ward reps could meet and finish section 5, and those on the Committee who are not Ward reps could meet and look at Community Goals. He states that Kampersal has offered to revise Section 4G. Beverly Open Space & Recreation Committee March 1, 2006 Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5 th Buchsbaum states the next meeting will be on April 5 at 7:30 p.m. and he recommends that a Vice-Chairman be elected at this next meeting. Paluzzi motions to adjourn. Dunne seconds. Motion carries 5-0. Meeting is adjourned at 9:30 p.m.