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2008-02-06 CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD: SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Open Space and Recreation Committee February 6, 2008 Robert Buchsbaum (Chairperson), Suzanne Beaudoin, David Brewster, Nancy Coffey, Pam Kampersal, Marilyn McCrory BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: GUEST SPEAKER: RECORDER: Elizabeth Dunne, Michael Ralbovsky, Bill Squib Environmental Planner Amy Maxner Chris LaPointe (Trust for Public Landt _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ ~ ~ Andrea Bray Chairperson Buchsbaum calls the meeting to order. Guest Speaker- Chris LaPointe, Trust for Public Land (TPL) - Stratel!ies for protectinl! land important for drinkinl! water supplies Buchsbaum introduces LaPointe and states that the members have emailed questions to him. LaPointe provides a summary of the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national trust for land conservation. Some points that he makes include: . TPL was an outgrowth of the Nature Conservancy and established in 1972. . TPL employs about 450 people across the country. . TPL works in cities and rural areas. . They don't own land long-term but they are very "transaction" oriented. . The services provided by TPL include assisting in grant applications, negotiating agreements between landowners and conservation organizations, "Greenprinting" a report similar to the Open Space plan. . TPL can help organizations raise more money for conservation projects. . LaPointe is a project manager out the organization's Boston regional office and works all over Massachusetts. The Boston office has about 30-40 person staff. LaPointe states that surveys have shown that people will tax themselves for land acquisition to protect drinking water supplies. He distributes a handout (see attached), which contains his responses to all of the questions that were submitted to him by the Committee and the members and discussion ensues relative to these questions. Regarding watershed protection, LaPointe states that he could handle negotiations with a landowner to put a restriction on their property. He adds that every watershed protection Open Space Meeting February 6, 2008 Page 2 of 5 grant application that TPL has assisted a town with has been successful. He states that the town receives the federal grant as a reimbursement for the cost for completed work, and some towns can roll over the grant money to the following year to use on the next protection project. LaPointe goes on to explain that he usually works with Mayors, Town Managers, DPW Directors and Water Commissioners/Boards in handling land transactions. He states that the most important partners for watershed protection projects typically are the Water Boards/Commissions. Regarding Wenham Lake, LaPointe states that his organization cannot help the Committee with city-owned land as he cannot ask the City to protect the land from itself. He mentions there are opportunities to secure grant money through the Drinking Water Supply Protection Program. Kampersal asks LaPointe to respond to the City's attempt to develop land on Sam Fonzo Drive. LaPointe states that research has shown that the engineering solutions are more expensive than just protecting the land, and there are other benefits to protecting the land. He suggests that a water resource study using maps to show all of the land that could potentially be protected within the watershed, is a great exercise to prioritize parcels within the watershed. LaPointe states that the Open Space plan is not a regulatory tool it is only an informational and guiding document, but can provide rationale for arguing in favor of protecting certain lands. McCrory states that the Committee should be speaking to Tom Knowlton or citizen representative on the Water Board, Anthony Kline. LaPointe states that they should get a person like them on the OSRC to be used as an advocate for protecting land around the reservoir. Maxner asks about mechanisms for funding TPL. LaPointe states that TPL is a non- profit organization, which receives funding for its operations through several different sources. He adds that while negotiating a deal with landowners, TPL usually asks them to make a contribution to compensate for all the services provided for that landowner, and only in extremely rare circumstances will they charge a fee. He says that they might charge a fee for "Greenprinting". The Committee thanks LaPointe for taking time to meet with them and appreciates all the information he provided. He provides his contact information and encourages members to call or email him with any additional questions or let him know they need more of the handouts he provided today. Approval of Minutes - January 2, 2008 Meetinl! Open Space Meeting February 6, 2008 Page 3 of5 The members review the minutes and make suggestion for amendments. Cofffey motions to approve the minutes as amended for the January 2, 2008 meeting, seconded by Kampersal. Motion passes 6-0. Old Business Draft Open Space and Recreation Plan Buchsbaum states that he, Liz Dunne, Amy Maxner and Kate Newhall met with Tina Cassidy to discuss the watershed protection recommendation language. He distributes the new language and members review it. Maxner suggest adding another sentence to this paragraph about the city exercising any possible first right of refusal on watershed properties and pursue other lands that come up for sale within the watershed. Members agree to that additional language. Mary Rodrick of 14 Peabody Avenue points out the passage should mention protecting the recharge areas and the members agree. Buchsbaum states that he is happy with this paragraph and he hopes that the Committee would vote unanimously to approve this, and if the vote is not unanimous, there could be a minority report opinion in the Appendix regarding this paragraph. Discussion ensues regarding the language. Maxner reads the revised paragraph, which states: "Land in the watersheds of the drinking water supply should be kept as open space as much as possible to maintain the recharge areas and to eliminate the threat of contamination reaching our water supply. The City should make it a priority to exercise any and all first rights of refusal to acquire lands within the watersheds as well as pursue acquisition of undeveloped land that comes up for sale. Additionally, the City should revise the provisions of its Watershed Protection Overlay District Ordinance. Revisions should include the most environmentally sensitive BMPs and reflect regulations and policies set forth by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as outlined in their regulations for Surface Water Quality Standards (314 CMR 4.00) and Drinking Water Standards (310 CMR Sec. 22.20) and Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW). These will be incorporated into the Special Permit process." Brewster motions to accept the language as amended, seconded by Coffey. Motion passes 6-0. Maxner states that for the next steps the plan must get through the Mayor and get a letter of support from him, then go to the MAPC and the State for their comments. Earth Dav Planninl! Open Space Meeting February 6, 2008 Page 4 of 5 Maxner states that she has two events lined up already (April 19, hosted by Mike Ralbovsky and May 25, hosted by Erika Sonder in cooperation with ECGA) Coffey suggests leading a walk with Ed Miskowsky at Phillips. She offers to do something about the human history of Phillips Estate and thinks that Ed could speak about the geology. Maxner offers to contact Ed to inquire about this and thinks the second weekend (April 26th or 27th) might be a good choice for this walk. Members agree. Kampersal suggests asking John Dick to lead a walk on wetland plants. Maxner offers to contact him to inquire about this. Buchsbaum offers to do either West Beach Tide Pools or Sally Milligan Park. Members agree that the Tide Pools are needed to focus on the coastal parts of the City. Brewster offers to do a walk around Plains Park, and the members agree this would be nice but express concern about the lack of parking available if there are soccer games in progress. Brewster suggests "Shoe Pond" as an urban birding event and the members agree that this would be good. Maxner states that she will continue to work on the schedule and update members as she progresses. Updates Web site Maxner displays the home web page created by the intern, Rich Laughton, which contains drop down menus with proposed links to all of the pages, such as mission statement, synopsis of acreage of open space, contact information, and Google Earth maps. McCrory states that she would like to meet again with the subcommittee and review this CD. Maxner states she will get a copy for the subcommittee members and mentions that Kate Newhall has offered to help staff this subcommittee. Ril!hts ofWav and CR's . Tall Tree Drive- Maxner states she spoke with Roy Gelineau who sent a letter to the homeowner's attorney requesting a response. . Brackenbury Lane - Coffey states that Maxner has the map and this can be discussed a another time . CR for AMG property - Buchsbaum distributes his draft of a letter for AMG requesting a dialogue about some of that land under CR, he asks that the Committee review and provide comments at the next meeting. Open Space Meeting February 6, 2008 Page 5 of5 OSRD Application Maxner states that the Planning Department has received its first application under the Open Space Residential Design Ordinance (OSRD). She suggests forming a subcommittee, which could review these applications as they are submitted. Buchsbaum, McCrory, and Kampersal agree to participate in the subcommittee by reviewing applications and writing a letter for the Planning Board. Kiosk Installation Sally Milligan kiosk draft - Buchsbaum distributes, and states that Mary Reilly has done the final design in the past and hopes that she will agree to do this one. Newspaper Articles Coffey distributes her article about the Open Space and Recreation Plan and the members speak well of it. She states that she will get it to the Citizen when the City puts the Open Space Plan on the website. Other Business No other business comes before the Committee. Beaudoin motions to adjourn, seconded by Brewster. Motion passes 6-0. The meeting is adjourned at 9:50 PM.