Open Space Committee Regular Meeting March 4, 2015

OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE – SUBJECT TO APPROVAL
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES – MARCH 4, 2015

CALL TO ORDER
First Selectman Lisa Heavner called the regular meeting of the open space committee to order at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. The meeting was held in the main meeting room of the Simsbury Town Offices located at 933 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT. In addition to Ms. Heavner, in attendance were the following committee members: Ferg Jansen, Don Rieger and Derek Peterson. Staff included Director of Planning and Community Development Hiram Peck; Director of Culture, Parks and Recreation Gerard Toner; and Town Engineer Jeff Shea.

PUBLIC AUDIENCE
John Schaefer of 16 Lostbrook Road in West Simsbury, made comments on the Ethel Walker Woods Master Plan and the Forest Management Plan. Overall, he commended the consultants for preparing a comprehensive and thorough plan.

He did have some concerns. He urged the town to guard against developing the woods too intensely, or making the entire site accessible. He suggested unmarked trails should not be blazed or closed off. He questioned the need to create a parking lot at the corner of Stratton Brook and Bushy Hill Road. Mr. Schaefer was concerned that the tone of the management plan was biased toward management of the woods as a productive stand of trees that will generate periodic income. Some tree removal is part of maintaining a healthy forest, but he stressed that the current atmosphere of an old, minimally disturbed wood is supportive of native understory flora and fauna.

Mr. Schaefer said that any rules for the woods should prohibit fires within the woods, and that people should clean up after their dogs if they defecate on the trail. He asked why the forest management plan doesn’t address all of the adjacent town-owned property as the master plan does; and should the pond behind the spillway at the primary trail access, which has silted in significantly, should it be dredged or allowed to be filled in. He said guidelines should be created to when it is appropriate to plow the Blue Trail North.

REVIEW MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 4, 2015
No changes were made.

OPEN SPACE INVENTORY UPDATE
Mr. Rieger said the open space inventory list he created now includes endangered species indicators, and special habitat indicators. He said with those additions, the inventory is about done.

1 OLD BRIDGE ROAD UPDATE
A public informational meeting about the property will be held March 19 at 6 p.m. in the program room of the Simsbury Public Library. There was some discussion on how to get the word out to the public and various organizations, as well as going over those who would be invited specifically.

Mr. Shea said the meeting would include a presentation that would cover subjects such as: the background of the property, regulatory issues, zoning issues, the condition of the structure, and explaining the flood plain issues, for example.

Next steps were discussed, but what happens next will, in part, be dependent on what the public says at the informational meeting.

MILONE & MACBROOM FOR ETHEL WALKER PARCEL UPDATE
Mr. Shea said in a few weeks the report should be ready for release to the public. He said a site visit, with the report in hand, has not happened due to the weather.

Once the report is released there was discussion about having a meeting with various boards and commissions to get feedback.

Mr. Shea suggested someone from Ethel Walker should have an opportunity to look at the report and comment on it. Ms. Heavner said if the school had done any study or had any recommendations that are pertinent that would also be useful.

There was mention of what to call the parcel, but it was unclear whether the naming issue was written into the agreement. Having town counsel go over the agreement was mentioned.

DISCUSSION OF INTERNSHIP POSSIBILITIES
Mr. Toner has been in touch with a young man who is a sophomore at Trinity College with GIS experience, who submitted an application and seems to be a good fit. He said there is some money set aside in his budget for a 10-week internship, 30-35 hours per week. The intern would work under the supervision of his faculty advisor and Mr. Toner’s department.

Mr. Toner has also been in touch with the Yale School of Forestry about another internship possibility. He met with Julius Pasay from Yale and Mr. Pasay thought the situation was better suited for use as a teaching lab. Independent study and graduate study work were also suggestion as possibilities.

Mr. Peterson asked what the end result might be: Would the town get a useful report or recommendation? Mr. Toner said that was the idea.

All were in agreement that this is a good partnership to build on with great potential.

OPEN SPACE STEWARDSHIP POLICY
The possibility of selling open space land, such as Dewey Farm, has spurred on the idea to create a policy dealing with the sale of open space. That thought then grew into creating a policy for acquisition, and stewardship, as well as possibly crafting a mission statement.

The board of selectmen has asked the open space committee to come up with a policy on the selling of open space. Ms. Heavner said she did not find much information to build off of. The idea is to get something in place, at least for sales, by November 2015. Staff is doing research and more discussions on the process will follow. Other boards and commission will also be part of developing the policy.

Mr. Jansen said a policy would be a useful decision-making tool for the town’s 2017 Plan of Conservation and Development.

Mr. Rieger said even with policies in place judgments will have to be made. Mr. Peterson said the town has to be willing to say no if no value is seen in the land.

OTHER BUSINESS
There was some discussion on the senior center issue. Mr. Rieger mentioned some state-owned land in Talcott Mountain State Park.

ADJOURN
Ms. Heavner made a motion to adjourn at 5:25 p.m. Mr. Rieger seconded, and the committee voted to adjourn.

Respectfully submitted,

Stephanie Riefe