Today is the 18th of November. I call to order the open space committee meeting. Um pretty full agenda today. I figured out if we to be on time we got six minutes for items. So I don't think we're going to hit that. Um >> we're always on time. >> Yeah.
>> So just uh for the record and there's a couple new faces in the room. Let's just quick go around introduction um who you are um committee you are on or affiliation um and maybe where you live. So Bill Hoffman I'm a co-chair um with David on the open space committee um and
I live over in uh 21 town. >> I'm Mike Carbone. I am the clerk for the open space committee and I live over on Scotland Road. >> Uh I'm Satie. I am assistant planner for Newbury. Um, and kind of the open space
committee designated staff person. Um, and I live actually in rally. >> Sean Mroy, open space committee member. That's it. I live on Main Street. >> Uh, John Rean, Central Street, uh,
Recreation Committee and Port of Boston Committee. >> Hi folks, Gerard W. I'm guest attending this evening. I live out island uh and I also work at Marramac Valley Planning Commission and uh happy to run with you folks tonight.
Oh, David Powell five can't way and co-chair together with Bill um and all the other things you could take for granted. >> And Jim Dueling uh 51 Orchard Street in Biffield
Open Space Committee also on the border of Austin committ John and Sean. >> All right, great. Thanks. So um in the first agenda item we have assistance queries um because Gerard um wasn't put
on the agenda um we thought maybe Gerard you could be the citizen you're from the town um so as I understand it you are um we work for May Valley Planning Commission. Um Sean had you come because
>> Yeah. Okay. Um I guess you're um knowledgeable of climate change. I don't know exactly the rules. >> I have some experience with that. I I have some experience personally in the organization that I oversee uh has a great deal of expertise in that space
and I have sat previously on the open space committee for the town and then some years ago I was on the beach committee um for the town. And so I have some experience that perhaps can contribute. One of my interests in being here this evening was to find out where
you folks are in the process and understand if there's anything that we can do from an organizational standpoint to help you along. Sadi um attends our planners meetings quite often. And so she's familiar with our organization, how it functions, and so really want to kind of learn from you as I mentioned,
but also figure out how I might be able to contribute um into the space either from a resident perspective or from from our organization's perspective. >> Yeah. And I just wanted to say um we have used MVPC already for a lot of um
they've been a huge help with our mapping. Um we worked with Steve Lopez and Sophie Ulick. Um, and then Hannah Muggson, I know she's been out, but she's also been a huge help, and we definitely plan to catch up with her when she's back in the office. Um, but I
guess yeah, at the moment we're kind of just in the um we're in the narrative drafting stage. Um, and actually, um, we've also been as a group, uh, organizing a sort of like boards and committees little like feedback
outreach. Um and we've received um a response so far um from the chair of the comm's comm which is great. Um so [snorts] we're kind of just in that stage of like feedback um drafting um and yeah I think at this meeting
we'll talk more about um like our like near-term goals for you know next steps in that process. >> And you folks are drafting the narrative all yourselves. That's that's pretty impressive. In addition to working, we have this other job for you guys. So,
that's a place where um maybe we can can help you guys. Um obviously a lot of expertise here. The uh regulations from uh Melissa Cryan's office for how the open space plans are compiled has obviously recently been updated. And so
um things that you probably are trying to tackle is like what's our inventory of the ADA compliance at your different properties? That's one thing that we could check in on and maybe help you a little bit with. >> They got rid of that. There's They did entirely.
>> Yeah. So, it's no longer in the workbook. >> Yeah. The There was a section on ADA compliance that they got rid of. Um, but they were saying like if you know we want to include that as part of our planning plan, but it's just not required.
>> It's not a requirement. Let's go. Yeah. because she was wrestling with that the last time we had chatted and I thought she was going to get a little more some feedback. >> So the plan also has to be ultimately just reviewed by environment valley planning commission and so as you're
compiling the different components if you're early in the phase we could maybe suggest um ideas or concepts or things that you want to make sure you cover. If you've already drafted some narrative um and you feel like it's in a place where a review, our staff could review against
the different criteria from uh the workbook um or if it's really just a matter of once the product's completed and you want us to just sign off on it and write you a letter of endorsement, that's really the sort of minimum role that we can play. But um want to make it as as uh robust for you folks as
possible and and lend anything we can to that. Um, you touched on something that I think is really perceptive, which is your outreach to other boards and commissions because obviously something like this isn't effective if if not everyone has some knowledge of it and some buy in. And so when you guys are
making decisions about maybe even action plan parcels, places where you think the town really should should be focusing on future acquisition, having other boards be aware of that and aware of your priorities helps them as plans or projects come before them. They at least
are aware of the town's overall perspective on some of this. Have you already conducted your survey to residents? Okay. >> Yeah. And I think we'll probably do another like public meeting um soon when
we um are looking for feedback about like the action plan that we've created and if anything's missing or if >> Yeah, we would normally do a second public meeting to review, pardon me, to
review when we've gotten to the point of drafting um our goals and and the action items. which which come out of that. Um and then anything that comes out of that feeds back to modify maybe a direction
that we need to re-emphasize or whatever. Sure. I mean a lot of you guys know this question answer this question but like how much support can we I mean obviously we don't have a budget for this so how much support do we get from here valley
and can we draw on that >> so any of our communities get what's called technical assistance time which um is up to 35 hours of the community and say that you guys might have used a little bit for some GIS along the way we also have some other funds that are connected to that that are through our
state's district local technical assistance is called just fancy terms to say it's some time allocated to help communities for things like this. So we can't write the plan for you obviously but we can through a request that SAT would help facilitate that comes into our office say hey we want to set aside
this number of hours it doesn't cost you anything. Um we are public nonprofit and it's a regional organization. So our intent is to help the communities to advance different plans and objectives like this and to add some regional context to them so that some of your
neighbors are having some of the same maybe aspirations for the types of properties or if it's um continuity of parcels that you're maybe looking to acquire there's some maybe regional connection there. That's the other element that we can add to that. So, the process is pretty simple. When you get to a place where you're like, "Hey,
maybe this would be a place where we want to be helpful uh or ask for help, you could, I guess, work through safety and then um just have a request submitted." probably if there's a bigger piece to it, you're like, "Hey, we'd like you to do this now and these other pieces. Maybe we could just put together
a very bulleted um succinct scope of work that still would be for that time, but just so that we're all clear on what your expectation is of us and and there's no misunderstanding. Oh, I thought you guys going to do all this other, you know, that kind of thing."
>> So, we could hypothetically like h send you guys like a really rough draft and you could like tell us if we're on the right track or like what we're missing. Absolutely. Yeah. I I would suggest if you're at that phase, rough draft, and you said you've already been working with Steve on the maps, right? They had some drafts with you guys.
>> So, kind of keep that on its own track. Obviously, you got that already um covered, but maybe it's like we look at an initial draft now, provide some guidance and be like, okay, let's maybe embellish on some of these sections and you guys obviously parse that out among yourselves and then maybe we would do a
review as you kind of are wrapping it up or something like that. And that's a place where we're really trying to dig in a little deeper to the narrative and provide any final feedback, but we should be able to target at least some of the things we should address if we're not seeing them at the outset. So your
draft comes pretty close to hitting that mark. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> That's great. Yeah. Um, one of the challenges we've had I think a little bit is um trying to get a grasp of whether the
workbook from the state is something that we need to be um how should I say uh is that something that is flexible would you say uh in terms of I don't know how what the state expects to see or with
these things >> we've seen them get pushed back if they if they don't adhere to the requirements, I think, you know, you obviously have to address the specific sections that they're referencing. But within that, it is supposed to be the community's plan. So, um, do you have an example of where you're thinking maybe
you want to >> Well, the one I'm working on is climate change and that's a new section, too. So, >> new to the open space process as well. Yeah. In fact, I think we only found one town that submitted one that was accepted
>> and it's a very similar town in some ways, but it's not coastal. Yeah. Which >> seems to be what, you know, our biggest issue in terms of climate change. But anyways, u I think maybe the the directions in the workbook seem like
they're fairly preliminary as well. So it's kind of a little bit difficult to um get a picture of what I mean. So so when I'm doing this, I have like sort of two things in my mind. One is I want to make sure I hit all the points that are in the
uh the workbook so that it doesn't just get kicked back. But I also want to hit the things that are important to the town whether they're in the workbook or not. Um so um and keep the thing you
know somewhat condensed. >> Yeah. So that's a lot of those are a lot of things that we I think in just about every section is this way I would say judging from what I've seen. Um anyways um I guess to to get to something that uh
might be helpful from you guys would be if you are seeing other towns say if you had other examples or uh anything concrete that sort of say okay how does our stuff compare to that is it in the
same ballpark or way out in the field certainly you guys no problem I think it'd be great to have you guys review we've that eventually once we feel comfortable that we're passing draft >> I'll be honest with you with regard to the climate impact section this is very
new space and the communities that we've worked for with thus far space haven't had to trip into this yet. So our work in that area has been more via the state's municipal vulnerability preparedness program and our hazard mitigation planning. That's really where we have kind of tunnneled into this.
However, it's interesting from an open space perspective because maybe those are some of the issues you're tackling like does the town have an appetite for buying parcels for flood storage that are open space because that's obviously what the open space process could facilitate or have you looked at maybe
what roadways are inaccessible because of this where maybe uh a town parcel might be potentially beneficial for an alternate route. You know, those would be the kinds of things that I would imagine would be issues that as a resident I would want to think about.
I've noticed past um couple weeks the town just installed some signs on the way out to my house. It says when flooded, turn around, don't drown. Have you seen Yes. Um and I was like, "Wow, I wonder where that came about." You know, who who decided that that was the messaging? I was sort of that was
curious to me. And the one that's leaving the island is kind of too late. If you made it that far, you probably already landed in the marsh, especially if it was night, you know. >> But um so but that kind of thing, you know, those are the issues that we as residents are going to face. So how do we how do we get around an area or how
do we make sure that there's access from an emergency response perspective maybe to certain areas? and could open space or town owned, not necessarily um passive recreational open space parcels, but more like um parcels of the town
owns that could facilitate access to locations. How might those be called into action if necessary or something like that? Those would be some of the issues. >> I think the town is working on both of those things simultaneously. Is that correct? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Right. And I think part of what we're
trying to maybe avoid is lot of overlap but you want want to cover it all but there's no point you can say you can say same thing three times sure either so >> um but that kind of input where I mean I think part of the what
I can only speak for myself one of the things I'm missing out on is you know how does where does okay where does open space where do open space issues in terms of climate Where are those unique and not
necessarily part of a hazard plan or not necessarily part of looking at resilient lands and stuff like that? What what part can we say, you know, okay, so this is the part that isn't going to be covered in those two documents and we can embellish on a little bit.
>> Well, it could be a little bit of both. I think to your point, you don't want to just have redundant texts in both, but the the purpose of the hazard mitigation plan is to identify all hazards, not just um ones that might be flooding or or assisted from having open space where, you know, on the open space side,
you're talking about places that the town might want to purchase or activate different parcels for different reasons. So, they can kind of come at it from the same perspective. You might be explaining the value of the parcel from from flood storage perspective. that's not going to necessarily get as articulated in HMP. It might be just
say, "Hey, this is an issue. The town should pursue land for flood storage." And then you're explaining the why and the where. You see how those kind of can complement each other because that's going to ultimately need to be in your action plan. You say, "Hey, listen, these are the areas that the town if if
an opportunity arises would like to purchase that type of thing or acquire." Okay. >> Okay. Yeah. I I in in how we've divided things up, section three of the community setting, yeah, is in my camp.
And in the workbook this year, the new workbook, the updated one, they specifically say two to three pages. If you go to older plans, >> including ours from 2010, >> they are 20 25 tons of data, a lot of
repetition from master plans and things like that. So I think if we hand off a copy sort of vetting like how much detail how much data really needs to be in that section >> you know in the sense that the community setting and the regional context and all
that kind of >> it's it's just it can be descriptive you can get way in the weeds which I don't think we want to do given it's only 82 and they want the maps on top of that. Yeah, I think I'm trying to think of the two communities that we just reviewed this year. I think Salsbury is one of
them, but let me check my notes when we get back to the office cuz I know we just reviewed two. So, to your point, we'll be able to maybe draw some examples there. Our environmental staff is pretty adapt to this. I'm just a figurehead, honestly. >> Sure. >> I didn't say that, but um but no, you
know, that's it's a struggle for me because I I think how do you describe Newbury in two to three pages? like there's so many different facets to how and what you'd want to explain. Are we or are we missing some pieces if we're trying to truncate that space? And so maybe that's some of the work that you
guys could try and obviously say, "Look, of all these sections, what do we think are the most important to bring forward? There's obviously some historic elements that we want to talk about. probably the vast large percentage of open space that this town has compared to others partially as a function of having federal land. But, you know, maybe those
would be the things that you guys could help elevate as far as what you think are most important and we can kind of match that against some of these other communities to see, you know, like how does that stack up? Maybe that's already kind of what we're thinking about. Yeah, we we actually have a a very
particular situation in Newbury um from my perspective and that is okay more than 50% of the town is essentially not up for any kind of development or building. Okay. Um and when you look at
that more than 50% all right nearly 45 plus% of that is owned by three major players okay the state the federal government and the trustees that's not to say that green belt doesn't have some
too and that means that our relation the town's relationship to open space has in many ways to through and together with those organizations. And in fact, the town possesses very
little >> directly. >> Directly. Yeah. And and the one open space that the largest single open space in the town is what? The beach. >> All right. which is of course a highly
contentious area which um doesn't stay the same right um in the sense that since I've lived in the town 30 plus years that beach literally has changed its character as you well know totally
um and so I think when when I look at what we're dealing with we're essentially dealing with a situation that I can't find replicated. I don't expect to find it replicated, but I can't find it even very comparable
in any of the other towns in the state. And I think we need to recognize that that means that the kind of goals that we have as a community have to factor in with the other players
here. um because it doesn't make any sense. One of the things I found interesting is that one of the requirements is to show show the relationship of the community to the surrounding area. Okay. And the standard
map does the locust bit and that shows the little town that sits there in the middle of Okay. And there's absolutely no encouragement in the workbook to do what I think we have to do and that is to say
essentially nearly all of the properties in fact I think it's true to say all but the the trustees and the maybe the the private ones they all overlap in a very significant way into all the surrounding
communities. So that is our real relationship in the sense of talking about where we are. Um and there's you know to me that is that's the kind of
function that your guys in mapping can do because pulling that out and suppressing all the other kind of information for those other towns is is important I think to us for to talk
about. Um one of the things that came up was the fact that for example um we have part of the common pasture but our part of the common pasture is very minimal compared with the part that
is exists in in port but that's a classic example of where the two communities came together to achieve the conservation permanent conservation of that area together also with help from for example
from green belt and and and the state. >> So I think that needs to be an important part of our message is that we're not the only players and also sadly we have no
um economic clout because the so far the town has chosen not to have any. Right. I think you bring up a good point. One, Mercedes, maybe we want to just kind of prompt um in the mapping with Steve to be thinking about some of those different um layers of either, you know,
private nonprofits or other state properties just so you can see that connectivity to other communities, but also maybe as you're thinking about the strategy, um those different organizations can help um cost share on acquisitions as well. Uh so that in a
community that we all know is pretty fiscally conservative that might be a good strategy to pursue is what kinds of more you know partnerbased collaborations with those different groups could you facilitate to help them get excited about projects that come up
in new >> great excellent um well this this is extremely helpful informative we've we've I had one of from my Mac Valley come and speak with us early in the beginning and so it's nice to have your perspective and it's nice that you live in the town so you
can directly relate. Um does anybody else have any other questions for Gerard as we move on to our next item >> and you're welcome to stay as long as you want or leave. >> Yeah, hang on. So my thought would be just as as you crystallize your thoughts around this. We're here however it can
be useful to you but we also don't want to be intrusive. So view us as kind of walking along with you and not looking to supersede you guys in the process. So if you you kind of want us at different little drips and drafts, let's just try and shape that so then I can help our environmental staff kind of weave that into their plan so they know when when
we can be helpful for you guys. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. We appreciate that. Thanks Sean for this. >> Sean, thanks for making the introduction. >> Thanks for your great talk there. >> Excellent. Okay. So, um the next uh
agenda item is um work with the recreation committee. So, back in the 8th, I believe of October, Sean and Christina went and spoke with your committee at your meeting. Um briefly, I think went over some of the results of the survey. We provided those to you. Um
a part of this, um plan that we're writing is obviously recreation. Um and so included in that, I think it's technically I think it's like 6B. Um it's uh creating goals for the community, um recreation goals. Um so
you provided us with um you reviewed some of those results and you provided us with um some goals. Um and these these I think are really great that we can build [clears throat] off of. Um I guess when you are these goals from your
plan or are these ones that you crafted up in response to um the survey? >> Uh there's been a flurry of activity other than town report stuff. >> So it it's hard to it's hard to actually point to any one thing that got us
going. But um Satie gave me a section of the workbook and it's like yeah this makes sense. we had been uh for the town report, you know, coming up with a list of goals, etc. So, it it it wasn't extra work. It was just work to
delegate. Uh I didn't know, you know, you guys have expectations on page counts and all that stuff, but I mean that in a nutshell, I think was what um what we've been that's our short term anyway. you know, finish the Central
Street Fields, uh, projects. Um, keep an open ear to the ground for any other land available. We've got the Kent Way land. Um, that's kind of, you hear the name every once in a while, banded about.
Um, in discussions with Tracy, uh, the ball field over behind the library was always kind of a no man's land. Uh, and she's it seems to us that she's kind of put that in our plate, which is great. So, we can do a
plan for that. Some kind of capital improvement over there. Um, and um, I did not put any trails cuz I think you guys are all over the trails. Uh, I could put it in there, but it seemed like you guys really seemed like
that was coming out of your plan was the the trail maps, etc. >> Mhm. Um, I think it's awesome that we both agree on those because I think the art committee wants to see that. >> Oh, sure. Well, we do, too. So, it's good. I think that working together on this, I'm I'm happy to see that we have
a lot of the the mutual interests, I think, and vision for the town. >> Yeah, >> I think it's really it's great working. It's been good working with the um you guys and and hope as this evolves, we can have your input. >> You guys have left us alone. I think that's that's been great. We got a we
got our own issues challenges. I just had a thought tonight too which was from city had asked for like border to Boston >> open space piece and I was like oh you know how's that working and I'm like gez you know that trail really will open up
open space. I mean that that's going to get access into that. So I that's that's where my piece is going to >> evolve from. It could probably go in there as well cuz I think recreation and the rail trails were kind of hand in hand. >> Yeah. >> Um just as open space, you know, we're
all kind of holding there's only a dozen of us working on on everything. >> Yeah. >> Um but that that was like a um eye opening like gez you know if we get access to Burns with the rail trail then there's a whole bunch of land there that
people don't have a lot of access to. True. >> Yeah. >> Or even if the trail were to go through the Great Meadow, then All right. We've got a challenge getting the rail trail from New Train Station and you're going to hear from me.
>> Yeah. Actually, I'm glad that you brought this up because um I saw the original crossing over 95 there and sort of we wondered why Scotland Road and Masto was kind of pushing that as sort of the most sort of immediately
available route and obviously you're probably thinking like it's like there's there's some other opportunities. I don't want to ride my bike on Scotland Road, but you guys where you guys come in is the like new report's talking about Hail Street and if they're going to build
something on Hail Street crossing over 95, then it would make a lot of sense for us to head in that direction. Like, let's keep going, connect to Hail Street, and then we're on Low Street and we can get to the train station. So that all that engineering stuff is just we call that's
called the northern segment which would be from by field right over here by the uh post office. Um could go north to 95 crawl along 95 somehow. Uh and that you know you get to Scotland Road, you get to Hail Street,
you get to a cow tunnel, you know, all that stuff. There's >> ways to get over and I I've actually kind of thought of going over right here. on Central Street and then go up Fruit Street and then you you're actually pretty close to Martin Burns. But that's
what I'm most interested in your is your perspective on on how accessible or inaccessible or just hands off is Martin Burns. >> Yeah. So, um there's a staff person in our office who I really want you to connect with. His name is Patrick Reed. He's our transportation program manager.
And I've been talking with Patrick a lot about this behind the scenes. um the transportation program had applied for funding to explore some of these different options. >> He also has had some background conversations with some of the different groups that oversee this. I'd want you to talk with them directly. I think the
main concern was as you guys know I think there was some some discussion of hunting still being active in that space. >> And so that was kind of you know is that really true? Is that really still a very active thing? And and so could the two uses be mutually conducive or not
necessarily, but he'd be the best resource to speak with and when you guys are thinking about other ways to explore this, please loop him in. >> Yes, sure. He could also help go after for some grant funds to help you guys. >> In fact, I think I saw something online and and your guy your name was all over
not you in particular, but the group um and it was kind of about the same subject and I was like, "Wow, these guys have already thought about all this." So, >> and there was there's one study that was done 2010ish and that's where I think the Scotland road thing came from.
Anyway, I I don't want to steal your time, but that Patrick >> it does connect to point these are the ways to connect into recreational or passive >> and it was the thought just occurred to me tonight that yeah, this is a great way to get people into open space. You know, it's accessible if it's going to
be par. We just did parking um uh along the trail which is great. You know, that was a concern. Um so yeah, let me just interject. Some of the things you're talking about can be aspirational in an open space plan, too. You know, when you're thinking about
your action plan, you can say, "Hey, we want to promote um trail areas to access some of these different open space parcels." So, that could be some of the ways that you position why you might pursue some of these other routes for trail areas. So just keep that in mind as
>> how you approach some of this. >> John, have you had as a as a group conversations with uh fish and game? >> Patrick has as well. Patrick office has about
>> well you know I mean I know that that Pat is essentially you know horizontally opposed to any use of the ride of way through um >> Martin Burns >> through Martin Burns. But I think there
are interestingly some legal issues there where that right of way may not be in total control of fish and game. Yes. Well, because it's a ride of way
which belongs uh originally belongs to the railroad and then was transferred to whatever would have been New England electric. Yeah. Yeah. >> And then to
um National Grid, of course, a bunch of crooks, but never mind. Um well, they come from my my own home country, I'm ashamed to say. Uh anyway, um I have a feeling that something could be done to
have at least seasonal access, meaning that it wouldn't happen necessarily during the hunting season, but you know, I mean, I lived for 30 plus years on the corner of
Martin Burns. I mean, literally, my property was the the southwest peg. Okay? And I can tell you that the amount of hunting that goes on in there is very very minimal. now whether they've been
upgrading the road and a bunch of things recently but I really think that that there some pressure should be put on them to come up with better reasons for um sort of saying flatly no
>> um because of what it is because I don't think I I think essentially their their constituency is pretty small as as it turns out in
terms of real use. Um, and I mean, okay, so from the post office across Central Street to pick up to Fruit Street and beyond actually brings
you to the old downfall road section. >> Yes. >> Right. which then connects directly in into there are a whole system of trails in there >> you know um and frankly because I've
largely because I live where I did I monitored activity in there and a lot of it is not within the regulations of fishing game. Um, currently they have uh the target practice
range is closed except people are using it all the time and leaving all their brass behind which I mean there's a two dead giveaway. >> It's only closed seasonally though. So it's open except for hunting season >> and >> you know with a permit that you can get
from the state. >> You can go in there and shoot. >> Yeah, >> it's [clears throat] legal and it's heavily used. I would >> Yeah. Like go there Saturday morning. You have to get there at 5:30 in the morning just to get in because they met a cap how many people go in and then
during deer season although you don't see them people aren't getting there even prior to I mean so it is it's an important area and I and I think your point is well made though maybe there's some compromise that could be made if that's the only way to get this trail through maybe that there's some
compromises that can be made an important space >> for you know for hunters and outdoorsmen people that want to get out I mean I've used it myself and good spot really, >> right? you know, and they take I mean, I don't, you know, just from my dealings with Fish and Wildlife over the years,
you know, I mean, they're they're a wild life first, you know, organization, not a people first organization, you know, like their mission is wild places, you know, and places that don't have human impact, you know, is is a prime focus of
theirs, you know, and with that not existing trail systems are, you know, common and typical in some of their spaces, but they're not pro new travel systems. >> No, you know, like >> the other thing is the current practice
that's going on there I find really confusing in that they have essentially upgraded the road so that it more accessible. They don't keep the bars up to keep vehicle traffic
out. Okay? They don't bother to do that. They've done away with the two bars that were the road goes in and then it forks. Okay? And it used to be a one-way system and they've now done away with the one-way system and there's no point on
the whole thing at which any sizable vehicle could pass a pickup truck. So I mean you know and they don't seem to be very responsible to what you know just essentially to
sensible use as as it used to have. And I I'm I'm sort of very confused by that. I have to say I got a a pleasant response when I said that the range was being used and sent them a picture of
the brass I picked up which would be you know um which which by the way was not only um handguns but was long gun brass too. So which uh I think is something of
a no no as as well. Um so anyway um I I I think you know that um it's a resource which and it's huge. I mean it it sits right in the middle of the town in in a very important way.
[snorts] Yeah. Anyway, >> don't mess with my orange bike helmet. [laughter] So that was a little bit of a tangent. So, let's bring it back down to the um recreation goals. Um has everybody else
had an opportunity to review these, maybe make some comment, and maybe we can decide this is a good start. How are we going to work this into the plan? >> Yeah, I think we can use this kind of this numbered list to kind of just start
drafting our section six, which I can spearhead this week. >> Okay. >> All right. If you need help with elaborating, Satie, just Yeah. >> Yeah. Awesome. Thank you. >> You can go down that rabbit hole. >> Yeah. Appreciate it.
Do I gather that um from what you said, John, that um there's no one individual outside of your committee in terms of being a town employee who has sort of
line responsibility for maintenance, supervision of our >> No, there's no such thing as the recreation department, >> right? And there's nobody, you know, one of the things I was trying to figure out
is um I know that, you know, you were self funding. >> Mhm. >> Right. But there is an item in the budget, the town budget, which is what I think 50,000 a year currently.
>> Yeah. Um, and does that cover things like um the DPW doing the mowing or >> transfer that happens is the DPW's maintenance of the land, uh, the expenses of the fieldhouse, uh, and
that that money we've learned as the days go by is very restricted. Um, it it's it's I don't I don't want to call it the wrong name. It's not an enterprise fund money that comes in from the town, but it is to be spent on
Central Fields um in support of Central Fields. So, we just put a playground in there and that was like marginal whether that was an improvement to Central Fields or not. In my mind, that was kind of a no-brainer.
um the purchase of pickle ball nets should not be you know that was just again it's just kind of marginal like all right this is in support of the basketball court we put lines for you know so now people are using them >> so that this budget cycle we're actually
going to ask for a small budget so we could buy basketball so we could buy >> and that it to me is the start of like legitimizing recreation as a entity a time entity. You know, Salsbury did
it. >> They started with part-time like 20 years ago. They went full-time and it's just it's turned into uh community wellness is my new buzz word. You know, like let's not just say it's for recreation. Let's say we'll
merge Council of Aging with recreation and the gym that the seniors use during the day can be used by kids at night. kind of is my little mantra, >> right? Cuz one other thing, >> but there is no in fact we're behind on some of this budget stuff cuz we've got no one,
>> you know, like Tracy goes out and gives all the packets out, you know, here you guys do this, you guys do that. We get it by email if elected, you know, kind of >> Yeah. >> Someone needs to raise their hand and say, you know, walking trail, you know.
So who who seems to make those decisions currently? I mean, do they >> There is none. There actually there really isn't. >> Do they go through? >> We we we technically, I guess, report to the board of SW. So if we if we want something, we could go to
>> Yeah. But what I'm getting at is the the money currently is spent with the the select board directing how it gets spent or is it entirely done by? Uh
>> that's a good question. Um, again, I'll go back to pickle ball nets. We we purchased pickle ball nets, but it was in relation to supporting the council on aging's program to have pickle ball, >> right? >> So, they use our fields. Uh, I think we
actually want to pay for them, but maybe send for them. I don't know. So, it it whatever it is is technical, you know, it's just like a things seem to go along. you can call the highway department and if something's broken, they'll fix it. And you know, kind of
play well in the sandbox with everybody. >> But, uh, >> right, >> if if if if it came to uh buying picnic tables, you know, let's let's put picnic tables and central or let's even better, let's put trees there, you know, let's
[clears throat] put some shade trees by the playground with the bench. that gets a little iffy like the path of how we go to go about doing that is >> all right. So this um the list that you
sent okay which I find very encouraging because it mentions things that that I think we need to think about. Um but interestingly many of those things or some of those things are
um areas where the town will have to make decisions and our past track record of decision ain't too good. >> Yes. you know, because I I think it fair to
say that the um ironically the top lot was financed by CO. >> Yes. >> Meaning the CO funds >> as well as the repairs at the library
>> and also many years previously the town spent which still sticks in my gullet because I was around when it happened. uh almost a quarter of a million dollars to buy what you refer to as the Kent Way
property, >> which has never been developed, largely because the costs of developing it were never thought about when that purchase was made. Uh and
unfortunately we seem to have a what shall I say a habit of of rushing out doing something without any sense. And this is why I think this list is is a really you
know it needs to go I think almost wholly in into our plan. I really do. um because it it's addressing stuff that um just simply keeps sort of
falling off the table or whatever um and and gets done in a and it's nothing to do with you folks cuz I think you folks do a terrific job but for example the path from Manda Fields to the high school
>> that actually is currently breaking all all kinds of conservation commit type, you know, I mean, it's it's a DP D nightmare. Um, yet at the same time,
it would be a vast improvement if there were a a very um usable se through all four seasons connection there and would make >> it's a beautiful area.
>> Yeah. Out there just fabulous. Yeah. >> Would make the case for putting in your walking path. >> Have you ever heard of it as it's an evacuation route for the high school? Have you ever heard that? >> Oh, it is. >> I I I've heard that.
>> That just came up actually. >> Okay. >> Like if there was some crisis, they would evacuate two Central Street Fields >> to a right through. Okay. And it just like my mind exploded.
>> All right. So, someone in a wheelchair or >> Well, no, there's actually it's not that wet. It's kind of wet. >> Seasonally wet. >> A little bit more. >> And there's a little bit of a a bridge, we'll say. >> Well, yeah.
Is the loop marsh loop trail there or is it >> I don't think it's called the Marsh Loop Trail. It it's you can leave if you go in at Central Phoenix and you go down the hill, you can actually walk to Triton. I was just it's it's just there
and the kids some kids use it. >> Yeah. In in the corner cross country coach has got his eye on it. >> So that happens be interesting. That's different. >> Yeah. No, there's other stuff up there. Yeah. >> Okay. But I mean [clears throat] it's
been done with sort of um you know spare pallets from Home Depot kind of approach. All of which is you know awful no no. But anyway um that's a good example of something where
>> you know a little planning >> and not that much money would really [clears throat] change the nature of that connection. >> Yeah. To see the circles. I mean, >> so it on the map here it says >> open protected space.
You guys map >> I would think that's this area here. >> As opposed to state land or townland or >> Yeah. And we're doing you guys are doing my work here. We can get back on your agenda. >> I mean given that section six which is
the analysis of needs has a management list >> on the checklist management >> one of the items. So everything >> Oh yeah the action plan I said oh management then we get we get some kind of recreation >> section seven is the actual action plan.
So you know >> the point of this document down the workbook specifically mentions >> management. >> That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Right. >> Right.
>> Yeah. >> And uh actually um some of the uh state grants also talk about recreational management. >> So there is grant money available. I mean once we have an open space
>> exactly the stock and given we're going to have this in six months or whatever. But we also need to learn the lesson I think we did from our application to get monies for you know a consultant to to do [clears throat] a lot of this and
that is that um our chances of of getting money were close to zero because of the nature of what we wanted to do and the kind of community we are and the focus that was in fact posed for
for that kind of funding which you know at that point just didn't cover >> you know so I wouldn't get too excited about >> having state funds well one thing I did notice is um that uh there are there's a
consideration given to towns that are categorized as characterized sorry as rural then Newbury does fall into that you know um so in other words uh when it comes to
these I mean I think if I if I understand what you're saying is you go to a place like Lynn or Medford or something like that you know that they're getting money from the state to help with their recreational directors and what have you and that's where a lot of the emphasis has been this
Um, but I think there is an actual initiative to sort of get some of that out into some of the more rural areas like Toddfield. >> What happened? So I mean it behooves us to
get this report together. >> I we just need a report so we can start doing this. But it it does bring up the issue of um with the with you know just who would be responsible then would be I know right now we're looking at Kristen
as kind of our uh go-to person for when you know if we ever apply for grants to acquire open space >> would the same thing you know who would handle the recreation side of this you know
probably Kristen, but depends specifically what you're talking about. I was in the be question for her. >> So, this is this is all great conversation. Um, and so I think we're okay now. We have um an action item after this meeting on incorporating
these uh rec committee goals into the plan. >> And then if you want to bounce them off us, um, we'll just put it into the Google document, I guess, and we can review it and we can comment on it. >> Yeah, >> everybody's good with that. >> Good. Okay, great. Before we move on, I
just wanted to sit down in the corner. >> Are you here for any specific reason? Do you have some questions or >> uh No, I'm simply interested sitting in kind of just getting a feel. I didn't uh realize quite how intimate it was. I thought it was going to be a slightly
more like >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Are you interested in getting involved in open space or >> Um maybe a little bit. Um, I'm just kind of interested in seeing what the meeting is about, kind of how it goes, and just what it's like.
>> If you have any questions, just speak up. >> Thanks for coming. >> Excellent. Okay, so next on the agenda, um, we had a request to write up a one page or so from Tracy, our town administrator, on um, our activities
over the last year. This is for the annual town report. Um, Satie, last time we spoke, you I think you volunteered to do that. Um, is that still something you want to do? >> Yeah, I mean I Well, I kind of just wanted to right now at this meeting um
talk about it a little bit. Um, it's it's kind of weird the way it's they um the process like we're so this this report right now that they need we need to submit by Thursday is for fiscal year 2025. So
July 2024 to June 2025 is what we have to report on. So we have to that's a lot of that was before I was even working even as an intern with you guys. So if you have any I was thinking of I I kind of just started writing like a general like you know the committee got back
together in 2024 after you know some absence during co and stuff. Um but and then you know they've they had you guys brought me on as an intern, Kristen brought me on as an intern to kind of be
the staff, you know, liaison and then um kind of started formulating the process for how to complete the plan. So um >> yeah, if you guys have any, you know, >> thoughts about that, I think it's just going to be like a one pager. It doesn't have to be super detailed or anything like that.
>> One page. I think our meeting notes are [clears throat] obviously going to be the best thing. >> That's true. >> I would just plow through Mike's. His notes are great. >> So, I just plow through those and >> I I wrote the one last year, so I can send that to you just to show you what we submitted if that's
>> that would be very helpful. Yes. >> Okay. And then if I could just um I'll probably send it out to maybe you and David, but if anyone else wants to take a look before I submit it that I
cannot just send it out to everyone and I kind of just need like you're okay once before I submit it. Um because it's like a committee public facing document. So >> I'm fine with that. >> Okay. >> Okay. [snorts] agree.
>> Is there a drop dead date? >> Uh, well, she's Tracy's been telling all the committees November 21st, but she's also kind of been like, you know, end of November, so I'm trying to get it to her by Thursday. >> Possible. [snorts]
>> Okay. We'll be looking forward then. Um, great. All right. Thank you. Um, open space committee minutes. Um, has everybody um had an opportunity to read those? >> Y >> move to motion we accept.
>> Oh, before we do, I have one question cuz I didn't get them until well, I [snorts] did, but I couldn't find them uh till tonight. And that is I made some notes the night we were cuz we were on
Zoom, right? >> Yes. And [clears throat] Mike, my question to you is everybody [snorts] had fairly short simple
um ideas that and I didn't see those in the minutes about um [snorts] you know what we thought were important things. Did you >> for the goals and action plan? >> Yeah. You know, I mean, for example, on
my notes say Mike uh protecting um land improvement, stewardship, management, information. Christina willing to spend dollars on potential on developed land
funding bill, education outreach, willing to spend dollars. Um, not quite sure what that is, but anyway, talked about information. Jim talked
about the whole email issue. Um, >> I didn't call it out on a person byperson basis. I just summarized all of them under that OSRP goals/action plan paragraph in the minutes. >> See? >> Yeah. Well, I wonder whether they should
whether we wanted to sort of put them into the minutes at this point or not only in the you know because I don't >> I see what you're saying wasn't >> in terms of what's there looking at the
minutes again [snorts] I don't think okay Um, >> okay. You're talking about C, right? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. [snorts]
>> Okay. >> Yeah. I guess I just wanted to make sure that that everybody felt that what they brought up was covered. >> I mean, Jim, >> I don't remember. uh >> we don't
that's okay. No, but since we were doing a Zoom meeting, I thought that, you know, >> taking some notes while we were doing that uh was important to me to find out where people's heads were at. >> Okay,
>> I'm happy with it myself. >> So, I don't have any problems. Um, I I've also I kind of I was looking back at that specific part of the meeting recording and like to start drafting like just a list of action items that we
want to include. So, if >> I can upload that to the Google folder >> so that people can start looking at it and adding their own ideas too. If that works. The only thing I'm thinking is that that's you know um
there's a little bit of emphasis where two people say the similar things. So so that you know um and one of the things I didn't see here um was the money. That's that's kind of
what's missing, I think, like is is this idea of the question of funding and therefore um the fact that people more people said they were willing to see a small
increase and several people commented on that. >> Does that make any sense? >> There's a mention at the end of that section about the funding for the protection. Um, but it's just not sentence.
>> Yeah, there's questions with the greatest responses included. >> Yeah, I mean, >> and the funding of further protection of town own lands. So, that's the way I summarize that. I have to word that differently if you >> think it needs to be reflected
differently there. >> Yeah. Um, I I just think maybe I mean what are you saying? You think there's I don't find anything that specifically refers to that
>> in sec in this item C. I hate to be picky but um >> so it wasn't David the end and funding of further protection >> towns >> of the town. Yeah. Where's that?
>> Yeah. Where is that? Got weird. Okay. >> Okay. Yeah. >> That that doesn't >> But that's not what we were saying, is it? We weren't saying funding for further protection of
town lands because frankly we own so little. >> Well, I think that's what they intended was like funding more acquisition by the town. I think was the intention of my >> phrasing there based on the survey. Like people seem to support
>> the town buying more land, >> not protecting existing properties later. >> Yeah. Okay. or also contributing funds to improve what existed, >> you know, that might not have any improvements on them, you know, >> from the from the respondents.
>> Yeah. >> Okay. >> But if it needs to be [clears throat] worded different to be clear. Absolutely. >> I'm just going rereading it. That's my >> guess. Yeah. I just I guess I was reading it as saying
spending more money on what we have >> whereas I think most people who responded to the question because of the way the question was put were responding to essentially >> oh >> if you were saying spending money
>> in in a broader sense than that >> right and I think without pulling up those survey notes I think [clears throat] there was also consensus to put protections on existing town properties from the surveys too. So
that might be what that line means in the >> Google seems supportive to >> put a conservation restriction on a town piece or something like that to you know lock it up so to speak >> right >> from uh when we summarize the the survey results. So, okay, I see what you're
saying. >> But also to acquire but also to acquire. >> You talked about the upper and lower greens not having any permanent protection, which is pretty backy when you think about it. >> They wouldn't get covered under article 97, >> right?
>> The Greens wouldn't be covered under like [snorts] article 97 state. No, >> no, there's no protection for either of them 2/3 vote to do anything with them. Well, I I don't know. I mean, it wouldn't cost very much either. So, I
mean, talking of funding it. >> Yeah. >> And I don't know. >> There is this sort of assumption. Well, there's the confusion about the National Historic District, which people
seem to think protects the land. It doesn't protect the land. It protects changes to the federal any federally funded item that might be there like a roadway
or something that you can't do that because it's part of the National Historic Register as a district, but it doesn't have any other protections other than that. And um the couple of times I've raised it in the in the last year
or two um and everybody sort of said well why would we want to do that? And I was, you know, finally told the select board, well, because in the future the town could decide to sell the opera green
and there's nothing to prevent it at the present time except perhaps the population rising up and saying if we don't want to do that, but it would be so easy to protect it. And the same is
true of the lower green. Interesting. >> Yeah. Anyway, >> so I just added and and tell me if [snorts] this makes sense. So I the line funding of further protection of town owned lands and funds to acquire additional conservation and recreation properties by the town.
>> Yeah. Yep. Good. >> Okay. I hate to chime in on this issue, but that actually is one that um has come up in other open space plans is that you're not alone in the municipality owns parcels that don't have any permanent protection. But for all intents and purposes, the community
views it as an open space parcel. And so one of uh the strategies that other open space uh communities will pursue is for those parcels, they want to try and lock them down. And so that's one of the strategies in sort of their broader set of goals and strategies for some of the
parcels that are, you know, just town ownership. What's the choice? Some of them may be just surplus and and they're not as high value. Some of them are parcels that maybe you guys really want to prioritize over time. [snorts] >> Yeah, for sure.
>> Yeah. >> So, >> so can you move to approve them as [clears throat] >> approve with a >> Okay. Okay. Well, since I made the chain here, somebody else should make a motion. I'll make a motion.
Right. Who seconded? I'm sorry. >> That was Jim. >> Second. >> All in favor? That's all that matters. Right. >> All in favor. [snorts] >> Okay. And I'll send you those s updated as well.
>> Okay. So, um, everybody's been reviewing each other's sections. Not all sections have done, but um and not all of us have had the opportunity to review everything yet, but we do have on our agenda
discuss edits uh for section drafts. So Dave and I can say we put this on there cuz we wanted to make sure we're making progress on the report. I don't think we were going to spoken up and go comment by comment today. No, I I kind of wanted
this to item to be, you know, if anyone has anything that's like above a surface level comment, like above a typo or something like um >> like contentwise if anyone has an issue.
Um David, I know you had submitted some comments regarding the climate change section. Did you? >> Yeah. Well, that's a whole kind of I don't know whether it's whether tonight is the time to do that, but um I sent
out an email to everybody what a couple of days ago and I think maybe uh it's up to you, but maybe there needs to be a little time to sort of digest it because essentially
um it it we were faced with the fact Well, one of the weird things was that as Sean pointed out, the one section that was missing anything last. It's okay, S. I mean, that that happens.
>> But also, it was the one section that actually >> if you came to review, it was very difficult because it was two pieces which clearly were pretty separate. >> Yeah. But I think I I know Sean you had
kind of taken a lot from Ella's and like added to it a lot which I think was good. So it's kind of like a just a further draft further developed draft of what Ella had written. Um >> yeah so there there's two versions uh there was many versions actually but
those two were the probably most resolved. >> Uh there's one that's more how would you put it? uh uh it's it's I'm trying to think of the
word the par you know it's like paragraphs and sentences and and that sort of thing and the other one is more bullet points and uh >> so the difference between the two or the the big change is uh the purpose was to
get it down within that I mean the entirety of section 4 is supposed to be five pages according to the and two of them are supposed to be devoted to climate change and that section is supposed to have two maps on it. So that
doesn't lend a lot of space if you think about it towards having exposition. So that's what that final one is all about and also incorporating some of the ideas that Ellen had come up with. Uh, and there's a bunch of other ideas, too. And the truth of this matter is, I think,
I'm pretty sure J could concur on this, but you could literally write a book on climate change and how it affects locality, any locality, but everybody seems to, you know, have a a different perspective on what what that
actually means. Uh, oddly enough, climate itself, if you think about it, is actually a very general issue and not really suited to locality. But anyways, uh, having said all that stuff, uh, just
to fit it in here so that we can, um, for a couple different, um, there's a lot to put in there. I think that does sort of matter in terms of when we get this document finalized.
I do think the state is going to want to look at specific things and they do have a checklist. That's what I'm getting. And that these things kind of have to appear in that section in order to get the appropriate checkbox so that we can then be considered for whatever it is
we're we're actually shooting for, which I would gather as funding. uh you know through some sort of grant or whatever. So that was my focus there about getting it down to something that we could easily get the check boxes
and it's small and it doesn't really take over the whole report. Um there's a lot more to talk about in terms of open space and town than this and so anyways there's two versions. One of them is uh is more uh
verb, you know, it's sort of more verbose and the other one is more I guess concise, has a lot more stuff in it. Some of it, you know, at this point, you know, uh I'm open to anything, you know, just put your comments in there. I was kind of
hoping, you know, we could actually kind of talk about this process a little bit because um >> I don't know. I I I I I want I want to see people's comments, but I don't necessarily want to be, you know, somebody has to be responsible for
getting this whole thing together in a you know, in a single cohesive unit. I mean, one of the things I did notice when I was going through the sections is u and this is a very natural thing and I did the same thing was the first thing we talk about is the geography of
Newbury. Well, you know, we don't need to talk about that four times one section. But it does keep cropping up [snorts] and that's fine. It's perfectly normal that somebody has to like say, "Okay, we're going to talk about the geography in section two." And the rest of the thing, we can just assume that
they've already read section two. >> That kind of thing. So those kinds of evidence. Uh I I mean I don't know >> something I thought I would do. I know I'm not very graceful at the moment with my with my process, but
>> great things to just sort of get to that. And so I what I was hoping is that, you know, we could be rather free with the comments. Um I I I should just say I I have seen a couple of little areas here
where there's, you know, maybe the wrong word or whatever. I think uh like uh I think it was in section five or something. and I saw that Martin Burns was in West Newbury or something. So anyways, point is, you know, for me >> if I put a comment in there, you know, they're just these little brief things
to, you know, for somebody to look at at some point down the road. That's really what I think. So I think we're all taking a crack at it and putting in her comments. Sy's going to pull all this together and then we're going to have like our first rough rough draft, right? Um, we might need to get together and
dedicate a longer meeting like 3, four, five hours on a Sunday afternoon or whatever it is to sit down and like finally get this into one rough draft that now Gerard says [snorts] like it'd be great if we could get something that's like close, at least a first
draft, and then give it to Mary McVal. before we put too much time into like making it perfect, let's get our first draft, then let them say, "Okay, this you can cut out. Let's you need to put more in here to get it approved." >> And then we can really finalize that.
And I would again I suggest at that point like track changes like this is, you know, something like that in a document where we could actually like really say and then you can go right through it together like all right keep or accept, you know, and we can bang this out. some process similar to that I
think is how we're going to get this in line because right now we're all out here working in in armed sections which is great. >> We do need Satie or somebody to pull it together and then at that point we can maybe get it to something that we can get to. >> Yeah. And I think yeah I think right now
we're kind of all giving each other comments on our sections and then I think the next step is I will take it in incorporate everyone's comments and then you know like make my own judgment calls you know like you were saying like if you know the same topic mentioned in
every section >> we can I can look at you know where does the workbook say we should talk about geography and then I can keep it in that section >> um and make it kind of cohesive and then >> we can do another round of comments. comments. >> Yeah, I would even say like when reviewing and making comments, you don't
have to get so far down in the details. Like if there's just a simple typo, just type [cough and clears throat] explain to that's a typo. That's not there. >> They're not there. [laughter] >> To your point about working through it, I suspect you guys do reference the maps
kind of in your individual sections. Um, >> and so it's sort of in line as you guys are reading through it from that mass. Okay, we're making this reference here. Is it the right reference for the figure? And then what are we trying to describe about this map? Is that just redundantly expressed the next? So as as you guys are working through it in its
totality, it'll be a little bit of a grind that one time, but it' be kind of neat because then I think you could arrive at that cohesive and sort of common voice. You guys probably all write slightly different staff, you know. >> So maybe that'd be an opportunity to kind of clean up some of that voice or
perspective as well. >> Yeah. >> Or maybe that's all landing in Sy's shoulders. >> I can So thanks for volunteering. Yeah, I guess the elite comment I would sort of add is that I think
from the beginning my focus has been um okay could be interpreted to be anti workbook and I would confess that I probably am um
>> what >> because right [laughter] because I've seen what happens. Um, and what I mean by that is that we had a
open space plan that Mike and I were involved in many moons ago and it went precisely nowhere really. Okay. I I think it's fair to say it was I think there was nothing particularly wrong
with it in terms of um what it was dealing with but I think as a as a document the problem was that it it was sort of it had two parts and that was we had they had the town had hired a consultant and the consultant cranked
out all the sort of early stuff and worked with Allan and people like that you and we plugged in the master plan information. Um, and then we hit a stone wall because as Mike reminded us several
meetings ago, when it came to go to the select board and the conservation commission and the planning board, they wouldn't do anything about it. So, um, >> in terms of what an approval, >> we just didn't have support back then
from like there was no >> we're already kind of proactively trying to like deal with that ahead of time before we even give them a chance to say no. >> Well, right. So that's one of the reasons that I pressed for us to reach
out now and and as I said to Satie in an email, she managed to put all those emails together and it went out just a day ago. That simple request for some some initial thought. But the other thing I would say is I think what
happened specifically in relation to and I do feel obviously a need to somewhat [snorts] explain myself. My need was I thought okay what does climate change mean for open
space and recreation in Newbury? And when I came to look at what the hand the workbook was suggesting we needed to do, I frankly found it very poor and flawed.
And when I moved to look at um the Nation Consery um map that they almost said was mandatory, which I think frankly was a really poor move
um for a bunch of reasons, but not least because what they presented told me from my perspective, they didn't even understand the nature of the tool
the I don't know whether it's what's her name Melissa Cryan I don't know whether it's her or does she have other people working with her well you know the point is that the okay so there's this new
push for resilience there's a new report just come out just hit the press I mean just hit the the public what two weeks ago Okay. And the whole of the thrust of the nature
conserancy tool is resilience. And it's resilience as it relates to a whole complex of things where climate change is okay. the the sort of thematic
thing that has led to the need to identify the role that lands play and can play and all the rest of it. But the tool itself when you apply it to Newbury [clears throat]
frankly doesn't work very well. Um and its density is is far too great. Um the one thing I found was very interesting was it it talks about properties which are essentially sort of locked up in the
sense they are in permanent conservation. And if you put that screen into that one tool, that's the one thing that shows very clearly how much land in this town is locked up. But it also shows how much
town land in the town is locked up not by the town. Okay, which is one of the comments I made earlier. And so I felt that rather than well among the other things you talked
about was hotspots. Now hotspots is a dreadful vocabulary choice for what they are talking about is heat stressed areas not hotspots. hotspots could be downtime not
night folks I would say I mean you know and if it's a technical term which is used by um those kind of pe you know people in in the whole area of conservation like the consery of which I'm a member
by the way um yeah okay but you need to say that because hotspots if we put hotspots into a report most people ordinary people are going to be really really confused by that but if you talk about heat stressed areas then the
realities get you know and so that's why I thought okay what we need to do is to try and characterize the community in a way that then says okay if a community
is a coastal community with Then if you're looking at climate change as applied to that kind of community, what does it mean? Well, it means a
number of things, but not that many. And the one thing I found interesting, and this is no criticism of Sha or Ella, but the the one thing that never appeared was the whole effect on health. Okay?
except in relation to hotspots. But the major effect on health in this community is ticks. Okay. Is insects is uh >> related to climate change.
>> Right. Well, in other words, it's it it never comes up. >> Okay. >> Uh can I just interrupt for a second? Um, I think yes, I agree that hotspots aren't super relevant to Newbury, but I
mean they mention it in the workbook and I think Sean, you did a good job with, you know, doing what the section in the workbook asked. Um, and I think we should like since they mentioned it specifically, I think we should like mention it in our draft. Um, but since
it's not super relevant to Newberry, I don't think we have to like, you know, focus on it super. We don't have to really dive in. Um, but I I think I think our job is to kind of, you know, interpret the workbook the best we can. Um, you know, meet all the bare minimum
requirements, but then, you know, >> I'm sorry. I our job in my estimation is to provide an open space and recreation plan for Newbury
within the the the sort of broad skeleton provided by the state. It's not to satisfy the requirements of the workbook in a slavish or or itemized manner. I'm not saying that either, but we do need this is what they they're
literally going to go through this workbook and be like, did they do this check? Did they do this check? I I my concern is to do I don't want to put us through more work than we have to to get it approved. I think we should kind of, you know, I I mean, I don't necessarily agree with everything they say we need
to include, but I think, you know, at the end of the day, we want it to get approved in our work to show for something. >> I agree with that, too. To me, this is one hurdle to the next better thing. I just want to get through this. I want to do the best job I can to make a relevant
plan, but at the end, I want to make sure we check those boxes, get this approved, so we can move on to bigger and better things. >> Yeah. And I think the plan is definitely super important to the town. But I think the more important things are the action
that we will take after getting you know the access to grant funding that this plan will provide us access to. >> I mean it I think is evidenced by us writing our own plan and not hiring this out. This is a pretty motivated group. I don't know in my opinion anyways. So I'm
like I really feel strongly that if we can get this plan done as a whole, we'll be have a lot more momentum to do other things. Like we don't agree on everything. >> Okay. I don't disagree. But I also think the other thing we need to remember is
that the plan has to be something that is real and functional for the community. And therefore it has to have buy in from all of the people who need to buy in to it, who need to
have letters of recommendation of support. And it ultimately needs to be something that the residents can use as opposed to something
that essentially we did because the state wants us to. But by doing the survey and getting the feedback from all the different committee members and all these steps that we're taking, aren't we? Essentially, by doing that, if we incorporate those results into our plan, I feel like we're addressing that or
meeting those needs. >> Yeah. But I think that need I agree, but I think that needs to be what's more front and center than than
they're not in a sense largely because Newbury, okay, and then I'll get off it, but the workbook is is a onesizefits-all thing, which is pretty dumb when you think about the fact that it's dealing with
it's it's providing guidance for places that are as desperate as Lynn, Brookline, Springfield, Pittsfield, etc.
and Newbury and places like that. Okay. And Blandford, if you even know that we have a town called Blandford in Massachusetts, we do. tiny. It's a big town with >> minimal population.
>> And so that's why the problems it has for me anyway are that it's dealing it essentially is it's its attitude is
you don't [clears throat] know what is needed and we'll tell you. I'm sorry. We do know what is needed. We don't particularly need to be told. >> Can I say one thing? >> That's fine if we don't want to be
eligible for grant funding from the state. I mean, you know, if that's the requirement to open the door to those funds, that's what we have to do. You know what I mean? Like I don't want to do swap surveys to apply for fish and wildlife grants, but I have to do them. Otherwise, we're automatically
disqualified from them. So, it's it it kind of is what it is. Unless we want to fund things other ways, you know what I mean? Like it >> Yeah. >> You know, we can beef it up any way we want to, but we have to have the base of whatever they're asking for to qualify.
There's going to be some >> we we don't put I'm not suggesting we don't have the base. Um, but I'm simply suggesting that [snorts] some of some of the stuff, it's
not that we don't do it, but it but it's well, it's it the classic example is this nature conserancy tool. Okay. They didn't know what they were recommending.
>> Who who I don't know. I don't know if I'm following that. I mean, that tool is a nationwide mapping resource. So, I'm not sure I understand like what the argument with it is. >> Like, it's it's a national resource.
>> Well, resilient mapping in the entire country. >> Yeah. Exactly. And at a at at levels which which um Okay. uh >> may or may not capture the nuances for the town.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean there are you know other better tools. Um and also one can use it but um it the okay essentially the the the
very fact that in the workbook they show a totally [snorts] unresolved version of that that tool. Okay. Which which tells me they they
they don't, you know, they don't know what they either they don't know or they didn't think about it. But it's okay. We we can use it. Can I just say one thing that keeps bugging or gnawing at me is that
sections 3, four, five are the descriptive narrative packed with some information. But the the part that matters most to us is what we going to be getting to which becomes that living thing which is you know we
have the analysis of needs in section six but more specifically section seven the action plan. They are not super prescriptive there like you need to do this this this and this I believe correct me if I'm wrong and that's where we get to decide what our priorities are
and it doesn't even have to necessarily map directly to some of the descriptive stuff earlier on there within reason. I'm not saying it's a it's an open, you know, sort of clear site. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that action plan is really where we're going to take off.
And so I think we should, you know, kind of view it as those earlier sections we just got, you know, to a certain extent form and do what we need to do to get the check marks. But then, you know, and that's where I believe the 2010 plan
kind of got stuck. The action plan never really had the buy in or had the >> the management, the oversight, the the urgency, the engagement, etc., all that stuff. So >> it was ridiculous. I mean it was so many items and they were so un
>> unclearly I you know prioritized. >> Yeah. So >> yeah. >> So all I'm saying is you know like the the action plan piece we have you know one committee here we'll have the other committees and how we you know work with them
>> and carry that out and and keep it tight. you know, it shouldn't be it's going to be a road map, right, that changes and constantly gets refined. Don't overdo it and just make sure what we put there as much relevance,
>> right? And I think I'm stating the obvious, but I just >> No, let me jump in here. And I think that's a really good point. It doesn't have to just be like we want to buy these parcels. Some of the actions could be we want to pursue funding. We want to pursue state grant funding. We want to lobby and advocate and educate other
boards about the findings of our open space plan. Like those can be things and I would I would strongly recommend you include those as some of the things because they are the intangibles that get to you guys want to infiltrate this into the community including to us residents. Like what does the plan mean? Where did the group arrive with all of
its work? And then the other comment I would add is just when you're thinking about the climate change thing, the biggest language now they're calling it hotspots is really prioritization. The state will openly say in any of these forms, we don't have enough money to fix all the culverts. We don't have enough money to buy all the open space parcels that the communities want to buy. So how
do we prioritize? And I think that's language you you should echo here [snorts] because the community is going to prioritize the issues as it relates to climate change. And I tend to agree with you, David, thinking about here in Newbury, what are the issues? Okay, we have some coastal impacts, right? We
have coastal related flooding impacts. So, it's the beach run itself and then it's it's inundation from the oceanside. So, that could cause um issues related to access. It could cause um power issues, things like that. And then you have inland flooding issues and you have
general sea level rise. So, kind of out of those pieces, where are the priority areas that Newbury is going to be most impacted? And those are probably a relatively smaller set geographically than the entire town. And so that's where I think some of this dovetales.
You're not going to solve all those issues right here at the open space community, but if there happen to be coincidental areas that maybe one of your goals is like identify any opportunities for flood storage or maybe there's an oceanfront parcel that becomes available or you know some those
would be the kind of places you could articulate some of those broader goals. So I tend to agree with you. You're doing this work. Got to get it compliant. No point you guys sitting here >> without having a little bit of both. You got to make complant. You got to have at least have enough teeth to be relevant
for the residents and provide some sort of road map. >> Okay. So, um we addressed the addit um drafts. Um >> can I add one little question? >> Yep. >> Does anybody else have any issues comments? >> Yeah, I wanted to
>> because mine started fine. Like I was able to like make comments in different places and then all of a sudden I couldn't and I can't even the ones that I could. It's like it's saying I'm a guest and it's not like saving my edits and I don't know >> if there was something permission based
or I didn't know if anybody else was having that issue >> sending you the like sharing it with you again. >> Okay. >> Or do you It's shared with your Gmail account, right? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yep. Yeah.
>> And I mean, same computer, didn't go to a different computer, you know, like literally was sitting there reading the sections and then got to the next section and all of a sudden I, you know, it it was like I wasn't me anymore. >> You know, it was like guest,
>> okay, >> won't save, you're going to lose your stuff. I was like, what? >> Okay. >> So, just as in case anybody else was dealing with, >> I haven't had any trouble. But using the tool itself isn't particularly easy, but other than that, I'm able to save them.
I think I I see my comments. >> Yeah, I see yours, too. You know, and and uh I see the ones that did save it for me before it kicked me to um a guest and not as mic. So, I just didn't know if I don't know. I don't think I did
anything, but maybe I did. >> I removed you and then added you back. So, maybe that'll >> We'll try that. I'll I'll keep you posted if I'm still having any weird issues. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I mean, so I'm looking at this and we're we said that we're going to try to
have the report done by January one. Um [snorts] seems like we got a ways to go, especially if we're going to be relying on feedback from other people from Valley. Um but it would be time to kind of get this all the sections done and at
least comments done. Do we want to set a deadline to get comments in so we can Would that work for people? >> I know deadlines be tough for me this time of year, but sure. >> Well, yeah. I was I was thinking maybe
we should think about when our next meeting would be and that could be like kind of helping us with deadlines cuz I mean I was looking and like it's going to be kind of tricky to find a meeting time for next month I think.
>> Yeah, cuz it falls right at Christmas time, right? >> Yeah, I think >> the week of Christmas and we can bump it up a week maybe if that would work for people. It's just a fashion song. Yeah. Or do we want to set some loftier
um tasks for homework and then move it to January? See if we [snorts] can get some more done in between holiday stuff. >> Yeah. I mean, I'm a fan of the Zoom meetings personally. Um it's a lot easier and I could squeeze in a Zoom meeting between now and we'll start
before Christmas. Okay. >> If we wanted to do that. >> Um I don't know how that works for the rest of the committee though. That would >> work for me. I have something for the 16th. Is that would that be our typical meeting date or
>> 23rd? But yeah, we're not going to do it on the 23rd. >> I also have something >> you have something on the 16th. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Uh >> 17th planning board. >> 17th is planning board, but I can I'm not like if if that's the only time we can meet, I can miss the planning board
meeting. >> Yeah. I mean anytime that week. Uh I have no preference. So, I can't do the 15th. [snorts] So, I'm going to do Monday. Okay. >> And we're not doing the next week. >> That would be the 23rd. >> Yeah,
>> that'd be tight, I think. Maybe. Um, what about Wednesday the 17th? >> That's fine for me. >> Okay. So, we'll do a Zoomer on the 17th. >> 17. >> Yep.
Um, that'll be good. and let's shoot to have all comments completed, reviewed. Um, it might be great if we get them to see before that so she can have time to pull them together for our
>> Yeah, like maybe by the the week before. >> Yep. >> Maybe by like December 10th, Wednesday. comes by the 10th. >> We're going to stick with the seven uh
700 p.m. on the 17th or how folks feel about that. >> Yeah, same >> people can't do it earlier. >> Zoom. >> You want to >> is earlier possible or do an hour earlier? So that'd be Yeah,
max probably for me too. Do we want to do 6:00 just so we can >> 6:30 >> 6 p.m. by 12 >> and hopefully we'll have some more feedback from other committees by then.
So that's >> what's a realistic timeline if we were to get you our first draft >> for your comments. >> Turn around time for us. Yeah. >> 2 3 weeks. >> Okay. >> Max. Yeah. >> For if it's if it's a rough cut. Yeah.
Something like that. Assuming that our folks aren't busy yet. I would say within that 3 week probably be faster than that. >> Especially if we knew uh like, hey, we're aiming for this time. We'll just kind of work it into the schedule. >> You guys thinking right after that
January time frame maybe >> beginning of January. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> All related to the folks that >> uh Hannah who you work with say she's going to be back from maternity in two weeks. So our staff will be very operational.
>> That's good. >> And Sean, I think you said something about submitting a draft to the select board, right? But that probably we won't be ready to do that because I think you said it was early December but I don't think we'll >> Yeah, don't wait.
>> Yeah, I think we were hoping that >> Yeah, we would have had to have done something earlier. [laughter] >> Okay. >> Soon though. >> Um soon. Uh, now how um the only I mean
actually when I've looked at most of the sections so far, they all seem to be pretty well. Um I don't know if they they look pretty good. I'm not seeing a whole lot of >> maybe for December 10th. Uh I can do what we
were talking about earlier like um I could do some editing myself with the comments that I've received so far. Okay. And then and then >> the thing that's concerning me is this um
>> goals and action items cuz I don't see I mean do we have anything on that yet at all? I mean that's >> that's the thing. >> I've been kind of compiling them into bulleted list. So it's not you know >> one person. >> Yeah. But maybe I could do some edits
and then you guys could comment by December 10th and I can do that you know. >> Okay. between few days left in this week and next week. >> The action plan map is a required map. Correct. Yeah. You've already gone through that exercise of kind of looking at the map and picking some areas that
are theme based maybe. Is that something you guys have already done? >> Um well, we haven't really done the action plan map at all yet just because we haven't our action plan is still very >> still your conceptual. >> Exactly. Yeah. because you know
something you could do you could say hey we're going to prioritize wildlife borders or recreational opportunities or you know you can kind of categorize it like that or you can kind of go through a GIS exercise to identify some of them or you guys could kind of just lay the map out and be like hey you you all know
the community so you kind of know where the opportunities might be whether it's something that's there or not you can kind of >> outline broad swaths >> maybe even in different color coding or big bubbles I [snorts] don't think you want to unless you're really adamant
about something, call out specific parcels. It tends to be good strategically. >> Okay, I see. Keep it general. >> Yep. Good idea. >> All right. Sounds like a good game plan for the
next meeting. Um, a little bit of work there. Good. All right. Does anybody have any more updates? I know um David, you're emailing out to the all the different boards and committees that's done. Have
you got any feedback yet on that? >> Uh just one person with a question and then one person who um I thought I can't remember if I forwarded it to you all yet, but I don't think I have. Um, so email from Bob Connors, the chair of the
comm um with a bunch of good feedback and he said he you know I emailed it to all the members of the cons but he said next meeting I'll you know make a point of mentioning that we some feedback. >> Okay. So uh maybe at the next meeting
>> yeah whatever feedback has come in. >> Okay we'll add that to agenda. Anything else from the committee we get we did our next meeting date so we're good there. So I think we we've covered it all for the evening.
>> We decided it's 7:00 or 6. >> 6. Okay. Okay. Move to make a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> All in favor?