Royalston Open Space Committee
Minutes
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Meeting Date: April 14, 2005
Members Present: Aaron Ellison, Elizabeth Farnsworth, Beth Gospodarek,
Patty Carrier, Tom Musco,
Kim McPhee,
Christine Beckert Long
Others Present: Pat Jackson, Elizabeth Leonard, Dean Leonard
Acting Chair: Aaron Ellison
Acting Clerk: Christine Beckert Long
The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. at town hall.
Minutes:
The committee unanimously approved the minutes of January 18, February 10
and
April 10, 2005, as corrected.
Maps: Beth has
secured the maps prepared in conjunction with the Open Space & Recreation
Plan,
and Chris has secured two copies of the assessors' parcel maps. Beth will
find out if the committee
can have storage space in town hall for these maps, and Tom will request a
mail slot at town hall for
the committee.
Internal
Business:
(1) Members already sworn in voted unanimously to elect Aaron Ellison as chair
and Christine Beckert Long
as clerk.
(2) The committee agreed that members should serve three-year rotating terms.
Aaron will recommend
that when our commissions expire in June, the Select Board appoint Patty,
Kim and Chris to three-year terms;
Aaron,
Tom and Glenn to two-year terms; and Elizabeth, Beth and Dean to one-year
terms.
(3) Aaron will also check on the status of Ed Goss and Vyto Andreulinas, to
see if they too are
members of the committee.
(1) Aaron reported that the intended purchaser of the parcel on Taft Hill
Rd. is suing Mt. Grace Land Conservation
Trust, to whom the Select Board assigned its right of first refusal. A Land
Court judge ordered a 30-day cooling
legalities surrounding notification requirements and time windows.
(2) Aaron will ask the Select Board to seek recommendation from the Open Space
Committee when Chapter 31
withdrawals come before the board. The committee discussed the importance
of its learning of such notifications
lands directly and determine which may be valuable as open space acquisitions.
Glenn at an earlier meeting had
agreed to prepare a list of such lands.
one state forest and two near another are of special interest. Aaron reported
on methods that can be used to
secure such parcels, but will report in more detail at the next meeting. The
committee will also try to correlate
the list of U parcels with the BioMap and Living Waters Map.
Elizabeth reported that there are 33 certified vernal pools in Royalston,
and a Mass Heritage overlay map indicates
potential others. She will provide information on the web page about such
pools and invite residents to have
potential sites examined.
Town Issues:
(1) Tom distributed copies of a petition article seeking 15 amendments to
the zoning bylaw; the authors are unknown,
but it is not the work of the Bylaw Project, a town committee. Tom also noted
that there is not enough time for the
required public hearing to be held on this petition before the May 6 town
meeting.
(2) Chris reported that the state does not inform the Board of Assessors when
a parcel is placed under a conservation
restriction; the board generally learns of this status when a property owner
informs them. Aaron will ask the board for
an agenda time to discuss the issue.
Public
Outreach:
(1) The committee applauded Elizabeth's work on the web page that will connect
to the library's site.
(2) Aaron provided copies of the Open Space and Recreation Plan for the library.
Beth will check whether the library
has a copy of the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission Community Development
Plan 2004, which the committee
discussed at its January 18 meeting.
(3) Patty agreed to be the committee's representative to a Conservation Options
& Estate Planning Workshop on
April 23 at Mount Wachusett Community College, cosponsored by Mt. Grace Land
Conservation Trust and the
Ashby Land Trust. The committee wants a simple overview of options for landowners
seeking to protect their land,
and Aaron and Chris gave Patty copies of various brochures for review.
(4) Elizabeth reported on the state of litter in the town. There is no time
this year to organize anything in conjunction with
Earth Day or the town clean-up day, but the committee may plan for next year.
(5) Elizabeth reported that Biodiversity Days, formerly a state initiative,
has been adopted by the Massachusetts
Association of Conservation Commissions and will take place this year from
June 4-12. (Further information and materials
are available at www.maccweb.org.) She
will coordinate with the Athol Bird and Nature Club about events to be
scheduled in Royalston in early June.
The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.