Royalston Open Space Committee
Minutes
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Meeting Date: August 14, 2008
Members Present: Aaron
Ellison, Pattie Carrier, Jack Morse, Kim MacPhee
Chair:
Aaron Ellison
Clerk: Aaron Ellison
The
meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. at town hall.
Heritage
Landscape Inventory:
Jack Morse attended the final presentation by DCR of the regional Heritage
Landscape
Inventories on July 24 in Hardwick. He reported on the meeting and brought
5 copies of the
Royalston Heritage Landscape Inventory (HLI) Report, along with a CD and a
summary of
the regional HLI efforts. Of the Royalston report, one copy each was given
to the Board of
Selectmen, Library, Historic District Commission, and Planning Board. One
copy was kept
in the Open Space files.
DCR
Recreational Trail Grants Program:
Aaron reported that DCR has a Recreational Trails grants program that annually
awards
towns from $2,000 to $50,000 for trail maintenance and development. Suggestions
from
the committee as to how Royalston might use such funds were:
1. South Royalston waterfront trail
2. Snowmobile trails
The RFP
will be passed on to Tom Kellner (for South Royalston), Keith Newton (for
DPW
and snowmobile association) and Selectboard for additional attention. The
Committee
agreed that an interested party or group would have to take the lead on preparing
a
proposal, although OSC would be supportive. Deadline for submissions is
October 1, 2008, and proposals require a 20% match, which may be in-kind.
Community
Preservation Act (CPA):
Aaron reported that the CPA committee by-law was approved at the June reconvened
town
meeting. The CPA language drafted by Town Counsel has been approved by the
MA
Attorney General for inclusion on the November 4th ballot. We expect it to
be Question 4.
The Committee
discussed possible interest groups in town to meet with to provide educational
materials and background regarding the CPA. Individuals were assigned to follow
up:
Fire department/EMS - Aaron
Congregational Church - Kim
Mission Church in S. Royalston - Patti
Royalston Fish & Game club - Patti
Ladies Benevolent Society - Kim
Historical Society - Jack
South Royalston Store - Jack
Cultural Council - Aaron to ask Elizabeth Farnsworth to follow up.
Aaron
to write a newsletter article for September newsletter.
Theme: "The CPA: It's not only about open space".
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.