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Open Space Planning Committee
Minutes – March 11, 2009
Meeting at Town Hall convened at 8:30 a.m. in the lower level. Members present: Betsey Harris, Jack Lewis, Joe Cavanaugh, Bruce Simpson, Sterling Abram, Henry James, John Morris and Sue Yarger. Absent: Ed Germain.
Diane Schott sat in.
The minutes of February 11 were approved with edits.
Preparations for Town Meeting were discussed with plans on how to prepare an area designated for OSPC, including possibly posting the map that we used at Dublin Days, last year, with the sticky dots. Sue had copies of the priority areas and OSPC Master Plan copied and she planned to bring them.
We discussed the changes between a Class A Trail and Class 6 Road, which were minimum; one being that a Class 6 Rd could be used to access a new building. It was recommended that an amendment be tacked on, in accordance to the petition, to exclude motorized vehicles as approved in the Dublin Master Plan.
Kim Bergeron was approached to present the amendment and he was very enthusiastic about the prospect. He has never been to Town Meeting and would be briefed before coming to stand, give his name and to read the amendment. Betsey agreed to follow up with Kim.
Betsey introduced Diane Schott who knows small towns and has extensive background in town politics.
At our last meeting, we were given a homework assignment to pick two areas/properties, in Dublin, and using the “Next Steps” process, determine the conservation value.
Joe chose the BSA and Grant areas. Taking into consideration a high value for water supply and the linkage to the Howe Reservoir. Water is very important – there are three warrant articles that address water. Joe suggested building an evaluation form using a “fill in the blanks” approach for the criteria. The criteria has no place for “public benefit” (recreation, water, scenic assets). Is it good or not good for Dublin? It might be helpful to articulate it, emphasizing the public benefits better. Put together a scale of 1 to 100, and quantifying each. Assign a weight to each criteria.
John chose the Putnam property on Old Marlborough Rd which hits all criteria: water (stream), wildlife, trails (Sunapee/Monadnock), is over 1100 acres and extends to Stone Pond. He gave this a rate of 45 out of 50. The second property that John chose was the Close property, which backs up to Monadnock. This one he rated lower, it does not have water factors but it is in a mountain zone and is not easily sub dividable although it does have trails (Pompeli goes through it). He would rate this at 40 out of 50.
Jack chose Lot 51 on Map 5 which is an 80 acre area north of town on Howe Reservoir (Girl Scout area). It is very scenic, gets high ranks for water and recreation. It has no historic value and would rate a 36. The second property is the Bernier property, on Mud Pond. This too has a high water value and bio-diversity. The recreational value is not so high but it is scenic. This too would rate a 36.
Sterling also chose the Putnam property and rated it high because of the trails and historic features.
Henry chose the Bauhan property, which sits across from Dublin General Store, on Old Country Brook; it was recently sold to the Greene’s. Although the priorities didn’t work well with this property, the soil was the most important aspect of this property.
Betsey chose Luette Bourne’s property; the priority areas are surface water, plentiful wildlife, recreational trails and is a hunting resource. The second property is the Sirois property on Mud Pond. It’s relatively small (13.7 acres) but is part of the Mud Pond aquifer. It is a wildlife riparian zone and is good for recreation and views. It is one of the last “farming” farms in the area and would rate very high.
Next steps. We need to refine the priority basis mechanism. How do we want to prioritize? Should we use the Marlboro version? The Hancock version? Should we weight each aspect? What should we focus on first? What if a property comes available in one of our priority ranges?
Our next meeting will be April 8 where a new chairperson will be chosen.
The meeting adjourned at 10:05 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Yarger
Secretary
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