January 16, 2018 open space and recreation commission

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Dedham Open Space and Recreation Commission
Community Notes
January 16, 2018
Town Hall, O’Brien Meeting Room
26 Bryant Street, Dedham, MA 02026

Board/Committee members in attendance
Fred Civian (Conservation Commission), Georganna Woods (At-large), Jonathan Briggs (Parks & Recreation Commission), Brendan Keogh (Board of Selectmen), Dennis Cunningham, Stephanie Radner, Chair (At-large), one other (?)

Agenda

• Public Input
• Status update on OSRP update & Recreation Master Plan
• Review documents
• Old/New Business*

*This item is included to acknowledge that there may be matters not reasonably anticipated by the Chair that could be raised during the Public Comment period by other members of the Committee, by staff or others.
 
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m.

Public Comment:  Resident brought up Manor Field. Commissioner Radner clarified that Parks and Recreation is responsible for Manor Fields.  Public comment permitted.  Resident brought up open space and working with what the town has.  Commissioner Radner said there is a draft plan about the next 7 years and doing something with Manor Fields.  Commissioner Briggs said that Open Space is made up of people from other committees and he could take comments back to Parks and Recreation.  Commissioner Keough encouraged the resident to stay involved.   Commissioner Radner said the goal of the commission is to streamline information on open space and recreation.  She said Dedham is 1/3 open space, including Cutler Park, Wilson Mountain, Town Forest, and some private land.  She said Dedham is an old town and there is not a lot of open space to hold on to.  Commissioner Civian said they are looking at the long game.


Update to Open Space & Recreation Plan
An email was sent on 12/14 to the consultant and no response was received. Commissioner Radner spoke to John Sisson at town hall today.  They do not want to look at section 7 until it is a workable document.  The plan currently looks like the 2010 recreation section 7 with 30 pages dropped in.  The consultant said they could not reconcile open space and P&R parts until open space sends documents.  Open Space does not have documents.  Commissioner Briggs said the town wanted to merge two documents to save money and this was short-sighted.  First RFP with separate money got no response.  The second RFP got a response.  Commissioner Radner said the combined report made sense since two different reports could have discrepancies.  The steering committee was created by Town Meeting and was not changed after the decision to combine the two documents.  Commissioner Radner said much of the document considers Parks and Recreation land, not open space.  Commissioner Woods said the map did not break out types of space.  Commissioner Radner said they should not set open space goals based on a recreation plan.  She will ask John to chase consultant.  The Steering Committee is supposed to keep the consultant on track and has not done it.

Open space needs a plan acceptable to the state.  Sections 4 and 5 were discussed.  The Report includes a statement of conservation needs and a community profile.  The reports should agree on basic information such as demographics and community interest.

Commissioner Radner provided a Statement of Purpose:
Town of Dedham Open Space and Recreation Plan:  The purpose of this 2018 Plan is to provide the citizens of Dedham with an up to date and comprehensive Report which identifies, locates and analyzes open space (both public and private) and recreational facilities within the Town.  This Report sets forth not only how the Town’s citizens access and presently use its natural resources and recreational facilities but also the Goals to be implemented by the Town to further enhance, manage and acquire Town resources and facilities.  It also contains an Action Plan, which directs our community onto an achievable path of continued stewardship and enhancement into the future.

The Commission will push for the plan at the next meeting on 2/6/18.  Commissioner Briggs suggested having a consultant at the next meeting to discuss what they need to meet the state standards.

It was noted that the surveys don’t match the recommendations.  A different consultant did Parks and Recreation.  Commissioner Civian said the write up of the surveys do not meet standards for social science research. The consultant said another survey with raw data and comments was not written up yet.

Old/New Business:  None

The meeting was adjourned at 8:04.

Notes taken by Jean Zeiler

Keywords:  Manor Field,Open Space and Recreation Master Plan