Open Space Committee
Open Space Committee minutes for December 14, 2021
Present: Rick Gardner, Susan Downing, Deb Cary, Karen Rossow and guest Laura Reynolds, interested public.
Meeting began at 7:06. As is the current protocol, Susan set up a laptop computer GoTo Meeting for remote access for any member of the public to join us in this fashion.
- Minutes from the November 9th, 2021 meeting were unanimously approved.
- Quick updates:
Signage has vastly improved on our trails and continues to thanks largely to Deb. Our vendor makes the process very easy. Public feedback has been positive. The sign at Thomas Prince School is by the butterfly garden so we’ll have another located at different trailhead so that there will be two kiosks. Deb will fix the contact email address that is incorrect on two trailhead signs by overlaying something on what is there now.
Work continues on the website re-design and Susan, Rick, Phil O’Brien and Pat McGowan meet regularly. Phil is focused on the overall design while Susan and Pat are working on making it more user-friendly. Continue to review template for hikes, bearing in mind as we had previously discussed that Hikes and Trails are different things.
Regarding trail projects, Rick reports that water certification is almost ready for Red Fox Farm (RFF) trails. The person who installed bridges for Calamint Hill Conservation Area (CHCA), Christian Henderson, is willing to install bridges at RFF. It will be less challenging due to different criteria. We have a generous “gentleman’s agreement” with the new owners of the RFF property, the Wolcotts, to make trails there and in April or May we’ll clear them again.
Rick met with Nimrod sportsmen’s club regarding hiking there. Jay Fitzgerald went as well. They do NOT want us building any trails or publicizing them but we are welcome to use the existing ones and lead groups on them. Rick brought a map showing three great routes to take that lead off Nimrod property to other trails that exist now. We have officially changed our strategy and will exclude them from the TAP map unless and until they agree to that. For a connection from Calamint Hill North to Brooks Station Rd. we will explore other ideas than the first one through Phyliss Booth’s property,
The frisbee golf vision for Goodnow Park by Scott Morris and Parks & Rec is still expected but they are focused on their upcoming winter carnival, which DEB, SUSAN and possibly RICK plan on participating in with trail walks either on snowshoes, cross-country skiis or boots as weather dictates.
- Trails summit February 6th: We expect to hold this in person in the Annex as well as have it set up for remote participation, so that if Covid-19 protocols change we can accommodate them. Rick will make introductions then he will define our trail vision. Deb or a representative of Princeton Land Trust (PLT) will talk about stories/case studies on how PLT has made conservation happen. This will segue into Susan and Karen’s promotion of the Princeton Hikes! series. That should make a smooth transition to Rick’s topic of maps, and then we’ll wrap it up with Deb offering opportunities for the community to help us.
We will mail postcards to every address in Princeton, using the same general template as the previous summit. Karen will design it. We will not have to address the postcards; we’ll use the post office option to just send them to all. We want to send the postcards two weeks prior so mid-January have them ready.
- Vote: to approve $151.87 for additional trail signage costs. Unanimously approved.
- Next meeting: Tuesday, January 11th at 7:00 p.m. in the town hall annex.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Rossow