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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - 051225 May 12, 2025 Planning & Development Department 367 Main Street, Hyannis, MA 02601 – Phone: 508-862-4678 Open Space Committee Minutes May 12, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS Chair Lev Malakhoff calls the meeting to order at 5:30 PM with an introduction of members : Also present is Kyle Pedicini, Assistant Director of Planning & Development and Genna Ziino, Administrative Assistant. NOTICE OF RECORDING This meeting of the Open Space Committee is being recorded and broadcast on the Town of Barnstable’s Government Access Channel. In accordance with MGL Chapter 30A §20, I must inquire whether anyone else is recording this meeting and, if so, to please make their presence known. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • April 14, 2025 – Farley Lewis moves to approve the minutes. Tracy Pratt seconds. Vote: Aye: Lev Malakhoff, Farley Lewis, Liz Lewis, Doug Payson, Elissa Crowley, Tracy Pratt Nay: None TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION New Business • Open Space & Recreation Plan The group walks through the action plan (document entitled “Barnstable 2018 OSRP Goal Status”) starting at page 112. Doug Payson asks how this committee will interact with the consultant for this process. Kyle Pedicini says staff is still working through the contract but he thinks public engagement will be the first part of the process once the consultant is onboard. The Chairman shares an image of a bottle dump and says some people believe they’re filled with gasoline (image entitled “COMM- BottleDump-22Apr2025”). In the background is the COMM water tower. A citizen on a nearby walking path noticed this and let the authorities know, and the water department sent someone out to retrieve most of the bottles. The Chairman went to the area and saw more bottles so alerted Craig Crocker of COMM last week. He believes having early detection of problems is important—there is not enough town staff so they need responsible public users. He shares a draft paragraph (document entitled “Responsible-Public- Use”) he would like to have as an action item, and asks for feedback. The group discusses that there is confusion over who to report issues to within the town, because it's not always clear who manages what land. Chair Malakhoff suggests an action item could be creating an educational component, for example information at the trailhead about who to contact with issues. The group discusses their belief that there should be one person on staff to contact, who would then distribute the information to the appropriate party. The group discusses the bottle dump. Member Present Absent Lev Malakhoff – Chair X Farley Lewis – Vice Chair X Elizabeth Lewis X Douglas Payson X Elissa Crowley X Anne Rowland X Tracy Pratt X Cate Gulliver X Vacant Doug Payson says at the last meeting they had talked about looking at water resource protection areas for acquisition and agreed that that is probably the highest priority. Page 113: The Chairman isn’t sure how they’re doing item 1C. Doug Payson asks about the status of the draft policy for Chapter 61A properties—Kyle Pedicini says Legal is working on it, but suggests the Chairman direct questions to Jim Kupfer, Director of Planning & Development because Kate Connolly has left her position. Chair Malakhoff thinks the Article 97 viewer is a good tool to promote to help the public better understand the status of land in our town. The Chairman will send the link to Mr. Pedicini. 1-2C: Farley Lewis wonders if this should be on the list of opportunities. Kyle Pedicini says this is a good goal to be carried forward from the last plan. Chair Malakhoff wants to keep and strengthen this. He thinks a map of existing 61A properties should be made available if it’s not already. 1.3.B: Chair Malakhoff thinks the action item is unclear. Kyle Pedicini says this shows the importance of clarity in the action items for the update. Mr. Pedicini can look into how many were permitted that way since 2018 as part of measuring success. Chair Malakhoff thinks acreage could be a measure. The group discusses cluster development and its pros and cons. They discuss the Barrel Hill development and options for that land. 1.4.C: The group discusses transferable development rights. There is a need to educate land owners about options to donate or preserve their land and get a tax benefit. There are ongoing education efforts from the Barnstable Land Trust and Cape Cod Compact. 1.5.B: Doug Payson thinks the town is failing at this and it should be prioritized. The group discusses the feasibility of managing invasive species/controlled burns. Kyle Pedicini says Conservation has done several controlled burns—there’s a problem finding people qualified to do burns, but they can make it a goal to stress doing more of that. Doug Payson recommends mowing or livestock to keep it under control. 1.5.C: Doug Payson thinks this could fall into reporting issues/point of contact. They discuss whether Grayce Rogers of Asset Management could be the point of contact. 1.5.F: Doug Payson asks if the town is working with the county on this. Kyle Pedicini is not aware of anything like that, but it sounds similar to a goal in the Local Comprehensive Plan. 1.5.I: The Chairman says this is no longer relevant so can be removed. Chair Malakhoff says they will continue this at the next meeting. The groups reviews the staff comment document (document entitled “Barnstable OSRP Update - Staff Comments on 2018 Goals”): 3.3.H: Chair Malakhoff would like to create a connection between the Hathaways Pond trail network and the parcel to the west of the golf course. It’s not very welcoming as is, and having a green connection would help public users see what’s out there. There’s campsite debris, and dirtbikes are tearing up that area. Doug Payson says there was an effort to keep that undeveloped in the original Local Comprehensive Plan. 4.1.C: Chair Malakhoff asks Kyle Pedicini how the master plan is going. The Chairman thinks the walking trail around the pond is an ankle breaker because it’s never been maintained. He thinks a bench would be helpful. Doug Payson thinks there is a lack of management of conservation areas. The Chairman thinks, “Evaluate trail network and seek sustainable improvements” would be a good action item. Kyle Pedicini says he hopes to have the consultant onboard by the next meeting. • Cummaquid Inn – potential acquisition Chair Malakhoff shares an aerial image (image entitled “CummaquidInn-aerial”) and says Ann Canedy thought this would be of interest to the committee. The parcel is divided between Barnstable and Yarmouth. It’s on a high point looking out over the pond, with a lot of shoreline. It’s being considered for acquisition but the Chairman is not sure where in the process it is. Kyle Pedicini says he toured the site with town officials from both towns—it would be through CPC funding if acquired. The next step was to get an appraisal. There would need to be a lot of cleanup on the site due to lots of asphalt and several buildings in disrepair. It’s 5.3 acres in Barnstable, 4.99 acres in Yarmouth. The Chairman thinks the committee can keep this as old business and learn more as it goes. • Spring Walking Weekend The event is coming up this weekend. Liz Lewis will ask the Barnstable Fire Station to put it on the front sign. Old Business • Update on Cummaquid Woods No update. • Update on outstanding Conservation Restrictions There is no update because Chair Malakhoff had reached out to Assistant Town Attorney Kate Connolly for an update, but now th at he knows she’s left her position he will send a new request to Jim Kupfer. • Update – Pathways update including walking library, Trailhead Signs, and Geocaching Chair Malakhoff will ask again about the Flint Rock Road section. Kyle Pedicini says the town planted 18 trees at the dog park by Hathaways Pond. Regarding trailhead signs, Lev Malakhoff reached out to Alice Marcus-Krieg, Grants Coordinator, who said they’re looking to start a program on town parcels initially and hope to be concluding survey inventory by June 1. Additional sign proposals should be sent to the Chairman, who will forward them. Ms. Marcus-Krieg noted that they’ve gotten feedback about sign pollution. • Report from Tracy Pratt regarding Santuit Preserve Tracy Pratt reports that it’s been busy and there are a lot of fish. The Chairman would like to discuss the bog at the next meeting. • Report from Farley Lewis regarding Community Preservation Committee Open Space applications Farley Lewis says the last meeting was April 28. They received a letter of intent from BLT requesting $600k to support the acquisition of 13 acres of pond-front property on Mill Pond on Falmouth Road in Marstons Mills. It’s $1.2 million in total. BLT would own the property with a CR granted to the town. It was moved to application. Doug Payson asks Ms. Lewis for a map of that for the next meeting. The group discusses the area. Farley Lewis says the Smith Creek CPC application was approved at a Town Council hearing. The Cotuit Highground CR is scheduled for a first read on May 1. Harju and Prince Ave have been requested to be placed on a Town Council agenda for approval. • Report from Town Council Liaison Kris Clark Councilor Clark is not present so there is no update. MATTERS NOT REASONABLY ANTICIPATED BY THE CHAIR PUBLIC COMMENT ADJOURNMENT: Tracy Pratt moves to adjourn. Doug Payson seconds. Vote: Aye: Lev Malakhoff, Farley Lewis, Liz Lewis, Doug Payson, Elissa Crowley, Tracy Pratt Nay: None DOCUMENTS USED AT THIS MEETING • March 10, 2025 minutes • Document entitled “Barnstable 2018 OSRP Goal Status” • Document entitled “Responsible-Public-Use” • Image entitled “COMM-BottleDump-22Apr2025” • Image entitled “CummaquidInn-aerial” • Document entitled “Barnstable OSRP Update - Staff Comments on 2018 Goals” Respectfully submitted, Genna Ziino, Administrative Assistant Further detail may be obtained by viewing the video via Barnstable Government Access Channel on demand at www.town.barnstable.ma.us