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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Trails Committee
Date: 2017-02-08
Building: Reading Town Hall
Address: 16 Lowell Street
Purpose: General Business
Attendees: Members - Present:
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Berger Room
Session:
TOWN CLERK
READING, MASS.
1011 FEB 23 A €: 544
Tom Gardiner - Chair, Dave Williams, Will Finch, Ed Crowley
Members - Not Present:
Jean Jacobs, John Parsons
Others Present:
Kim Honetschlager - GIS Administrator
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Kim Honetschlager
Topics of Discussion:
The meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm.
The Committee reviewed and discussed three potential trail easement routes through a
single -house lot off Arcadia Avenue known as 0 Low Meadow. Committee members had
done a site visit on February 5.
• Option 1 would follow the east boundary of the parcel and cross the Aberjona River
northwest of the proposed house.
• Option 2 would follow the lot line between the proposed house and 105 Arnold
Avenue.
• Option 3 (not mapped) would follow the northern lot line abutting Longwood
Conservation Area. A viewing platform was discussed for this location.
The consensus was that the site, while attractive for wildlife viewing, isn't ideal because
option 1 would require an extensive boardwalk and bridge and would be too close to
abutting homes, and option 2 would cross the driveway of 0 Low Meadow and be too close
to the abutting lot. Option 3 hadn't been considered in the field so its feasibility is unknown.
Members felt that the current committee was unlikely to undertake a major project in this
area. However, they felt it was worth pursuing a trail easement for future use. Will agreed
to present all three options and see what the developer and Cons Com were amenable to.
Trails Committee members joined the Conservation Commission meeting at 7:00 PM. Will
spoke for the Trails Committee when the 0 Low Meadow Notice of Intent hearing was
opened for public comment. He presented the three easement options. Later he noted that
some applicants grant a Conservation Restriction (CR). After Cons Com discussion, the
applicant agreed to grant a CR on the property. CR language allowing a trail to cross the
property will be drawn up and approved by the Conservation Commission at an upcoming
meeting. The trail route would be determined in the future when and if a trail proposal were
to be made to the Conservation Commission.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.
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