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Home My WebLink About2013-02-05 Town Forest Committee Minutes ,:ECEIVEI) TOWN CLERK R E A P 1 ; %4 A. Town Forest Committee Minutes February 5,2013 2619 NOV 13 PM 6: 30 Town Hall Conference Room Present: Kendal Stackhouse, Patrice Todisco, Terry Sells, Tom Gardiner, Mike DeBrigard Also present: Kim Honetschlager, Jean Jacobs, Dave Williams,Will Finch Everett Blodgett, Ginny Blodgett, Heather Clish, John Feudo, Frank Driscoll, Adam Chase, Keri McCrensky,Ace Foulds, Pat Lloyd, Robert Connor, Rachel Baumgartner The meeting was billed as a Trail Summit. It included multiple trail-related groups. Kim j Honetschlager began the meeting at 7:05 PM, introduced herself and then described the goal of the meeting:for trail-related groups to share information and discuss ways to support each other's mission and activities. Attendees introduced themselves and then the following individuals described their group's mission, past activities,and plans for the coming year: • Tom Gardiner,Trails Committee: asked for help finding trail volunteers. • Ginny Blodgett, Walkable Reading: WR is more about sidewalks and reducing car user than about trails;they get frequent requests to hold walks even though this isn't their primary mission. • Patrice Todisce,Town Forest Committee: TFC is trying to better understand the Town Forest as a resource. They have over-use issues. • John Feudo, Recreation Committee: Friends of Reading Recreation(FORR) is their sister group. • Pat Lloyd, Reading Open Land Trust: ROLT holds and maintains conservation land; they lead about one hike per year. • Rachel Baumgartner, Reading Public Library: nature literacy is part of their mission. The library will work on outreach during the(hoped for) library building project. Once the addition is complete they will have more meeting space available for groups. She leads hikes for tots as well as for Live Wires(older residents). • Heather Clish, Appalachian Mountain Club: AMC volunteers can help on trail building projects. Nature literacy or getting people outside is a major mission of theirs. • Jean Jacobs, Trails Committee: described the TC's Adopt-A-Trail program. • Dave Williams, local birder described his spring bird walks • The Friends of Reading Recreation was invited, but no one was present. • Keri McCrensky, an abutter to the Kylie Drive trail easement had concerns about the proposed trail. Will Finch spoke with her outside of the meeting. Discussion followed on the topics below: Ways to publicize hikes and outdoor activities: • Reading Chronicle:a minority of households get a local paper so, although they are willing to publish articles about events, it doesn't reach a lot of people. Also the Reading Advocate. • Reading-North Reading Patch. Easy to post an event, under-used so good visibility, young families read Patch. • RCN used to publish events, but hasn't been reliable lately. Email or fill out this fore: htto://www.rcty.om/bulletin-board-submission/ • Bulletin board in library(lower level): Can email or fax event and it will be posted on Monday or post it yourself. Is culled regularly and people really do stop to read postings. Other places to post flyers: Town Hall entry,where else? Edline: Any non-profit can email an event blurb. Pdf is best for flyers;they will be posted on the schools website (www.edline.neVoaaes/ReadinaPublicSchools/Communhv/Reading Community Flyers Bac kkD)and sent out in an email with other events weekly. Send to Linda.engelson@ reading.1<12.ma.us. • Schools all have Facebook pages • Reading Community Alerts(RCA): an underused resource. Users can select community events as a category where they'd like to receive notices, but it is rare that an event gels sent out. Users select how they want to be notified, e.g. home phone,text message,etc. ww2.everbridoe.net/cdizen/EverbridaeGateway.action7body=home&ais alias id=820761 • www.MeetUo.com : Join or create a like-minded group; post events. • Facebook: Reading Recreation and Walkable Reading have Facebook pages. They report no misuse. Trails Committee is setting one up in order to post events, photos, and for trail adopters to report trail issues and maintenance needs. • Other groups to reach out to: o Connect the Tots o Parents of Tots o MOMS Club of Reading o Newcomers&Neighbors 0 others? • Newsletters: o Pleasantries, Reading Senior Center,email JBurns@fci.reading.ma.us o Your Community Connection, email MKnight0ci.readina.ma.us, published quarterly o Reading Recreation catalog,email JFeudof ci.readina.ma.us, published quarterly 0 others? Health: • John Feudo mentioned a study that showed that outdoor recess yields higher test scores among elementary school students • Heather Clish says AMC has information on the health effects of outdoor activities for kids Events and ideas to get people to use trails and get outdoors: • Photo contest: Rachel Baumgartner said the Friends of the Library have done one and could offer advice; John offered the cover of the Reading Recreation Magazine as a prize. • Geocaching and letter boxing. • Scavenger hunts or other contests; Heather says there needs to be a prize or stamp. • Publish suggested walks by category(e.g. short hikes for kids) • Post info on trail length and ease of use so walkers know to expect • Rachel says to require people to sign up(by email or phone). It controls the number of participants and increases the likelihood that they'll attend the event. Set a limit and have a waking list. • Walkable Reading has created pod tours available at the library. Middle school students are creating a pod tour of veterans' monuments in Reading. Ped!-Bus:Will mentioned that in Switzerland regular"bus stops"are set up for students to join a group walking to school. Pat Lloyd said that Wood End had difficulty encouraging walking due to over-committed parents and bad weather. The Safe Routes to School program was discussed. Mike DeBrigard was quizzed on sidewalk building priorities. His sidewalk budget is just$5,000 annually. The town has considered, but rejected, regulations requiring property owners to clear snow off sidewalks. Will mentioned what a resource the Matters Cabin has become. Dave urged attendees to monitor the"408",60 unit apartment complex proposed to be built adjacent to the Matters Cabin and ROLT's Fairbanks Marsh. Concern was expressed about this negatively impacting the cabin and overcrowding the schools. Ginny Blodgett said that differing rules on town lands is confusing. Could rules be coordinated between Town Forest and conservation areas? Post rules. Clarify whether groups need permission from Town Forest Committee or Conservation Commission to lead hikes or activities on those properties. Fear of the outdoors,fear of strangers, lack of sidewalks, poor sidewalk maintenance, and too muchttoo fast traffic are all impediments to walking, getting outdoors, and to using conservation areas. Patrice Todisco expressed frustration about the lack of communication in Town Hall. For example, the Town Forest Committee wasn't notified when the Selectmen discussed parking proposals for Strout Avenue. Attendees discussed how to coordinate events to avoid conflicts, how to stay in touch, and how to provide the public with a single location where events could be posted. Action items: 1. Heather offered to set up a shared Google calendar to be used by the groups present to post their events. It would serve organizers from each group rather than the public. This will be a test to see rf it meets the needs of attendees. 2. Kim will check the capabilities of the new town website(coming over the next couple of months)to see if an outdoor activities calendar could be set up. A limited number of individuals could be authorized to post events or events could be emailed to Kim who would oversee the calendar. Addenda:Town Clerk, Laura Gemme,says it's technically possible and Finance Director, Bob LeLacheur,thinks it's a good idea provided it is limited to outdoor events so it doesn't get over used. 3. Kim will coordinate an informal email list of attendees to be used to get the word out on open space issues. Those interested should email Kim. Those on town committees should avold back and forth discussion by email to avoid violating open meeting law. The meeting concluded at 8:40 PM. 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