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Home My WebLink About2024-03-18 ad Hoc - Symonds Way Exploratory Committee MinutesTown of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Symonds Way Exploratory Committee Date: 2024-03-18 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Chair Carlo Bacci, Angela Binda, Heather Clish, Andrew Dribin, Karen Janowski, Nancy Twomey Members - Not Present: Vice Chair Chuck Robinson Others Present: Marlena Bita, John Sasso (remote) Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jacquelyn LaVerde Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held in-person in the Select Board Meeting Room of Town Hall, and remotely via Zoom. Chair Carlo Bacci called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Public Comment There was no comment from the public. Discuss Recommendations and Slide Presentation to Select Board At the previous meeting, the SWEC decided to put together a slide presentation of their recommendations, and assigned sections of the presentation to various members. Following a thorough discussion and detailed review of each slide, the Committee agreed on a revised draft. Andrew Dribin will review the draft presentation with the Conservation Commission at their meeting next week to get their comments. [See attachment for draft presentation]. Approve Meeting Minutes Carlo Bacci noted the correct meeting date was February 21st, not March 611' as noted on the draft minutes. On a motion by Karen Janowski, seconded by Heather Clish, the Symonds Way Exploratory Committee voted 6-0-0 to accept the meeting minutes of February 21, 2024 as corrected. Roll call vote: Andrew Dribin — Yes, Karen Janowski — Yes, Angela Binds — Yes, Nancy Twomey — Yes, Heather Clish — Yes, Carlo Bacci — Yes. Discuss Future Aaenda Items SWEC will meet again on Monday, April 1st, 2024, to discuss and vote to finalize their presentation to be given to the Select Board. Page I 1 On a motion by Angela Sinda, seconded by Heather Clish, the Symonds Way Exploratory Committee voted 6-0-0 to adjourn at 8:53 pm. Roll call vote: Andrew Dribin - Yes, Karen Janowski - Yes, Angela Binda - Yes, Nancy Twomey - Yes, Heather Clish - Yes, Carlo Bacci - Yes. Page 1 2 Recommendations of the Symonds Exploratory committe Carlo Bacci, Chair — Select Board Chuck Robinson, Vice Chair — School Committee Angela Binda — Recreation Committee Heather Clish — Community Planning and Development Andrew Dribin — Conservation Comm Karen Janowski — Council on Nancy Twomey — Permanent Build SWEC Formation • In 2019 the Town purchased approximately 15 acres on Symonds Way, off Haverhill Street. A subsequent site survey, completed in September 2022, performed by the engineering company Weston and Sampson, showed that only 2.5 acres of the land was buildable due to the proximity of wetlands. • In November 2022, the Reading Select Board formed the Symonds Way Exploratory Committee (SWEC) to serve as an advisory committee for the purpose of recommending the best options for uses of this land for our community. SWEC Charge The purpose of this committee is to serve as an advisory committee to the Reading Select Board for the purpose of recommending the best options for uses of the land for our community, understanding the needs of the community, located on Symonds Way. SWEC shall gather input from its members and the Reading residents as to what the property should look like and its functionality. SWEC will hold regular meetings and community outreach, SWEC will gather, analyze, and organize information for future planning decisions related to the best uses for this property. The Committee shall consider the following: • Best uses to serve as many residents as possible • Using public funds and grants where possible towards development • Private/public partnerships to develop the property The first task of SWEC will be to define the best use for the property. SWEC will provide feedback on potential physical layouts on the properly developed by S V Desi�r Architects and funded by Town Meeting on April 2022. If a pnvate/public partnership rs deemed appropnate, the SWEC will work with Reading Town Halls to develop and review a Request for Proposals (RFP) Tbr private developers to, invest in the property. Once proposals are received, and with the help of Reading Town Hall Staff, SWEC will help review and evaluate the submittals to the RFP. The Committee will offer recommendations for potential funding options, if pursuing public development is deemed appropriate SWEC Actions 1. To gain an understanding of what the community would like, a survey was developed and published. 2. Initial schematic drawings were produced by SV Design to help the committee understand the scope and scale of various types of recreation that could fit within the 2.5 acres. 3. At a March 2023 meeting, comments made by the public suggested that we look at all Town -owned area on Symonds Way. 4. At SWEC's request, the Select Board, at their May 2023 meeting, voted to expand the Committee's charge to include areas that the Town's Conservation Administrator determined were possible areas to develop, including behind the Burbank Ice Arena, the baseball field, and a small area next to 18 Symonds Way. 5. A Request for Information (RFI) was developed and published to solicit responses from parties interested in a private/public enterprise. Evaluation Criteria • To help the Committee identify the best use(s) of the property, evaluation criteria were discussed and established as follows: 1. Provides a wide -range of public use 2. Provides inter -generational use 3. Meets a demonstrated need 4. Maintains Town's ownership of property 5. Minimal taxpayer expense/fiscally responsible 6. Compatible with surrounding uses Community Input • Over multiple meetings, several requests were heard from the public including: 1. Contracting with Black Earth for a compost facility. 2. Building pickle ball courts behind the Burbank Ice Arena utilizing their overflow parking area and built through private donations and money donated by the Burbank Ice Arena. 3. Creating more practice fields for Reading Youth Lacrosse. 4. Creating an aquatic center. 5. Using a portion of the land for a dog park built through a grant specifically for dog parks. • Finally, the Town is concurrently conducting a feasibility study that potentially places the Reading Center For Active Living within the original 2.5 acre site. 0 kv O � N Uc/Dp� Community Survey Responses Total responses Age of Respondents S P Are there children under age 18 in your household? • 1,727 18-29 30 Yes 1,061 30-39 299 No 591 40-49 628 Not Applicable 46 50-59 340 Prefer Not to Answer 29 60-69 213 70-79 144 80-89 35 ks 90+ 2 Prefer Not to Answer 36 Question 1: What are your top priorities for improving the quality of life in Reading? • Top Answers: 1. Recreation 66.76% (Chosen highly among households with and without children) 2. Open Space 33.12% 3. Senior Services & Senior Center 16.56% 4. Other (Top Fill-in Responses out of 362) 1. Hockey/Ice Rink 113 2. Pickleball73 3. Fields (turf/outdoor/athletic) 39 Q1 What we your top pnortties for imprmng M pualily of He in Reacing. if my? (Y% may chg up to TWO) Question 2: Rank the priority of example projects. • Top Answers: 1. Outdoor Athletic Fields/Courts 2. Recreation Center (Indoor) 3. Conservation Land/Green Spaces Q2 Rebw is a sample list of projects areas that may be considered for this parcel. Rank these in your order of priority (1 is Most impatanQ. ... m ,» P...a,. Question 3: How important is the development of the Symonds Way Property? • Weighted Average 3.51 (out of 5) ,,, How important is it to you for the tovm to invest in the development of the Symond's Way Property9 in importance°"" WTM /ALL N w IOEI%YQ Y91Y F2LI y ryrM X011® IWCX\NP IIPCRIIIIf Y91f1�R OWAOIIf iPlfMlf IY6NCE C N.31% R3]% T21% DOA1 1M VB iB] 470 Y3 I'll 351 At -44" IL A" aka. t V 1 KILLAM As CEDAR SWAMP NORTH IrPSE i SyMp Yos L 1"' PafcelID 035-133 't« ' A" '� Patccl ID 09159 yL CEDAR PF Y SWAMP . m.� SOUTH ka READING RIFLE & REVOLVER CLUB 4 y � 0. Property Constraints • Contaminants? ..001, Property Constraints • Contaminants? • Wetlands (35' "No Build Zone") Property Constraints • Contaminants? • Wetlands (35' "No Build Zone") • Need for Emergency Fire Lane • Limited Buildable Space Property Overview Expanded Charge May 16, 2023 • Baseball field • Parking area behind Burbank Arena • Small area adjacent to 18 Symonds Way Ilk SWEC ORIGINAL CHARGE — i' - zas.�us3mazssz n O c� a� Recommended Options PUBLIC-PRIVATE MULTI -USE RECREATIONAL FACILITY MULTI-PURPOSE FIELDS PICKLEBALL COURTS CENTER FOR ACTIVE LIVING (SENIOR/COMMUNITY DOG PARK CENTER) Multi -Purpose Fields • High need identified by Recreation Department and sports leagues • Need for additional practice field growing as high school teams use fields later in the day and evening • No other locations currently under consideration for additional fields • Can be combined with other elements at Symonds Way property Pickleball courts • Demand identified in survey and public discussion • Only suitable location for new courts identified in town, as discussed by several Town Boards • Sound is unlikely to negatively impact neighbors • Can be combined with other elements at Symonds Way property Center for Active Living (Senior/Community Center) • A recognized Town need. Feasibility Study being led by Reading Center for Active Living (ReCAL) Committee and Council on Aging. • Two other locations in Reading also under consideration, neither of which appear suitable for the other recommended Symonds Way property uses. • Potential to combine with other recommended uses if full extent of Town property is used. Dog Park • Considered by SWEC in context of grant opportunity at the time. • While Town Forest is heavily used for dog walking, a dedicated dog park would offer a place for off -leash use and contain dog waste. • Unclear whether there are other locations that could serve this purpose. Multi -use Indoor Recreational Facility • Request for Information (RFI) response received from Edge Sports Global • Large flat area to east of Burbank Ice Arena offers uniquely suitable area for complex that could meet multiple needs, including indoor fields & courts, aquatic center, walking track, parking • Would require renegotiation with Reading Ice Arena Authority for use of Town land and public-private agreement to assure Town use of facilities • Potential to combine with outdoor fields and courts through full use of Symonds Way property? • For this option, SWEC recommends creating multiple uses over duplicating ice rink at this time Conservation • Recommend conveying non -buildable area to permanent conservation • Also highly ranked on the community survey 1. "Just a Little"... Multi -Purpose Fields • Multi -use courts could include: Youth Soccer; Youth Lacrosse; Field Hockey; Basketball Courts; Pickleball • Meets a Reading Recreation Need 2. "Just a bit more" Center for Active Living (Senior/Community Center) • A recognized Town need. Location under review by Reading Center for Active Living (ReCAL) Committee. • Need for Emergency Fire Lane around building. 3. "Outside the Box" Pickleball Courts • Expanded charge to include land behind Burbank Ice Arena (approx. 1.5 acres) • Pickleball Courts on parking lot proposed by Reading Pickleball Players Association 4. Do A Lot... Multi-use �pV O Recreational Facility • Make the most of the land E Q��;•' available behind Burbank Ice �a�a �.• ; Arena • Public/private partnership � ��,.' opportunity with Edge Sports ♦�Q► • Where to park? 5. 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