Open Space Committee Meeting: August 5, 2025
7:00 pm Annex (large) and Virtual
6 Town Hall Dr, Princeton 01541
Published on: September 30, 2025 at 12:14pm
Last modified: September 30, 2025 at 12:14pm
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“The listings of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair 48 hours before said meeting, which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.”
LIST OF TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED
1. Approve Minutes from July
2. Quick Items
3. Trail Plan – Review/Improve work to date and Trail Ideas
4. Princeton Hikes
5. Other Business
Attending: Rick Gardner, Annie Charrette, Deb Cary, Laura Reynolds, Susan Downing(remotely) Excused: Brian Specht, Phil O’Brien
Meeting came to order at 7:10
Last month’s minutes were approved unanimously by the five members present. Software for hike meetup tool was not presented as Brian Specht was not present. Rick may need to take this over. Kids Hike- A Kids Hike was held July 12 on the Goodnow Trails with 4 kids/ 2 families present. Future timing of hikes was discussed. Annie will plan for hikes in November and April. She will
help Joelle from UCC Church for more hikes if asked. Annie to try re-branding as Family Hikes. Hey Day- will be October 4 10-3:00. Annie and Rick can help. Capital Requirements- Rick will explain to Town what we have upcoming and discuss that we may not have needs at this time but maybe later to address larger projects (TPS trails, possible bridge in East Princeton, etc) . Trail Planning Document Phil O’Brien has rewritten the text and together with others, many of
the tense issues have been improved. Rick to contact Michael Milinski or Martin Sterman to get the biker input for trail planning. For the Natural Resource section, Laura suggested we should adopt the DCR Trail guide/ best
practice model. There is a large section discussing trail building. All should reviewsections1and 2 and Appendix B of the DCR Trail guide. Discussed removing “Projects Currently in Process” as redundant and 5 members present
agreed. We will keep all ideas for future trail projects in Appendix1 but the “Summary of Action Items” will include only projects that are prioritized. Prioritize Trail Projects ideas was discussed and 6 areas were prioritized to the “Summary of
Action Items” list. Annie to show Rick and Brian S how to get from Redwood/ Sharon Dr to the power lines nearby the town fire pond. Rick will review and clean up the document for review at our next meeting. Updates: Benches in place on Mirick Trail and Cobb Brook. Bench still needs to be moved to the “Grove” on the Goodnow Trails. Harriet’s Trail and Henry’s Connector trail in the Goodnow trail need more work to keep open; Rick and Deb to do this soon. Deb reported that we are still
awaiting grant decision about making the TPS trails All Person Trails. Discussed how to keep larger group of trail workers engaged. Rick will encourage them to walk trails and reach out to Trail Maintainers if they discover branches down, etc. Rick to provide list of Trail Maintainers.
Meeting adjourned at 8:33pm The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September 9beginning at 7:00pm. Respectfully submitted, Annie Charrette