Open Space Committee Meeting: March 11, 2025

Attending: Rick Gardner, Deb Cary, Brian Specht, Annie Charette (remote)

1. The minutes from February 11 were approved

2. Phil O’Brien is interested in joining OSC as an alternate. We voted to approve his application. Rick will notify Phil and Selectboard.

3. Brian will try out the hike meetup tool that we discussed at the last meeting.

4. We Voted to approve an expenditure of $50 for the last bit of signage from Makepeace.

5. We agreed that we will have a table at Hey Day on October 4 (Rain date October 5). We will discuss coverage later and will try to get some of our hikers or maintainers to help out. We will also plan to make some improvements to our booth…a banner in front , a trails map with a firmer backing that focuses on Princeton instead of the whole area, and better display of the material. Will assign responsibility next meeting.

6. We did not get a chance to attend the 3-part Land Conservation Series given by the UMass Mass Woods group but Rick will find the links and send them out.

7. Annie will lead another kids hike on April 5 (rain date April 6). Susan will assist. Rev Joelle may be able to help with promotion. Will do the Bullock-McElroy trails, starting from Krashes field.

8. Trails Plan

•  We agreed that we do not need to rush this. Our target will be the end of year though we will try to finish it sooner. But we need more of the team together to do a lot of the reviewing.
•  The document has been updated with some sections from Rick and Susan, some notes from Brian and Deb. All team members should focus on getting their sections done, and on reviewing the sections that have been drafted. These are colored BLUE in the document. Rick will turn on the ‘Track Changes’ function.
•  Special attention should be given to the ‘Ideas for added Trails’ section (Appendix 1). This is a list of all trail ideas that Rick could remember and glean from the Trail Summit and other notes. Everyone should review these and suggest additions or changes. Next meeting we will start working on ‘costs and benefits” and prioritization. We expect this will take a few meetings! NOTE: Additions or corrections to trail design should be entered in PURPLE so that Rick can make changes to the maps. Rick will be looking for better mapping presentation (so you can actually see the roads!)

9. Trails update: Deb will be adding new signs within the next month (or so) two new posts are required to complete this task. For TPS, the grant is submitted, and we are awaiting approval.

10. Trail Maintainers:

•  We have a full list of trail maintainers!! Rick will be communicating with this group.
•  We need to clarify the relative roles of Trail Maintainers vs Land Stewards, and to get rid of the term ‘Trail Stewards’ which shows up in many places on the website and in the Trail plan. Rick will take this on.
•  We assigned responsibility for working with Landowners. We will discuss what this means at our next meeting. Preliminary assignments are:

i. Nimrod – Rick

ii. Jacobson – Brian

iii. Mirick -Rick

iv. Gregory – Rick or Deb

v. Walcott – Laura

vi. Stern – Susan

11. Nature Walks: We have eight walks lined up for April – June. Rick will get the website in shape for these and will drive the promotion. Corey and Joelle are going to help with promotion. All have dates and times, but we are missing details in some cases. Rick will follow up with Andrew Vitz. The walks are:

•  Tom Sullivan and Laura Reynolds – PLT Boy Scout / EBranch Ware River – May 18 4PM
•  Dot Odgren – TPS Nature Trails and Pollinator Garden – June 28th 1-3
•  Matt Charpentier and friends – Moth night or Vernal Pools
•  Laura Reynolds – Local History + Geology –May 9th 4PM
•  Doug Williams: A Walk Among Stonewalls. Saturday, May 3 10am-12noon
•  Bobbye Samdahl: Birding at Four Corners (1) May 24 7:30AM, and (2) June 7 6:30PM
•  Susan Downing: Wildflower Series: Sundays 9-10am: April 13, 20, 27 and May 18

12. Princeton Hikes:

•  Going well…Susan is doing a great job!!
•  Rick has added a “Short, Slow, Easy” hiking series with hikes of less than 2 miles, slower pace, and easier hiking surface. First hike is scheduled for April 2, and we have ten signups already.

13. Adjourned at 8:20, Next meeting is Tuesday April 8th. Main topic will be Trails Plan.