Agriculture, Recreation, and Conservation Commission joint meetings 12_09
Northampton Recreation, Conservation, Agricultural Commissions
Minutes of December 1, 2009 Joint Meeting
1)Bean Property Discussion
a)Attendance – 7:02 p.m.
Wayne Feiden, Kevin Lake, Valerie Vignaux, Mason Maronn, Robert Borawski, John Bobala, John Omasta,
i)
Richard Jaescke, Jody Lemoi, Joan Finn, Kevin Coffey, Carol Bertrand, Tom Parent, Downey Meyer, Ann-
Marie Moggio, Lyn Connly, Sue Carbin, Michael Flynn
b)Wayne Feiden Presentation
i)Mr. Feiden explained the Bean Property. The City was attracted to it for open space. The Recreation
Commission has been watching the price of it since it went on the market, about 3 years ago. They
approached Mr. Feiden this past Spring when the price went down and it seemed more affordable to
purchase for recreation fields.
ii)There are about 27 acres, rough assessment, the rest is trees and flood plain.
iii)The City’s offer was accepted about a week and a half ago, with contingencies. The three for the City are: 1)
City Council has to vote on approval of buying it by Dec. 31 , 2) CPA has to agree to pay to buy it, 3) There is
some contamination so there is consideration for that.
iv)We would like to see some kind of consensus of all three Commissions regarding the purchase of the
property.
v)Public Forum is Monday, December 7. The three boards need to figure out the process for the meeting.
vi)The City Council on November 19 put off the first vote on purchasing the property until they understand
what the process for determining usage is going to be.
c)Commissions
i)The Commissions discussed some of the positives and negatives of the property.
ii)There was a discussion on what some of the uses of the property could be.
iii)Mr. Feiden explained the process for testing the soils and the old farm dump site for contamination. The
DPW is determining where the sewer pipe runs along some of the property. The tests should be done within
two weeks, then another couple weeks for results.
The three Commissions agreed this is an important piece of property to work together to preserve.
iv)
2)Process Discussion
a)Fran Volkmann, Chair of the CPC (Community Preservation Act Commission) spoke about what she thinks the
CPC would like to see out of this process.
i)She stated she appreciates the level of expertise she sees around the table at this meeting.
ii)Some of the same questions the Boards have brought up, they will have.
iii)The process for the CPC is “what is the community support”, they’d want to see support for the purchase of
the property.
b)The Commission discussed the Monday night meeting and the format.
i)Wayne will do an overview of the Property and present facts, including that all 3 boards have voted that the
land should be purchased.
ii)The three Commissions will each designate a member to present, up to 10 minutes each.
iii)Then there will be a 15-20 minute brainstorming session where the public can ask other questions that
haven’t been answered. The Commissions won’t respond, but will write them down to follow up on.
iv)The public will then have the opportunity to speak, limit of 3 minutes. They will be asked to not repeat if the
exact point has already been made. Perhaps representatives from various groups can speak on behalf of
that group.
v)At the end of the meeting, the Commissions will define the next steps in the process.
c)The next meeting of the three boards will be Tuesday, December 15, 7:00 p.m., location to be determined,
hopefully Smith Vocational Library.
i)The City Council needs to vote at their December 17 meeting. Wayne will be away so someone will need to
present the outcome of this meeting.
3)Meeting ended at 9:03 p.m.
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Page of
Notice
There will be a Joint Meeting of the Recreation Commission, Agriculture Commission, and
Conservation Commission on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
JFK Middle School Library, 100 Bridge Rd., Florence
(enter through main front doors to the building)
Agenda:
1.Discuss next steps on Bean Farm
2.Appoint members to serve on ad hoc Bean Farm
committee
3.Any other necessary business