OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF JANUARY 12, 2007
CONFERENCE ROOM A
1. Welcome and Introduction of Members:
Jonathan Carter and Roger Cole called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Present were members Jon Carter, Roger Cole, Ken Lemont, Glenn Shwaery, Matt Brock, Earldean Wells, Craig Wilson, Megan Kline, Page Mead, Neil Jorgensen and Duncan McEachern. Absent was member Paul Bonacci. Also present were Attorney Gregory Orso and Bill Conda of BJP Corp.
2. Review & Acceptance of the December 8, 2006 Minutes:
The Minutes were accepted as amended.
3. Review and Discussion of Priorities from Last Meeting:
· Lewis Road proposal – Presentation by owner/representative and discussion
Jon Carter said the property is owned by BJP Corp. and located at 450 U.S. Route 1 and Lewis Road. Greg Orso, attorney for the property owner, presented a proposal included in the Committee’s packets for the meeting, concerning the town receiving from his client 18.23 acres from BJP in addition to $3,000 in lieu of the entire parcel, having to pay the tree growth penalty. Many questions resulted from the presentation, in a round table, in particular, the wetland issue was heavily discussed as well as the parcel’s connection to the Town Farm, the value of the wetlands, the type of wetlands and whether or not the owner would consider reconfiguring the lots so there was a different layout for the town land. The Committee thanked the owner of the property and his Counsel for coming in and would be back in touch with
them, either through the Town Manager or Town Attorney.
The Committee discussed the figure, once the attorney and owner left the meeting, and a small sub-committee comprised of Craig Wilson, Earldean Wells and Roger Cole was set up to work on the proposal and recommendation. The Town Manager said he would work on the cost configuration of the tree growth penalty issue and report back to the sub-committee. Duncan McEachern indicated he would speak with Attorney Orso to discuss the request by the Open Space Committee. It was determined that the Open Space Committee really should not get into the monetary amount and it should be left up to Council.
Because this item took up most of the meeting, the Town Manager indicated to the committee that Councilor Shwaery had one quick item he wanted to bring up, as well as Councilor Brock.
Glenn Shwaery spoke about the land in front of the Danish Health Club, owned by the town, between the railroad tracks and the water. A motion was made by Earldean Wells, with a second by Craig Wilson to offer the property for sale and recommend to Council so that the sale of this parcel could be placed on the June referendum. A vote was taken and passed 9-2 (Roger Cole and Megan Kline were opposed).
Councilor Brock then brought up the land issue of the Kittery Art Association. He said they would like to obtain a piece of property owned by the town behind the Art Association and would the town consider selling that to them. Because time was so short for a large discussion on this, the Committee, for the most part, could make a recommendation to Council and put it on the February 9th Open Space Committee meeting agenda to discuss.
4. Other Issues, updates, and next meeting expectations:
The Committee was asked if there were any other items for the next meeting, scheduled for February 9th. Matt Brock asked for a budget recommendation for FY’08 and Neil Jorgensen requested Old Ferry Lane be on the next meeting’s agenda.
The meeting adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
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