Back to Weir River Estuary Park Committee Meeting Minutes
April 7, 2010 at Hingham Town Hall
Present: Dick Avery (Cohasset) Scribe for tonight
Faith Burbank (Hingham)
Judeth Van Hamm , Scott Plympton, Amy May (Hull)
Absent: Charlie Higginson (Cohasset)
Jim Rodgers (Hingham)
1. Meeting began at 7:00 P.M. (Delayed until quorum present)
2. Minutes of March 3, 2010 , meeting were reviewed and annotated as follows before being approved:
a. Regarding the map from Judeth for Hingham Open Space Plan:
- - Aquarion and Tedeschi land to be indexed and identified ( Faith will get a map to Judeth showing Cushing, Aquarion and Tedeschi)
- - Remove Boyle House as shown on map
- - Rivers Act set-backs to be shown for parcels #10, 11, 12 per LPP p.31
- - At next WREP meeting see if revised JVH map is suitable for LPP and
Hingham Open Space Plan
b. Regarding HLCT:
- - Remove "?" from first bullet and note Hull Con Com agreed to hold a CR
3. Judeth's Review of J-Pod Rationale:
a. Sustainable Committee is still looking for zero emissions transit e.g. Electric Trolleys, but trolley economics are not viable a/c personnel costs.
b. J-Pods have the advantage of no conductors/drivers are needed
c. Using J-Pods along Geo. Wash. Blvd. would be a showcase entree for Boston
d. Since routes would be within WREstuary, does WREP Committee want to discuss and take a formal stance on J-Pods?
e. Per Scott Plympton, Abby Diamond is opening a bike rental concession at Marina.
Therefore, (1) Put into LPP as an amendment the Bike and Pedestrian routes
(2) Motion passed for Scott to talk to Abby about use of bike paths
(3) Add to Activity Matrix an item for promoting use of paths as an
on-line resource with points of interest and a companion hard
copy handout a la the paddle guide.
4. Hull Land Conservation Trust Update :
a. Attendance at Gala Auction reached 130 and netted over $ 5,000
b. $ 75,000 Grant was approved by Gov. Deval Patrick ( one of nine)
c. By June 30 CR paperwork will be turned in by TTOR
d. Seeking a Sheehan Family Trust donation of $ 15,000
e. Need another $ 35,000 before June 30
f. 245 Hull TTOR members are invited to a May 11th event at the VFW Hall in Hull
g. Thanks to Anne Herbst for locating the Grant option for HLCT
5. Hingham Open Space Plan :
a. Faith is editing content after including WREP contributions
b. Need a WREP policy on suitability of using boardwalks within Estuary
c. Need a good Hingham access signage to the Weir River Estuary
d. WREP Committee supports using Amonte Property as a meadow, not gardens
Hingham Updates:
Re fish -- Bill Sarni and others are seeking to remove stream debris up to
Triphammer Pond
Re dredging Foundry Pond-- WREP would like a balanced discussion on keeping or removing the dam prior to the Hingham Town Meeting Vote on 4/26/10
6. Moving Ahead on Forum:
a. Define boundaries of "Park" -- All WREP Com members should sketch out what they consider the boundaries and bring to May meeting
b. Similarly, each member should denote points of interest within the "Park"
7. Activity Matrix: A brief run through of the matrix reminded folks of work to be done
Next Meeting is May 5, 2010 at the Estuary Center
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M.