SOUTHWICK – The Open Space Plan and Recreation Committee held a public informational session on Thursday night in the land use room at the Southwick Town Hall. Although the meeting was held to allow residents to give their input on open space, no residents attended the meeting.
Despite that, the committee, with assistance from members of the Park and Recreation Committee and Conservation Commission, still discussed what should be added to the upcoming open space plan for 2019.
Jeanne Reed-Waldron and David DeiDolori of the Park and Rec Committee told the committee that they’d like to see some parking on the Northern end of the rail trail. The hope is that there could be a grant to create additional parking. With the parking, the thought was to include a maintenance station for people to put air in their bike tires and other, similar maintenance needs.
When discussing Whalley Park, the committee members agreed that they should explore the possibility of having more concerts there in the summer. This past summer, three concerts were held as part of a summer concert series.
The Southwick Open Space Plan and Recreation Committee held a meeting on Thursday night. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Reed-Waldron also pointed that she’d like to see more open space used for youth sports teams to practice on.
“We have very limited space for teams to practice,” said Reed-Waldron.
Open Space Plan Committee member Russ Fox, who’s also the Select Board Vice-Chairman, agreed that it would be a good idea and something to add to the new plan.
“It’s something we need to work on,” said Fox. “Is there more land available to purchase?”
Fox mentioned that there could be some land near the industrial park on Hudson Drive along with other possibilities to be looked at.
Discussing more recent additions that should added to the open space plan, Reed-Waldron and DeiDolori noted that the town beach now has picnic tables, a barbecue pit, and there’s now more parking available. Open Space Plan Committee Chairman Dennis Clark said that the Sofinowski preservation now has a community garden.
Towards the end of the meeting, the committee suggested the concept of developing an interactive map that would show where each open space and recreational activity is in Southwick.
Each community in Massachusetts has the option to renew their plan every seven years and Southwick’s current Open Space Plan was implemented in 2012 with the deadline to renew the plan of November of 2019. These plans allow municipalities to apply to various grants from the state.
