SOUTHWICK – The Open Space and Recreation Committee held a mandatory public input session on Wednesday night at Southwick Town Hall to seek public input for open space plans.
Every community in Massachusetts has the option to renew their Open Space and Recreation plan every seven years. Southwick’s latest plan was in 2011 and the deadline for them to renew the plan is November of 2019. Having an updated plan allows municipalities to apply for various grants from the state.
Open Space and Recreation Committee member Russ Fox is seen discussing a topic with someone in the crowd. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
When hearing feedback from those in attendance at the meeting, the Committee discovered that a main concern from the public is that there are several recreational areas in Southwick that a lot of people aren’t aware of.
Deb Humphrey, who lives on Congamond Road and has lived in town for a long time, was unaware of certain recreational sites in Southwick and the rules of them.
“We had no idea some of these were even parks,” said Humphrey.
Living on Granville Road, Jessica Thornton, who’s also a member of the Planning Board, resides close to the Granville gorge. Thornton pointed out that some people have told her that they don’t know where it is and mentioned that there’s a small sign to say where to enter.
“It doesn’t look very inviting,” said Thornton.
A Planning Board member suggested to the Open Space and Recreation Committee that they should make it a goal in their 2019 plan to either acquire funds or have a committee properly identify properties and let the public become aware of them.
“We make people we’re aware that we have it,” said Thornton. “We’re supposed to be a recreational community.”
Humphrey also pointed out to the committee there is a lack of bathrooms and trash cans at a number of recreational areas in town.
“I think it’s an important feature if you want people to go there and be a while,” said Humphrey.
Craig Samuelson, a member of the Open Space and Recreation Committee, added that an open space like the Sofinowski preserve is a place that some people may have never heard of, yet it includes a community garden.
People throughout the community are seen at the public input meeting on Wednesday night for the Open Space and Recreation Committee. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
“We spent a lot of time with some of these preserves,” said Samuelson. “It’s not out there where people are aware” he continued when referring to information on the available open spaces.
The committee also informed the crowd of the results of the survey that they sent out to all town residents this past winter. Of the 452 surveys received, it was found that the rail trail and Whalley Park were two recreational spots in town that are very popular. But, the survey also showed that people didn’t seem to use recreational spaces like Fletcher Park, Keenan Park, the basketball court at the town hall, and Goose Pond.
In the survey questions, it was also discovered that some people do have an interest in having a dog park somewhere in Southwick. According to Clark, people years ago proposed that a dog park be created right behind the town hall but it never moved forward. Despite that, Clark said that he will put the interest of a dog park in the open space plan for 2019.
Fellow Open Space and Recreation Committee member Russ Fox addressed the attendees that education and marketing are two key aspects that the committee will have to include in the 2019 plan. Committee Chairman Dennis Clark indicated that the committee will use the feedback from the public moving forward and encourages the community to give their input throughout this process.
“I think a lot of important parts came up tonight,” said Clark. “We’d like to keep this momentum going.”
