ATHOL – The next phase of planning for the revitalization of Silver Lake Park was discussed at an Open Space and Recreation Review Committee meeting Tuesday night based on the final version of the Silver Lake Park Master Plan designed by two graduate students from the Sustainable Landscape Planning and Design program at the Conway School. The group focused on a town-wide meeting agenda and finding ways to gather additional feedback from citizens.
“The idea is to get this in the pot while it’s cooking,” said Town Planner Eric Smith.
In June, Robbe Verhofste and Bo Carpen submitted their extensive findings in their master plan, which includes alternate designs and plans for park use, access, slopes and views, soils and geology, drainage and watershed, vegetation and wildlife. The students held two community meetings that invited public input which was applied to their final version of the plan.
OSRRC chair Brian Hall said with all the outreach, the public showed great interest and that the committee is looking into getting ideas and soliciting opinions from people to make sure they’re doing the right thing, prioritizing, gathering allies and letting people know the plans are in the works. The group will also work on presenting a budget to the Capital Planning Committee. Member Dave Small said the committee, which was meeting for the first time, said they will look to see if the blueprints are feasible.
The committee is also seeking to reach out to those who attended the community meetings and will decide whether the next public meeting should be done with a smaller focus group or a larger venue.
More heavily discussed was preparing an online survey and the distribution of handouts during local events. Surveys would not be exclusive to Athol residents. Committee member Mary Holtorf noted that she’s talked to people at Silver Lake Park who didn’t attend the community meetings who have shared input with her.
The committee will research grants and develop questions for the survey with a goal of collecting input by Thanksgiving and then looking into getting funding.
According to the master plan, drainage and storm water management were major stakeholder concerns. Small said on the fast track should be the replacement of a culvert with a “less-complex” 3-sided, pre-fabricated culvert with footing that is less prone to beaver blockage and diffuses the issue of stagnant water in the woods. Hall added that it must allow fire apparatus to go through. Smith said he would write up a summary to have the culvert scoped out by an engineering firm.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Douglas Walsh suggested that the environmental permitting be done all at once. Hall added that they should look for environmental impacts on any subsequent designs.
The public meeting will be held on Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m., location to be determined.
The Silver Lake Master Plan can be viewed on the Town of Athol website at http://www.athol-ma.gov/parks-trails/pages/silver-lake-park and at the Athol Public Library.
The committee will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. at the Town Hall to discuss plans for the beach area to be presented at the spring town meeting.