OSRP Committee holds public hearing

LENOX – The Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) Committee held a successful and well-attended public meeting at town hall.

The meeting was held to solicit ideas from town residents on how best to preserve and manage Lenox’s open space.

It was hosted by three master’s degree students, Becca Robbins, Rene LaGue and Amy Wolfson from the Conway School of Landscape Design, who are in the process of drafting a five-year open space and recreation plan for the town.

Approximately 54 people showed up for the meeting. The students presented everyone with questionnaires at its start asking their thoughts on open space in the town. Attendees were also given maps.

The citizens were then divided up into seven groups and were asked to identify an open space and recreation place in Lenox they loved and an open space and recreation place they wanted to change.

The residents seemed to take great enjoyment in this, and there was a buzz of discussion in town hall as these breakout sessions took place.

Once the groups finished their discussions, a spokesman for each group presented what they had determined.

In terms of the open spaces the groups said they liked, Kennedy Park, Post Farm, October Mountain and the banks of the Housatonic River were praised.

In terms of what the groups wanted to change, greater accessibility, particularly at Post Farm, was a common thread in many presentations. There were also proposals put forward to create a dog park and to create biking trails in Lenox.

After the sessions finished reporting, the students collected the questionnaires, which will help inform the plan they are in the midst of drafting.

“We felt that it was a very good event,” said Ms. Robbins. “We’re going to analyze the papers, we’re going to read every comment.”

The students will have a scoping meeting for the plan in the beginning of March and hope to have the five-year plan completed by the end of that month. The plan will be presented in a public meeting specifically called for this purpose.

“Hopefully everybody feels that their voices will be heard,” said Ms. Robbins.

The five-year OSRP will have to be approved by Lenox Town Meeting before it can be implemented.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on February 6, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry