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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-22-HATS-min HANSCOM AREA TOWNS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING Held at 7:30 PM on January 22, 2009 At Lincoln Town Offices PRESENT: Jeanne Krieger Lexington Board of Selectmen (Chair) Sara Mattes Lincoln Board of Selectmen Mike Rosenberg Bedford Board of Selectmen Robert Domnitz Lincoln Planning Board Dorothy Steele Massport/ OGCA Sara Arnold Massport Hanscom James Corcoran Hanscom Air Force Base, Community Relations Lou Sideris Minuteman National Historic Park Ron Richter Bedford Recreation Commission Amy Hamilton Bedford Recreation Director Sue Baldauf Bedford Youth and Family Director Charlotte Rodgers Lexington Director of Human Services Laurel Henry Lexington Asst. Director of Youth Services Dan Pereira Lincoln Recreation Director Vera Welch Lincoln 7:30 PM INTRODUCTION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Jeanne Krieger introduced herself as the new Chairman and welcomed participants. She outlined the agenda which includes a workshop on youth services. Ms. Krieger announced that the Freedom’s Way Heritage Area has received federal recognition, which makes it eligible to apply for grant funding for a management plan. The area extends from Malden to Winchendon and the main idea is to promote tourism throughout the area. 7:40 PM WORKSHOP: YOUTH SERVICES Mike Rosenberg led a discussion of the range of services provided to young people in the HATS towns. He explained that Bedford is grappling with what activities the town should cover. Some people see the services provided by the Council on Aging as a model; resources are also a factor. He asked participants to address the following questions: 1. What are some specific offerings and opportunities? 2. Do you have a youth center? How does it work and how is it financed? 3. Is it the responsibility of town government to develop and execute youth programming and services? 4. What are your areas of need in these categories? Bedford’s Recreation Department distributed copies of a list of opportunities provided for young people at the town’s Middle School and High School. As well as participation in programs and activities, there are opportunities for employment as coaches, camp 1 counselors, field trip chaperones etc. Activities are financed by user fees, under a revolving fund. Programs are primarily sports but also include some arts and other clubs. A “try it and see approach” is adopted as demand is hard to predict. The Friday evening ski program at Wachusett Mountain is very popular. In summer there are day and overnight trips. The after-school program for elementary students also has a group for middle schoolers whose parents do not wish to leave them home alone. Most activities charge fees but a few do not. Discretionary free places are occasionally offered. Lincoln’s Recreation Director provided copies of his department’s brochure. For middle schoolers, the activities offered are mainly one-off events as numbers are too low to support many regular programs. There are middle school dances and trips, and some activities are coordinate with the Council on Aging. Several sports programs are run separately by parent volunteers. Most activities are fee-based. The Recreation Department also operates the town pool and tennis courts, with user fees. It runs after- school and summer camps. Lincoln students attend high school in Sudbury and tend to focus their activities there, except in summer. The town has a number of annual celebration events which are inter-generational and free (apart from parking, and entry th fees for the 4 July road race). T-shirts are sold to supplement funding. The Celebrations Committee which organized these events was over-stretched and so a new model has been established with captains for each event and administrative support from the Recreation Department. Lexington reported a similar program to Bedford in terms of sports. A Middle School trip is run collaboratively. The Recreation Department runs a Center Pool Complex and there is swimming and fishing at the reservoir. The Arts Center in the town also offers some programs and the Hayden Recreation Center which operates on its own endowment is popular with elementary students. The group noted that some libraries also offer activity programs for young people. The discussion turned to youth and human/ family services departments’ roles. Bedford’s Youth and Family Services Director explained that her department provides counseling, information and support services. It has a wide perspective through working with veterans and with WIC. From its work with problem children it became concerned about teenagers who are non-joiners of the traditionally-offered programs. It developed teen mentoring and some new programs such as Middle School dances and a High School “battle of the bands”. It obtained government grants for some activities and worked in conjunction with the schools, Recreation Department and Council on Aging on some events. No advance sign up is required for one-off events to minimize obstacles to participation. Sometimes donations to the Food Pantry have been requested as an alternative to an entry fee. The town no longer has a dedicated space for youth activities apart from the schools, so the Department tries different things in different places where there is spare capacity. It sees it as a community’s responsibility to look out for vulnerable teenagers. Lexington’s Department of Human Services is a new organization. The Director distributed copies of the organizational chart. The department has three branches: Human and Family Services; Senior Services; and Youth Services. Similarly to Bedford, the town has no dedicated youth center so the department tries to make the best use of the spaces available. The Senior Services branch operates adult day care and a senior center and offers some intergenerational programs. The department’s program offerings are 2 coordinated with Lexington Community Education and the Munroe Center for the Arts. The department is involved in referrals and coordinating home visits by social workers and nurses. Youth Services’ work with individuals/ families includes needs assessments, financial assistance etc. The department leads discussion groups for parents in the schools and it works with school counseling departments. It hopes to expand activities for young people in the school vacations. Lack of after-school transportation to support participation in programs has been identified as a problem and the options are being investigated, including bringing programs to sites with large teen populations. Bedford and Lexington’s staff regularly liaise with other professionals and departments and agreed that networking is important in solving problems. In Lincoln, Mr. Pereira reported that the idea of a youth center is floated periodically, but it is hard to pull together a clear workable model. The number of young people in the town is low, and teenagers’ desire for a space of their own with minimal adult supervision is problematic. The other towns felt that although a dedicated youth space would make programming easier and encourage participation by being separate from school, they are still able to achieve a lot without one. Lincoln reported that the town has limited social services, with public safety officials often being in the role of referrers. There is a current proposal for a town nurse, and grant proposals for youth and family services are being developed. Sara Mattes asked if regionalization had potential to help with provision of youth services. It was reported that Lexington and Belmont share a nurse. Since transportation is already a problem for teenagers, there may be a need to move towards offering services at a sub-town level rather than regionally, for example in apartment communities. The importance of local networking to identify and address linked issues at family level also argues against regionalization. The Chairman thanked the workshop participants for their contributions. 8:40 PM HFAC REPORT The Chairman reported that the January HFAC meeting was cancelled. People have now had a chance to review the Hangar 24 Environmental Impact Report connected with the Section 106/ 4(f) Review. A meeting for the consulting parties will be held on th Wednesday January 28 at 5:00 PM at the Hanscom Field civil terminal. HATS is a consulting party. Sara Mattes commented on the lack of clarity in the process. Documents relating to Massport’s request for a Categorical Exclusion by the FAA under NEPA, for development of the East Ramp, including noise and emissions reports, were circulated by email. The FAA approved the request and its letter to Massport was also circulated. 8:50 PM HAFB: HOUSING PRIVATIZATION AND CYBER COMMAND Sara Mattes announced that a meeting has been arranged with Colonel Orr on the th afternoon of Thursday January 29 to discuss housing privatization initiatives. The history is that the initial proposal was for a private developer to carry out the construction of housing for military personnel, with a prioritized “waterfall” to govern occupancy if all the units are not filled. Later the number of units was revised downwards due to lower predicted needs. Recently there have been rumors of an intention to allow the new developer to build not only the lower number of units for base personnel but also the 3 balance of the original number for the general population. The HATS Selectmen and Town Managers have been invited to the meeting. Ms. Mattes also reported that Hanscom is no longer being considered as a potential location for the Cyber Command headquarters. The mission and criteria appear to have changed and other locations are being considered for the activities. Mr. Corcoran confirmed that a new separate command is no longer proposed. 9:00 PM VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Mike Rosenberg reported that discussions are continuing with Bedford’s Conservation Commission and Selectmen concerning the higher growth in a small area off Runway 23. Massport’s proposal is couched in broad terms and there is a question over whether implementation of the management plan would be a change of use. Potential mitigation by forest replacement is also being discussed. 9:10 PM FUTURE MEETINGS AND TOPICS The Chairman circulated a set of proposed meeting dates with the agenda. The August date may be dropped if not needed. The dates were agreed. Mr. Corcoran extended an offer on behalf of the Air Force to send the Wing Commander, Col. Orr, to brief HATS. Potential future workshop topics were discussed and the following were agreed, subject to confirmation: State proposals for zoning reform – February Regionalization of services – March Conservation (possibly including storm water management) – April Agriculture/ local food – date to be determined Land use: coordination between boards – date to be determined Town Managers will be asked if they would like to suggest any other topics. The Chairman suggested that HATS may wish to routinely track legislative initiatives and revenue changes. MINUTES The minutes of the December meeting were approved unanimously subject to review and editing by Mr. Domnitz. 9:20 PM EXECUTIVE SESSION The Chairman called a roll-call vote to go into Executive Session to discuss litigation strategy under exemption 3, without returning to open session. Voted: Sara Mattes Yes Mike Rosenberg Yes Jeanne Krieger Yes The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 PM. Submitted by Catherine Perry Approved March 26, 2009 4