ConCom talks Pezwick Park, Guild Pond

The Norwood Conservation Commission (ConCom) met last week and discussed several big issues around Town.

The first is that the Guild Pond Feasibility Study will have a public meeting on Oct. 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Norwood Sportsman’s Club at 576 Nichols Street. Norwood Conservation Agent Carly Rocklen said the idea is to update residents, the club and any interested parties on what’s going on at Guild Pond.

If you haven’t been following the story, the dam at Guild Pond has been breaking up for several years now. It was put in during the 1960s to serve as an educational pond for children, allowing Sportman’s Club members to start kids off small in their fishing and boating adventures.

The dam regulated the water level, but has been breaking apart for years. Club members ran into some friction with Conservation years ago when they started re-damming the pond with sandbags without permission from the Town, as the Town is landowner (though the Club sold it to the Town years ago for $1, according to Club members).

The feasibility study was funded two years ago – and recently started work – to determine if the pond is worth re-damming, this time professionally, or what else could be done with the land. This will be the first official update on the process since a contractor was hired a couple of months ago.

Also at the meeting, Rocklen gave an update for 8 Mill Pond Lane. The property owner butted heads with the ConCom after disturbing the stream without Town permission (also, Town-owned conservation land).

The area is part of Pezwick Park, which was recently un-dammed and renovated. Removing the dam almost immediately brought back the river trout that historically populated New England streams and rivers, but couldn’t survive the hot temperatures of the pond the dam created.

The homeowner has been working with the ConCom to come to a compromise, and Rocklen said they are now almost there, as the homeowner has submitted a retroactive wetlands applications to the Conservation Department.

ConCom member John Carbone asked about the turtles that had been seen nesting there.

“We took a walk along the Meadow Street Trail last week and saw broken turtle egg shells, so those at Mill Pond have probably hatched,” Rocklen said.

In other news, the ConCom agreed to continue to request funding from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for purchase of land for the purpose of conservation.

The CPC was set up by the Town in 2017, after a Town Meeting vote, and governs the Community Preservation Act (CPA) Fund. The CPA fund disperses monies for projects that add to open space and recreation, historic preservation or affordable housing, and uses a surcharge on property taxes with matching state funds for such projects.

The CPC accepts applications from individuals, corporations and Town bodies, and the ConCom submits annually for $10,000 to keep in a fund so conservation property acquisitions have some funds to deal with the costs associated with starting that process (or, if the fund ever accrues enough money, to purchase land outright).

Last year, the ConCom submitted a request for $25,000 for that purpose, as Town Meeting members suggested the previous year that $10,000 was too little to do anything. Rocklen saidthey increased the ‘ask’ because of support from residents.

“So as to build that Conservation Land Fund,” she said. “And last year, we received that $25,000.”

Rocklen asked the ConCom if that should be the standard ask moving forward, and the ConCom agreed.

“I would want at least that,” said ConCom Treasurer John Carbone.

“There was widespread support on the CPC, and Town Meeting feedback was good,” said ConCom Chair and CPC Chair Catherine Walsh.

The ConCom voted unanimously to ask for $25,000 from the CPC.

Also at the meeting, the ConCom went over its tabling at Norwood Day. Walsh said it was good that they included coloring activities for kids to bring the adults over. New member and Treasurer Mark Mandigo said they might benefit from a one-sheet informational brochure that just has an explanation about the body.

“All the people I talked to were gracious and inquisitive, and we had people sign up for various things, which was cool,” he said. “It was a good experience for me and hopefully it was a good experience for those people with whom I interacted.”