Pittsfield Seeks Input to Update Open Space, Recreation Plan

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants to ensure that the community's voice is captured as it develops plans for public parks over the next decade. 

The Parks Commission saw draft goals for the Open Space and Recreation Plan to meet Pittsfield's conservation and recreation needs. Formerly a five-year plan, this new iteration will look out over 10 years.

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath and Seth Jenkins, senior planner at the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, have worked over the last couple of years to update the document so the city remains eligible for state grant funding. 

"Really, we're looking just to make sure that we've gotten the ideas included," Jenkins said. 

Commissioners will vote on the draft at a later meeting, and a community input session is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

Five former goals were reduced to four, and additional action items were added, mostly related to conservation. The last approved plan ran from 2019 to 2024.

A community survey was conducted last year to help inform the guiding principles of the plan, which will represent the interests of the Parks and Recreation Department, land-use patterns, zoning concerns, and Pittsfield's developed spaces juxtaposed with the natural spaces.

McGrath explained that it asked questions like: Are we encouraging wildlife corridors and general ecosystem enhancement and improvement?

They presented the Parks Commission with draft goals and action items, which will be brought forward to the Master Plan Committee. 

These recommendations will be rolled into the Master Plan in some way, shape, or form, McGrath reported, because the Open Space Plan is like an appendix. 

"We just want to make certain that there is still a comfort level, because again, these will form the basis of kind of how we operate, so we want to make sure we're getting this right," McGrath said. 

• Investigate the creation of protected wildlife corridors to allow the movement of plant and animal species across the city;
• Work with bordering municipalities to prioritize contiguous tracts of land for conservation;
• Work with local nonprofits, the Conservation Commission, and state agencies, to monitor, protect and expand important habitats within the city;
• Work with the city leadership to establish the Pittsfield lakes commission, to coordinate efforts at Pittsfield lakes, Richmond pond and Onota Lake and Pontoosuc Lake;
• Work with nearby municipalities, including coordinating efforts of the Conservation Commissions to facilitate lake management efforts and to manage various lake users in conjunction with conservation goals.

The plan also calls on Pittsfield to consider creating a citywide composting program to redirect organic materials from the waste stream. McGrath reported that the city is exploring an initiative to develop a composting program, which would rely on the ability to obtain grant funding. 

Language was added to clarify that priority will be given to projects listed in the city's five-year capital improvement plan. 

"The previous, we had listed out a number of parks very specifically, like implementing the Springside Master Plan and undertaking an improvement project at Pontoosuc Lake Park. What we've done is we've just pointed that back to the Five-Year Capital Plan, which is sort of the city's long-range capital plan," McGrath said, explaining that it includes costly projects such as the second phase of Pontoosuc Lake Park improvements and Deming Park parking lot changes. 

He said projects like The Common and the Pittsfield Skate Plaza would not have been funded without a plan on file. 

The document also calls to implement the current Wahconah Park plan. Demolition of the current grandstand is out to bid, and the city is mulling how it can welcome community members inside one last time. 

Now on the table for the grandstand's replacement is a $15 million plan, half the cost of the original proposal. The project team is unsure if construction will begin right after the former grandstand's demolition. 

"We've had some pretty good use of the rink. I live in the same neighborhood. I drive by it often, and there generally are always folks on the rink when I go by," McGrath said. 

"This weekend, it was nice to see all the little ones playing hockey out there, and we've had figure skaters out there, kids learning how to skate. We've had grandparents with their kids. It's really been lovely, and everyone is really pleased that we were able to get this project installed, so kudos to the mayor for pushing, pushing, pushing this. I think it was a good move." 

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