Public Meeting: Fowl Meadow, South

DCR is holding a public meeting on the clean-up Fowl Meadow, South. Formerly the site of the Canton Airport, this portion of the Blue Hills is currently contaminated with PCBs and metals. See below for details on the public hearing.

Department of Conservation and Recreation
Commonwealth of Massachusetts

PUBLIC MEETING
Remediation and Reuse of the
Canton Airport Site

Monday, July 27, 2009
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Trailside Museum
1904 Canton Avenue, Milton

At the meeting, DCR will provide an overview of, and solicit
public input on, the potential options for the future use of this
site as parkland once remediation activities are complete.

If you have questions about the public meeting, please contact
DCR.Updates@state.ma.us or 617-626-4974.

Productive Trail Volunteers

FBH Trail Maintenance volunteers were busy last weekend. Twelve volunteers built two grade reversal drainage structures on the Wildcat Notch Path, de-bermed two sections of that trail, and brushed a section of the Accord Path.

The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program has approved DCR's Rare and Endangered Species Habitat Management plan for Fowl Meadow. Fowl Meadow, with its diverse wetland ecosystems and rare species habitat, is designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and as 'Priority Habitat.' Because of its significant ecologic value, DCR needed an approved plan before it could conduct any sort of trail or habitat management activities.

FBH will be working with DCR to implement one aspect of the plan: mapping invasive species, such as phragmites australis. (See photo.) Phragmites and and other invasive plants threaten native wetland species found in Fowl Meadow and other wetland habitats in the Blue Hills.

To improve efforts to control these invasives, beginning this fall, we will train volunteers to identify invasive species and record their location using GPS units. If you’re interested in learning about invasive species and would like to help us launch our invasive mapping program, please let us know: info@FriendsoftheBlueHills.org.

July Volunteer Opportunities

Trail Maintenance Event
Saturday, July 11, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Help maintain the trails! Wear sturdy boots, long pants and work gloves and bring at least one quart of water. You may also want to consider bringing sunscreen and bug spray. Meet: Houghton's Pond main parking lot on Hillside Street in Milton. RSVP: trailwork@FriendsoftheBlueHills.org.

Volunteer to Help FBH and Cheer on the Runners!
Sunday, July 12, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
Want to spend the morning enjoying the Blue Hills and helping FBH at the same time? We're looking for volunteers for this year's Skyline Race to help hand water to thirsty runners. The race takes place July 12, 8:00 am. If you're interested, please contact Jeff Saeger, Race Director: runwld2@juno.com.

Invasive Species Removal (Pulling weeds!)
DCR is looking for volunteers to remove the invasive species, swollow wort. Times and dates are flexible. Contact DCR Assistant Forester, Ale Echandi for details: alexandra.echandi@state.ma.us.

Cell Tower Hearing 7/13

To evaluate how a proposed cell tower near Houghton's Pond would look from the Reservation, FBH members met last Saturday to take photos of a 140-foot crane. The 'crane test' was meant to simulate how the proposed tower would affect the view from the Reservation and surrounding neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the crane was scheduled to be up for three hours, but was raised for less than an hour. So while volunteers did not have enough time to take photos from all locations that might be affected, a number of the volunteer photographers confirmed that the tower will be clearly visible from a number of locations within the Reservation.

As the below article indicates, the next Milton Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the project will be July 13, 7:30 p.m. at Milton Town Hall, 525 Canton Ave, Milton.

To read the below Milton Times article online, click here.

Cell Tower Hearing Set for July 13

By Scott MacKeen, Milton Times

Green Mountain Communications, a telecommunications provider located in New Hampshire, is proposing building the tower, which would stand at 140 feet on land it has leased from MassHighway. The parcel is located next to the southbound Route 93 onramp near Blue Hill River Road and Blue Hill Street, according to documents the company prepared for the town back in April. Since that initial proposal, the Board of Appeals has walked the site and observed crane tests. The board held an initial public hearing in June to gauge neighborhood opinion about the construction.

According to Joseph Sloane, a representative for Friends of the Blue Hills who attended the first hearing, neighbors who listened to the proposal weren’t convinced that the tower would fit within the area.“I think we needed a more complete perspective of what the thing is going to look like. The proponent really dropped the ball on that,” said Sloane. “The major concern was that Milton has a specific chapter in the bylaws for telecommunications towers, and that bylaw is heavily weighted in favor of looking at the visual impact of a construction.”

The town’s zoning bylaw on telecommunications structures suggests “the use of wireless communications facilities which employ the least visually intrusive technology available in the industry,” and discourages “the construction or location of free-standing towers.” The bylaw also encourages “eliminating or minimizing the adverse visual and aesthetic impact” of such a tower. The hearing will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, located at 525 Canton Ave. For more information, contact the Board of Appeals at (617) 898-4932.“It’s really an opportunity to get more information. We encourage anyone interested to attend,” said Sloane.

Ponk Golf Course Repairs

DCR has funding for design and permitting of repairs and modifications to the Ponkapoag Golf Course which will fill in and raise a number of fairways that are currently underwater for extended portions of each year. The course holes that are the focus of the project are part of the original historic design by Donald Ross and serve as a conduit to nine other holes that are located upland. The project will also include design and permitting to improve drainage throughout the golf course. The Canton Conservation Commission has approved the project. Some individuals have indicated that they will appeal the Con Com’s decision.

Here’s a description of the project from the DCR’s Request for proposal:

The overall Project will include the phased repairing, upgrading, replacing or providing drainage for approximately 20 of the 36 golf holes on both Ponkapoag golf courses but focusing firstly on Course #1. The work includes the survey, analysis, evaluation, design, plans, preparing specifications, completion of the SFEIR for the golf course related work, permitting of the cleaning, repair or replacement of existing drainage, ditches and culverts as well as provision of all necessary drainage facilities. The drainage analysis must ensure that on- and off-site wetlands are not impacted by changes in stormwater runoff patterns. Drainage maintenance activities include the removal of accumulated silts and organic debris from existing drainage channels and culverts. Drainage may consist of, but is not limited to, raising or filling portions of fairways subject to flooding and installation of underdrains and other drainage facilities.

$1 Million for Houghton's Pond

Houghton's Pond recreational ball fields will be getting a much-needed makeover. According to the June 18th edition of the Milton Times, the Patrick administration has agreed to release $1 million to restore Houghton’s Pond ball fields, heavily used by youth groups for softball, baseball, soccer and lacrosse. Senator Brian A Joyce championed the project, previously securing authorization for funding in a bond bill.