Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC)

SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 28TH 2024 - 5:00 P.M. 2ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL, 474 BROADWAY Meeting Minutes are not a word-for-word Transcript. 1. WELCOME AND ATTENDANCE: 1. Committee Members: Chair Anita Morzillo, Seamus Briody, Jeff Cheek, Tom Denny, Jennifer Hunt Dempsy, Ed Lindner, Steve Samuell 2. City Staff: Susan Barden, Michael Dutre 2. PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment provided at the start of the meeting. 3. UPDATES: a. Approval of Minutes The minutes from the February meeting were approved with one correction that the partnership on the Woods Hollow and Corcoran preserve would be with the town of Milton. b. Oak Ridge Signage – Saratoga Plan Update Susan Barden updated the committee that she found public background documents related to the public trail easement on the Oak Ridge development and has placed them on the Open Space Committee’s ‘Basecamp’ project management website for the team’s review. She located signed versions of the documents dating back to 2017. The documents specify permanent public access to the trails on the property through an easement with Saratoga PLAN. The last signed document was from 2017 and no further documentation has been located. Susan Barden will perform additional research to locate any other relevant documentation, then the next steps involve working with City legal. c. Open Space Plan – MJ Engineering Mike Dutre reached out to MJ Engineering with Tom Denny’s list of grammatical and layout changes. MJ Engineering hasn’t responded yet but Mike Dutre expects to get a quote to make the changes since they are out of project scope. The city does not currently have funding identified to pay MJ for the changes. However, since the updates are minor and their company name is on the work, MJ may want to quickly make the recommended changes and move on from the project. 4. OSAC PERSONNEL: a. Vice Chair – Elect Steve Samuell was unanimously elected Vice Chair of the Open Space Advisory Committee.  SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 28TH 2024 - 5:00 P.M. 5. PUBLIC COMMENT: Amy Durland thanked the Open Space Advisory Committee for the work they do advocating for sustainability and City green spaces. She expressed that the Oak Ridge development is in the greenbelt and the easement is fundamental to the protection of the greenbelt. She also commented that monitoring of the easements should be performed by the city. MEETING ADJOURNED: The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM. Note: The meetings will now occur on the last Thursday of each month at 5:00pm. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday April 25, 2024.