TOWN OF CONCORD SELECT BOARD AGENDA APRIL 16, 2020 4:00PM CONFERENCE CALL 1. Call to Order 2. Town Manager Update 3. Letter of Support for the nomination of the Battle Road Scenic Byway to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration National Scenic Byways Program for “All-America Road” designation 4. Cancellation of the Holocaust Memorial Observance planned for May 5, 2020 5. Approve Concord School’s letter of interest to the MSBA 6. Committee Nominations: Remon Karian of 24 Walden Street to the Economic Vitality Committee for a term to expire April 30, 2023. 7. Miscellaneous and Correspondence 8. Adjourn From: Kathryn A. Angell [email protected] Subject: Re: Estabrook Woods Public Access from Estabrook Road Date: April 8, 2020 at 3:03 PM To: Stephen Crane [email protected] Cc: Michael Lawson [email protected], Jane Hotchkiss [email protected], Linda Escobedo [email protected], Susan Bates [email protected], Terri Ackerman [email protected], Joseph O'Connor [email protected], Delia Kaye [email protected] Hi Stephen, Thanks for getting back to me. I wish you all the best with your work at Estabrook. I have no doubt that it is complicated. I am a little surprised to hear that you are saying that you are having current problems on Town open spaces that are significant enough that you may have to put more restrictions in place. I say that I am surprised, because my husband and I have been doing a lot of walking in various open spaces, mostly Town or CLCT properties/trails, although we have not been in parks or playgrounds. Our experiences and observations have been that people are actually being pretty good at observing social distancing. There are exceptions who are not observing the protections, but we have been able to distance ourselves from the non-observers. That said — and since you asked — my husband and I have a few suggestions we can offer. You may already have thought of these, but I hope some of these are helpful. Put out a simple message with the two main social distancing guidelines that are relevant when in outdoor spaces: — 6” distancing —> at entrances and on trails — wear cloth face covering —> when near other people You could add supplemental info about the importance of observing these practices in order to keep the trails and park open. Although people should already know these guidelines and use them when they are doing other activities, such as grocery shopping, this will be a timely and place-relevant reminder that these guidelines still apply even when people are outside. With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, that provides a perfect opportunity to get the message out in a way that seems appropriate for you to be doing it. We suggest a multi-faceted approach in all available media and forums in roughly the same timeframe for maximum impact. It could be done as a “Welcome to Spring” message if you want to set a positive tone. (You could do a reminder about ticks along a similar timeline and theme, but probably as a separate set of notices, I’d think.) The information that we would suggest you put out is something along the lines of the attached document (also cut and pasted below). The places where you could disseminate this info in a coordinated fashion (at roughly the same time) could include: — Signs at entrances to trails and parks. Could be done as 2 separate signs: 1) the guidelines, and 2) the suggestion not to use a trail if too crowded and to observe guidelines so trails can stay open — Phone message from Town Manager — positive tone -- spring is here; we are so lucky to live in Concord with its natural beauty and open spaces, more vital now than ever; here’s what we need everyone to do in order to keep our natural spaces open; we are all in this together (and watch out for tick season?) — Concord Journal — Similar message/tone as phone message from TM, perhaps as a guest article. Could be from Select Board, TM, Natural Resources Dept, Health Department, or …. Or maybe do a joint one from all of those? — News and Notice email/posting — Town website - home page - Welcome to spring, etc. "More people will be getting outdoors, so…” You could also ask CLCT if they would put out same message and same signs (modified to say “CLCT” instead of “Concord” obviously) as many people do not distinguish between whether they are visiting a Town property or a CLCT property, but having a consistent message across the whole Town would be helpful and have more impact. It would probably not make sense for the Town to delay getting its message out if it seems like it would take too long to coordinate identical messages with the CLCT, but I would hope that it could be done relatively quickly. (If they could also join the Concord Journal guest article, that would be a good public-private partnership effort on an important community health issue that extends beyond conservation lands.) We have a few other ideas to help manage this current challenging situation while keeping trails and other spaces open. One idea that could be used at entrances to trails and parks (or in their parking lots) would be to attach a 6’ rope (or light-weight chain) to a post (or something) with a sign or flag that says: “THIS IS 6’ LONG. HOW FAR APART ARE YOU?” Maybe you could also mark the other feet along it so people could see how short 4’ is compared to 6’, for example. We were intrigued to learn that Walden Pond has made its trail around the pond one-way for now in order to decrease interactions between people using the trail. This seems like a clever, productive, and easily implementable idea. While it would not work at all Town properties, it could be implemented at all trail locations, loops, or partial loops that lend itself to that approach. A final suggestion, which we know will be controversial, is that the Town may want to implement an emergency measure to further limit the open space properties where dogs are allowed off-leash. In particular, on trails that are relatively narrow, we have found that owners sometimes are not able to keep their 6’ distance from other people as well when they are simultaneously trying to catch up to and/or control their dog with voice commands or trying to grab onto their unleashed dog in order to allow passing on the trail. I think that most dog owners would understand why it is important to have their dogs on leashes on trails under the current corona virus pandemic. Something to consider… Thank you, once again, for all that you are doing to keep the Town going. Thank you for your work on the Estabrook Woods issues; we wish you a productive and successful resolution. And thank you for keeping the Town’s natural spaces open for us all to seek we wish you a productive and successful resolution. And thank you for keeping the Town’s natural spaces open for us all to seek solace and exercise on. These spaces and how fortunate we are to have them is more important and valued than ever. Stay well. Kathryn Angell & Herman “Dutch” Leonard 267 Main Street COVID Concord Trails -…8.docx ______________________________________ Spring is Here! STAY SAFE… Rules/Guidelines for Yourself and Others While Exercising in Concord’s Open Spaces In order to keep these natural spaces open to the public & prevent the spread of corona virus, all users must follow the CDC Social Distancing Guidelines *** MAINTAIN 6’ DISTANCE BETWEEN YOURSELF AND OTHERS *** (except for household members) Reach out your arms toward someone. You should not be able to touch. Maintain this distance both at entrances and on trails. (Draw 2 people extending their arms and not touching) *** WEAR CLOTH FACE COVERING *** Prevent asymptomatic spread of coronavirus. Cover your mouth and nose with cloth covering when near others. (Draw someone wearing a face covering) WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. If this trail or park is too crowded for you to be able to maintain a safe 6’ social distance at both trail entrances and on the trail, please try to come back at a different time or visit a different location. See map for suggestions. The Town wants to keep its natural outdoors properties open for all, but If there are too many people who are not following these CDC Social Distancing guidelines, the Town may have to impose more stringent guidelines and/or close certain locations. Please do your part to help. If you observe problems or have concerns, please contact/email/call xxxxxxxxxxxxx ________________________________ On Apr 8, 2020, at 10:54 AM, Stephen Crane <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Kathryn. We are working on the issue at Estabrook which, as you are well aware, is a li9le more complicated because of the ongoing li>ga>on. However, this issue is bigger than Estabrook because we have observed poor social distancing and overcrowding at several open spaces including parks, playgrounds, and trails. While most people are doing a good job with social distancing, those who aren’t put other at risk and the Town may need to impose more restric>ons for the sake of public health. How can we get the message out to the community to be more mindful of congrega>ng in open spaces? From: Kathryn A. Angell <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 12:21 AM To: Michael Lawson <[email protected]>; Jane Hotchkiss <[email protected]>; Linda Escobedo <[email protected]>; Susan Bates <[email protected]>; Terri Ackerman <[email protected]>; Stephen Crane <[email protected]> Cc: Joseph O'Connor <[email protected]>; Andrew Mara <[email protected]> Subject: Estabrook Woods Public Access from Estabrook Road Hello Select Board members and Town Manager Crane, First, I hope you and your families are all healthy and well.