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| From the Ninigret Park Master Plan |
The Parks and Recreation Commission has always acted in an open and honest manner in their actions.
When the Town was developing the Master Plan for Ninigret Park, all opinions and ideas were sought out from our residents, organizations,
groups and businesses. The Town
residents then voted on the Master Plan.
Shortly after the present Council was sworn in, the Parks
and Recreation Commission asked for a workshop with the Town Council to see how
they wanted us to proceed with our job as a commission working on the beaches
and parks. Our directive from the Town
Council was to update the beach facilities, to upgrade the entrance to Ninigret
Park, to bring electricity to all parts of the Park and to construct an events
center.
In the open meetings of the Parks and Recreation Commission,
Holly Eaves spoke on the needs of the Frosty Drew Nature Center and its
relationship to Ninigret Park. They
requested electricity, wi-fi and dark skies.
They also presented two events to become annual fundraising projects for
Frosty Drew (The Annual Sea Star Marketplace Art Show and their 5K Run). [see the minutes of our 9/7/10 & 6/28/11meetings
on-line at www.charlestownri.org]
When the Parks and Recreation Director wrote the RIDEM
grant, these concerns were taken into account.
Lighting for the football field would be compatible with “Dark Skies”;
on only when fields were in use and using the latest “dark skies” technology if
selected for the grant. The
upgrade/maintenance of the sports fields would have matching funds from the
football league and the soccer league.
[Minutes 11/29/11]
Fish and Wildlife representatives were at several of the
Parks and Recreation meetings, expressing their concerns for the Dog Park,
lighting and tree removal. The Dog Park
became a good neighbor and the Fish and Wildlife claimed and replanted all the
native RI fauna from the Park construction areas onto their abutting
property. Lighting was planned as “Dark
Sky” compatible which met the Fish and Wildlife needs.
As events registered for the use of the Park, if any were
questionable as to conforming to Park guidelines, Fish and Wildlife needed to
give their approval for the event as well, including having fireworks in the
Park. The Commission has never been an
adversarial environment between any group and the Parks and Recreation
Commission.
Again, if the wind turbines are the “adversarial”
environment, our meetings are open and posted and the minutes are available for
anyone to read. We, as a Commission, were asked to see if alternative sources
of electricity were available. The Met
Tower was free; would record the wind speed, direction and consistency at the
Park.
It was set up on the 55 acres
owned by the Town. The records are to be
shared with other towns and the state.
The information gathered is useful to many groups. The Parks and Recreation Commission hasn’t
had a formal vote on the information gathered because it is still collecting
data and all decisions such as electricity, lights, grants awarded, turbines,
events being held at the Park all go before the Town Council to be
approved.
Please, come to a Parks and
Recreation Commission meeting—everyone has a chance to speak up.