Southwick Open Space Committee Awaits Grant Approval to Fund OSRP Planning Contract

Other Committee · Meeting of March 10, 2026

Southwick's Open Space Land Management Committee advanced a state grant application to fund a $25,000 Pioneer Valley Planning Commission contract for drafting the town's updated Open Space and Recreation Plan. The three-member committee — Connor Fleury, Phil Price, and Martha Kane — is awaiting an approval letter from Town Administrator Nicole Parker after the Select Board voted March 9 to authorize submission of a Land Conservation Assistance Grant application and commit a $2,500 general fund match; grant administrator Daria Mattis told the committee the application "looks very favorable." The committee also found that the 2019 OSRP survey data contained a calculation error that inflated reported usage rates — Fletcher Park, for instance, was listed as used by 63 percent of survey respondents when the corrected figure is 6.86 percent — shifting the ranked list of the town's most-used facilities. Jennifer DiPietro, Vice Chair of the Agricultural Commission, attended as a guest and expressed interest in joining the forthcoming ad hoc OSRP planning committee, and the committee agreed to recommend her to the Conservation Commission.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of March 10, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.