Southwick Open Space Committee hears dog park pitch, debates new governance structure

Other Committee · Meeting of February 10, 2026

Southwick Open Space Management and Planning Committee hears pitch for 32-acre privately funded dog park and debates new committee structure. Diane Gale, representing Friends of the Southwick Dog Park, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, told the three-member panel the group has acquired 32.8 acres off Hudson Drive, with about 10 usable acres planned for multiple fenced dog sections and rail trail parking, to be funded entirely through private donations and turned over to the town upon completion. A select board liaison confirmed the Select Board had voted unanimously to rename the committee the Open Space Land and Management Committee and to create a separate ad hoc body charged with completing the town's Open Space and Recreation Plan update by December — a process that will require public surveys, multi-board participation, and outreach to parties responsible for action items in the 2019 plan.

Committee member Martha Cain presented an experiment using an AI chatbot to draft portions of the updated plan, and Chair Connor Fleury reported the committee is filing an erosion-control planting permit for three eroded channels at North Pond, 49 South Long Air Road, with a possible fourth channel under review.

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