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Town Meeting Passes Westborough State Hospital Articles
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At the 2016 Annual Town Meeting, Westborough residents passed all articles pertaining to the re-zoning and disposition of the former Westborough State Hospital property. These articles:
- Preserved the shoreline and wooded area near Lyman Street as open space by transferring these parcels to the Town’s Conservation Commission
- Retained the existing playing fields and adjacent land for recreational use
- Authorized the sale of 36.5 acres containing former state hospital buildings and the parking lot in front of Allen Hall
- Re-zoned the property to prevent retail and non-senior residential uses
Of the 90 acres of the Town-owned property, the Town retains 53.5 acres, preserving the scenic landscape on the north shore of Lake Chauncy for generations to come.
Warren Anderson
Westborough State Hospital Re-Use Committee and WCLT Board of Directors
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Last year Conservation Services Group employees cleaned up at Sandra Pond.
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Help Make Westborough Brighter and Cleaner
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Do you know a site in town in need of a litter clean-up? Please tell clean-up organizer Bruce Tretter: 508- 446-7790 or click here to send an e-mail.
Rally your family, co-workers, and neighbors to join WCLT’s 18th annual town-wide Earth Day clean-up on Saturday, April 23, rain or shine. Meet at these times and locations:
6:30 a.m. at Westmeadow Plaza Traffic Island (Rt. 9/135, adjacent to JP’s, Papa Gino’s)
6:30 a.m. at Bellows Road and Rt. 9/30 (behind St. Mary’s Credit Union)
9:30 a.m. at Lake Chauncy Beach parking lot (trash bags and maps of littered areas in town will be distributed to participants.)
Wear gloves, long pants, long sleeves, and sturdy shoes. Trash bags will be provided. Thank you!
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Left: John Metzger on Matthew Plunket Stairs at Bowman Conservation Area Right: Lydia O"Connell puts up a trail map at Gilmore Pond.
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What is WCLT’s Stewardship Committee planning for 2016? “Rebuilding the bridge at the southeast corner of Mill Pond on the Malley Trail is our top priority,” committee chair Marge Fisher says. (Mill Pond Area trail map) “Hank Rauch is helping to lead this project. We expect to be installing a prefab bridge, as we've got to create a 24-foot span. Hank is our liaison with the Town building commissioner and the conservation officer to make sure the bridge will be up to code.”
Otherwise, for the Stewardship Committee it's a matter of continuing to maintain trails. Work parties will soon be scheduled. There are also several scout projects in the pipeline that will help to improve and maintain trails and open space property.
Are you interested in helping out with stewardship projects or learning more? Contact Marge Fisher.
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WCLT’s Earth Day Essay Contest runs March 1 – April 1 this year. It is open to graduating seniors who attend Westborough High School (WHS) or who reside in Westborough but attend a different high school. The Westborough Community Land Trust (WCLT) will award two $1,000 scholarships to the contest winners in June.
How to apply: WHS seniors can get contest details and scholarship forms from the WHS guidance office as of March 1. WHS seniors must submit their Earth Day essays and scholarship applications on paper to the WHS guidance office no later than Friday, April 1, 2016.
Graduating seniors who reside in Westborough and attend a different high school can get contest details and scholarship forms online at the Westborough Community Land Trust web site. They must submit their Earth Day essays and scholarship applications on paper by regular mail to the following address, to be received by Friday, April 1, 2016: WCLT, P.O. Box 838, Westborough, MA 01581.
Earth Day essays should be 500-750 words and address one of these three topics:
- An environmental issue in Westborough. Describe an environmental issue that affects a natural resource in Westborough. Propose a solution that would address this issue and/or describe activities in which you have been involved that have worked towards solving this particular problem.
- An experience or place in Westborough. Describe an experience or place in Westborough that has brought you close to nature or has inspired you to see the world from an environmentally conscious perspective. Explain why and note anything you have done or plan to do as a result.
- Protection of Westborough's natural heritage and special places. Describe a place in Westborough that you think is especially important to protect, and explain why. Propose ways to protect or sustain this place or others that are part of Westborough's natural heritage, and describe how you have helped or can help.
Spread the word: Please spread the word about the Earth Day Essay Contest and WCLT scholarships to your friends and neighbors.
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If the turn-out at recent WCLT walks is any indication, Westborough residents are eager to get out on the trails! Fifty people attended WCLT’s major winter hike – the Cedar Swamp Pond walk on January 31 – and nearly that number went on our October fall foliage hike at Gilmore Pond and Libbey Conservation Area. The fall geology walk in November also drew an interested crowd.
Fortunately, Westborough has nearly 50 miles of trails, including the Charm Bracelet and many side trails. In months to come, watch for special “trails editions” of the WCLT e-news highlighting some of these local trails.
The weather for WCLT’s winter hike was about 50 degrees, so the swamp was not frozen enough to make it possible for the group to reach Cedar Swamp Pond, but it was a fine day for a winter walk. Hike leader Marge Fisher took everyone clockwise around the perimeter of St. Luke’s field, with three short forays along trails into the woods: one a few hundred yards to a grove of Atlantic white cedars, a second half-way to Cedar Swamp Pond, and a third along a short loop trail that passed behind Harvey's farm. Among the interesting sights in St. Luke’s field, where the Heirloom Harvest Community Farm and CSA grows organic vegetables, were several owl houses, which have been installed there to attract owls as natural pest-controllers.
South Cedar Swamp trail map
The fall foliage hike was a 2.5-mile round-trip, also led by Marge Fisher, from Gilmore Pond through Libbey Conservation Area (off Adams Street) and Wile Forest and back again. Enjoy this walk vicariously by viewing the Westborough TV video .
Libbey/Wile trail map
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To register for an event or for more information send an email to contacts@westboroughlandtrust.org
Earth Day Town-Wide Clean-up
Saturday, April 23
Early birds meet at 6:30 am at West Meadow Plaza or Bellows Road.
Families are invited at 9:30 am to Lake Chauncy parking lot to be assigned to a site to clean up.
Join the annual town-wide litter clean-up sponsored by WCLT! Rally your co-workers or neighbors to form a team to beautify our streets! Help your kids learn to care for the earth! You will feel the pride of a job well done. Wear gloves, long pants, long sleeves, and sturdy shoes. Trash bags will be provided.
Knowing our Wild Edibles: Finding, Growing, Eating
Sunday, May 22
1:30 – 3:30 pm
Meet at Mass Fish & Wildlife headquarters parking lot, 1 Rabbit Hill Road (at end of North Drive off Milk St./Rte.135). Slow 1-mile walk on hilly terrain along paths and in fields.
Whether you’re interested in your health, sustainability, or simple pleasure, knowing our wild edibles is fun and useful. From the woods to the meadows to our gardens, wild edibles are all around us. Walk with Dan Jaffe of the New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) at the Westboro Wildlife Management Area for an introduction to the wild plants that can feed us. He will also address questions of sustainability and conservation of rare edible species.
Click here for a trail map
WCLT Annual Meeting with Thornton Burgess Presentation
Monday, June 6
7:00 – 9:00 pm
St Luke's Parish Hall
Christie Palmer Lowrance, author of Nature’s Ambassador: The Legacy of Thornton W. Burgess, will offer a presentation on how children’s author Thornton W. Burgess influenced early 20th century conservation and environmental education. A passionate naturalist, he used his charming yet scientifically accurate writings about nature, as well as radio programs and children’s clubs, to inspire generations of young naturalists, many of whom became famous in turn for their scientific and conservation work. A native of Sandwich, MA, Burgess was influential in the passage the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and in efforts to save the heath hen from extinction on Martha’s Vineyard. Lowrance is a freelance writer and writing instructor from Sandwich.
Annual meeting will follow.
National Trails Day Hikes
Sunday, June 12
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Rain Date:
Sat, June 25
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Meet at the new Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Building, 1 Rabbit Hill Road (at end of North Drive off Milk St./Rte.135 in Westborough)
Join WCLT and Sudbury Valley Trustees in two jointly sponsored walks along the Westborough Charm Bracelet trails, to celebrate National Trails Day (a week late!). The shorter 3-mile loop will explore land north and west of Lake Chauncy in the Westborough Wildlife Management Area and will end where it started. This will be a moderate speed hike on mostly level terrain. The longer 7.5-mile hike will highlight the trails in the Crane Swamp Conservation Area, which includes 2,225 acres of open space straddling the borders of Northborough, Westborough, Southborough, and Marlborough. This is one of the largest networks of conservation land in our area, with properties owned by SVT and a variety of state agencies. This is a challenging walk with three hills which will end at SVT’s Sawink Farm – be prepared for a 2-mile/hour pace, and pack a lunch to enjoy on the top of Cedar Hill. A midway support vehicle will be offered if a drop-off is needed. A car shuttle will be done before the walk, so come early. Led by Alicia Coleman, Don Burn, and Marge Fisher.
Registration for National Trails Day Hikes is required; please indicate which hike you are interested in attending.
Contact: Alicia Coleman at 978-443-5588 x138
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