The long awaited repairs to the town-owned Grassi Bog property hit a bump in the dike road when it was discovered that measurements on the NRCS engineered drawings were wrong.
Formerly the U.S. Conservation Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Services agency is funding repairs that will result in improved drainage and stormwater management to the former commercial bog acreage. They also developed the latest set of plans designed to bring an end to the water runoff problems that have beset the parcel and the abutters for several years.
During the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission meeting on September 1, commission member John Rockwell explained, “ConCom has discovered that there was a typo in the plans.” He said that somehow when the plans were being drawn up, presumably via a computer program, it erroneously converted 21 feet to 21 inches. Rockwell expressed his relief that the error had been discovered before mistakes were made at the Grassi Bog site.
As noted in a 2009 press release from the Buzzards Bay Coalition, “The NRCS has provided $100,000 in funding to the town to restore the site into a more natural wetland system. Restoration activities include rerouting the river from an existing bypass channel to a new channel that will flow through the bog, construction of an emergency spillway to protect the dike that creates the existing 8-acre pond, creation of new spotted turtle habitat, elimination of fish passage impediments, and removal berms.” (http://buzzardsbay.org/grassi-bog-restoration.htm)
In other business, the commission discussed the creation of an open space survey. They plan a two-pronged approach to engage the residents of Marion as the commission works to develop an open space plan that will eventually become part of the town’s master plan, which is also under development.
Rockwell told the commissioners that a direct mail letter would be sent to a random sampling group with follow-up communications via telephone. He said that in this fashion, they should achieve up to a 50 percent return rate. The second part of the plan is to drive residents to the town’s online survey via press releases and other media pathways in an effort to increase participation.
Commissioner Randy Parker said, “There’s been a lot of controversy on this thing. I want to get it right.” Everyone agreed with Parker’s comment.
The commission also discussed lands contiguously located to present-day open space parcels such as Washburn Park, Bather property, Pina property and others in their ongoing work to identify and suggest new acquisitions to the town.
The next meeting of the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission is scheduled for October 6 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Facilities Building, 13 Atlantis Drive.
By Marilou Newell