On February 11, members of the Holy Ghost Reuse Committee met with the Mattapoisett Select Board to present their report. After some 18 months of conducting a survey and then studying the data gathered through that effort, the committee gave their report. Nat Ketchel presented the report which included survey questions, survey numbers, and areas that need additional study.
The town purchased the former Catholic summer festival grounds but did not have a clear vision on how the nine acres might be used. The Select Board established a volunteer committee to help them figure out how the townspeople might use the space.
In October, the committee met to finalize their presentation to the Select Board. At that time they revisited the survey results and other aspects of the project. We reported the following at that time, “Surveys submitted were 553 with the average age of respondents being 41 years of age and older. 80 were identified as non-full-time residents or non-residents from surrounding towns. The average age from respondents was 41 years of age and older was the largest group responding falling between 60 to 75 years of age. Respondents were also asked to share how frequently they might use the proposed renovated space. Then came the possibilities. What did they want?
A dog park and pickle ball courts were rated high, but a study of the data showed it was a tie between those who wanted them and those definitely not wanting them. For instance, those wanting pickle ball courts came in at 137 but the no responses were 163. The dog park was nearly a tie with 182 wanting one and 183 registering no.
Three passive recreational use options came out on top. Those suggestions were a picnic area (225), a playground (224) and a walking loop (270). Now they agreed to present those options to the Select Board as the primary uses desired by the community at large at the present time. They believed that the noted three passive uses were not only the most popular but the easiest to accomplish.
On this night, the committee shared the October summary. Ketchel said that parking and traffic needed to be studied and that there were several important parking and traffic related issues to overcome and use of the grounds. He offered to study parking requirements based on various types of recreational use including the impact of the bike path traversing the grounds.
Select Board member Tyler Macallister said he was in favor of the grounds being use for athletic activities such as basketball and walking. In terms of prioritizing next steps, Macallister wants to see matters related to parking and traffic high on the list. They were also asked to drill down on how heavily the grounds may be used to recreate.
Other business included the appointment of William McGrady as Building Commissioner, accepting the resignation of Jacki Seney as the Council on Aging Director, appointing Mike Costa to the Marine Advisory Board, and appointing Daniel Donovan as an alternate to the Marine Advisory Board.
Earlier in the meeting, the board approved renewal of shellfish aquaculture licenses for Bob Field, Dale Leavitt, Mike Ward, and Mat Loo. Macallister noted that the four commercial oyster farmers worked collectively to receive state permission to relocate market-ready oysters to deeper designated farming locations. He noted that frequent shellfish bed closures impacting Buzzards Bay will be mitigated with a deep water location to move product to.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is to be announced.
Mattapoisett Select Board
By Marilou Newell