Conservation Commission Aims For More Outreach on Land Management Subcommittee

Following what was described as an amicable break with the Chelmsford Open Space Stewards (COSS), members of the Conservation Commission took a part of their meeting on Tuesday to address outreach to the public on their new Land Management subcommittee.

Citing postings on Facebook groups such as the In-Town Report and Chelmsford Reps and Residents regarding the split, Conservation Commission member Chris Garrahan wanted to take time during the meeting to address a new outreach strategy to highlight the new subcommittee and praising COSS for their work.

“I found a lot of that stuff annoying, because we’re trying to do the best for the town,” said Garrahan.

Garrahan began the meeting by handing over the chairmanship of the committee to David McLachlan at the beginning of the meeting, and McLachlan approached the issue by stating there were only about 500 people commenting on both groups, comparing that to a town size of over 30,000 people.

“The people that participate on Facebook are the people that have an interest, more than others. (But on) Facebook, it is so easy to criticize, that seems to draw out people,” said McLachlan. “We’ve relied on COSS for so long and their cadre of volunteers, and now we have to find our own cadre.”

Conservation Cori Rose told the board she would start working on outreach materials for the next week, following earlier efforts over the past few months on spreading the word about the new subcommittee at events like the volunteer fair at the Chelmsford Senior Center earlier this year.

The board also announced that McLachlan and Rose were the first members of the subcommittee along with local resident Bob Biunta, who had already been maintaining several bike paths on town land for the New England Mountain Biking Association.

The Subcommittee will meet on Thursday, while the Conservation Commission will next meet on Aug. 6.