Watershed education park possible near solar array site

The town of Rochester is reviewing a proposal to develop a watershed education park on 28 acres of property remaining from the installation of a municipal solar array near the Mill Brook creek.

Consultant Andrew Faust said at a Town Board meeting Thursday that the site could be used to show how the environment and people work interactively.

“One of the things that particularly interests me in this property ... is starting to create what I would call watershed literacy in our population,” he said.

Faust said the site could become a showcase for existing innovation and a demonstration project for industries that are finding popularity in other parts of the country.

“Could we start thinking about the watershed in terms of being more energyindependent, like the solar farm that’s on it?” Faust said. “Could we think about it in terms of becoming food-independent with things that actually grow for 70 or 200 years, like large nut-baring trees that are particularly easy to crack and eat?”

There also are examples of how use of the land has evolved in conjunction with changes in local uses. Included near one of the streams feeding Mill Brook Creek is the remains of a farm dump. Faust said the area, about 20 feet in diameter and containing nonhazardous materials, was a domestic disposal ground that appears to have been used more than 100 years ago.

“Often farmers tended to think that low, wet areas were a good place to dump trash back in the 1800s,” he said. “A lot of them are not anything particularly hazardous to your health, just some bottles and metal cans, and it’s a nice opportunity to literally show people how you can clean up an area and create a pristine, beautiful ecosystem where frogs will live and amphibians will come in.”

Faust said the site also could be used as simple recreation area with trails and picnic tables.

“We were thinking it would be great to have a place where people could come in the town of Rochester ... and have people enjoy the natural beauty there,” he said.

Faust said the initial proposal is for a trail system to be developed at a cost of $2,600.

The Town Board expects to discuss the project further at its Feb. 6 meeting.