Study aims to make town park more resilient

The Town Board is considering recommendations from the Northeastern University-affiliated Conway School to help make Thompson-Mazzarella Park more pollinator-friendly and resistant to the effects of climate change.

During a Town Board online meeting Monday, project sponsor Susan Sie said some immediate steps can be taken to begin improving the park’s environmental sustainability.

“One of the main things that was well-substantiated is that we need more shade in the park to make it more and more usable,” she said. “With climate change and global warming ... it makes it even more important.”

According to the recommendations, shade would protect areas of the park from higher temperatures, including such areas as the tennis courts, which are often in use by town residents.

Sie contributed $10,000 toward the study, which was intended to focus on how to protect environmentally sensitive areas of the 82-acre site.

Among the recommendations are field management improvements that would limit disruption of insects and birds.

“Develop a policy for mowing for the non-ag fields (by) timing of cultivation and mowing to reduce disruption of life cycles of pollinators and wildlife,” the report recommends.

Growers at the park’s Rhinebeck Community Garden have said that a number of moles came into the garden when a section of adjacent land was cleared to the north.

Sie, noting that part of the park is used for farming, said the study recommend is “pollinator strips” with annual planting. She said more information is needed about the use of pesticides on the farmland as well as on properties along Market Street adjacent to the park.

Other recommendations include:

• Developing stormwater runoff drainage areas near paved and developed sections of the park.

• Consideration of the removal of nonnative plants from the park.

• Taking steps to make forested areas more resilient.

• Improving signage for trails, park entrances, and other visitor areas to provide information on how the undeveloped areas contribute to the park’s environmental health.

• Improving walkways and the trail system, especially in areas that offer scenic views.

The park was expanded after the town purchased the

Rhineson property in 2002. Town officials developed recreation plans to include new trails, a pavilion, a reconfigured entrance road, and ball fields.