Posted 10/21/2009
Puffer’s Pond and its surrounding conservation area is a beloved resource in Town. The Puffer’s Pond 2020 (PP 2020) committee is working on plans to preserve its future and is looking for your input: PP 2020 is sponsoring two public forums on the use and future of the pond and surrounding conservation areas – we hope you can come on either Saturday, October 24th at 1:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall next to the North Congregational Church or Thursday evening October 29th at 7:00 p.m. in the Glass Room at the Bangs Community Center, to share with us your experiences and ideas and then to stay and learn a little of its history from the Conservation Director’s point of view. We will be collecting into our database your observations on current uses of the Pond and surrounding conservation areas to help get a clear picture of how the resource satisfies the needs of the Town, on challenges and inappropriate uses, and on bright ideas for its future. Your input and opinions will be added to the questionnaire results to inform our work. (Check out www.amherstma.gov if you would like to fill out a questionnaire.)
The Puffer’s Pond 2020 committee was formed by the Conservation Commission this summer to help tackle the difficult issues that arise from increasingly heavy use of the Pond and nearby conservation areas. The committee is made up of Amherst residents as well as representatives from the Select Board, Planning Board, LSSE Commission and the Conservation Commission. The committee will be publishing a report next spring with recommendations and strategies that will guide the Town in sustaining this valuable resource.
We look forward to your joining us at one of these forums and helping create a healthy vision of Puffer’s Pond in the next decade and beyond.