Ash Creek Conservation Association

Approximately 55 residents attended the Parks Master Plan Forum at the Cesar Battalia School on August 10, 2011.  ACCA members and supporters comprised about 12% of the attendees and emphasized that natural areas had been left out of the online survey.  Please fill out the online survey which we discussed in an earlier post.  The Mayor would like to have 1,000 responses.  Be sure to write in the need for natural spaces and the need to protect the Ash Creek tidal estuary.

PLEASE ATTEND PARKS MASTER PLAN FORUM

The City is planning a discussion forum on the 2008 Parks Master Plan on August 10 from 5:30-7:30pm at the Cesar Batalla School, 606 Howard Ave, Bridgeport .  We hope you can attend as this will be an opportunity to get Ash Creek (and adjacent areas such as St. Mary's-by-the-Sea and Capozzi Park - the area across the street from the sandspit)  included in the Master Plan. 

One of our Board members, Kraig Steffen, who also serves on the NRZ, was included in a meeting with Mayor Finch regarding NRZ Open Space Conservation issues.  He learned that the Mayor's goals for conservation appear to be closely aligned with our goals.  The 2008 Parks Master Plan for Bridgeport suggests some areas of possible common goals and objectives between ACCA and the City.  Ash Creek is only mentioned once in the Parks Master Plan and no plans or objectives are detailed for it. 

We want to be sure that Ash Creek is on the radar screen as a natural area that should be protected and preserved, therefore we have requested a meeting with the Mayor to discuss the longer term goals of protecting and preserving the Ash Creek tidal estuary as well as to have input into the sandspit restoration.  

The sandspit restoration is still in the discussion stages between the DEP and the City of Bridgeport.  We believe some restoration will take place, but we don't know how much.  Restoration can't take place until the fall as the summer heat would not be good for the beach grass plantings.