Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission
Meeting Minutes
Date: 15 February 2011
AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION
63 Main Street
978 779-2297 or 779-3308
A meeting of the Bolton Agricultural Commission was held on 15 February 2011 at Town Hall. The meeting
was called to order at 7:31 pm. Commission members in attendance: Richard Pelletier, Betsy Taylor-Kennedy,
Sue Storbeck. Absent: Eric Schartner, Barbara Parente.
The January 2011 minutes were approved and submitted.
Reports from liaisons to Town Boards/Commissions
§
Board of Health (Storbeck) no report
§ Planning Board (Eric Schartner - TBC)
§ Board of Selectmen (Pelletier): no report
§ Conservation Commission (Parente): Barbara attended the January meeting; John Balco & Jane
Moosbruker of the Land Committee will be making a presentation tonight
§ Conservation Trust (Taylor-Kennedy): no report
Complaints/Requests for Site Visits
§
Loose goats on Woobly Road; Sue followed up. Goat owner has fixed the problem fence
New Business
·
Spring Ag Sale at Great Brook Farm:
o date is set for Saturday, April 9, 12 – 3 pm.
o Bruce will have tent up; Leigh Lord to confirm if 4H will bring animals.
o Project lead: Barbara Parente, Sue Storbeck to support; will include Barbara Donato if she is
interested.
Old Business
§ Farmer’s Dinner:
o Bolton Orchards happy to host; winery is a backup option
o Date is March 15, 6:30 – 8 pm; budget is $300
o Speaker topics: grants, upcoming legislation, status of key Ag Comm projects
o Action: Betsy to send 61A farmer list with phone/email to Rich
o Action: Sue to contact Cheryl at Mass Farm Bureau for possible speakers
o Project lead: Rich Pelletier
§ A Taste of Bolton:
o targeting 40-50 attendees;
o Conservation Trust preliminary feedback: price was expensive, is close in time to the Bolton
Fair, few people are in Bolton in August.
o Explore using Economic Development committee as a resource, even if just for publicity.
o Action: Further discussion in Ag Comm to determine charity that proceeds will support: Bolton
Conservation Trust, Bolton Fair, etc.
o Project lead: Rich Pelletier
§ Ag Row at the Bolton Fair:
o Ag Comm to subsidize to further promote active involvement by Bolton farmers of all sizes;
size of space will be determined by level of interest in participating
o Note: 2 yrs ago, we had 6 spaces
o Cost estimate: $50 for 10x20 foot space; tent is additional cost
o Project lead: Betsy Taylor-Kennedy, Eric Schartner to support
§ Website update: Action: Sue to get process from Joe Kovacs so Rich can upload minutes after our
meetings
§ Community Compost project (Coolidge Farm): no update; Action: Community Garden or
Conservation Trust to mark boundaries before any research can begin.
Presentation
·
John Balco and Jane Moosbruker gave an update from the Land Committee of the Conservation
Commission as the land involved had good agricultural possibilities; they were looking for ideas and
support of all sorts. They will come back to us with an update after doing more research in town.
· Other members of the committee but not who were not present are Clair Moses, Rob Held, Al Ferry. Al
and Rob are working on this.
· The group’s goal is to preserve land and farms in town
· Currently they are working with the Crispin and Wetherbee properties.
· Landowners typically want some cash from selling but are also interested in farm preservation
· Some options:
o Create historic conservation restriction on the house and barn
o Create APR – but would need to go for this as a collective amountof acreage.
o Can sell 1+ house lots
· Funding:
o Conservation Commission has this land committee band can accept funding but it is not tax
deductible
o Conservation Trust can accept donations
Future Meetings/Events
Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm.
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