Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission
Meeting Minutes
Date: 26 April 011
AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION
63 Main Street
978 779-2297 or 779-3308
A meeting of the Bolton Agricultural Commission was held on 26 April 2011 at Town Hall. The meeting was
called to order at 7:30 pm. Commission members in attendance: Barbara Parente, Richard Pelletier, and Eric
Schartner, Sue Storbeck. Absent: Betsy Taylor-Kennedy
The February 2011 minutes were approved and submitted.
Reports from liaisons to Town Boards/Commissions
§
Board of Health (Storbeck) no report
§ Planning Board (Open) no report
§ Board of Selectmen (Pelletier): no report
§ Conservation Commission (Parente): no report; Rob Held and John Balco from Land Committee will
be making a presentation tonite in preparation for town meeting Monday, May 2
§ Conservation Trust (Taylor-Kennedy): no report
Complaints/Requests for Site Visits
§
none
New Business
·
Town Meeting Prep
o Action: Sue to send FY’12 budget breakout to all as backup information
· 2011 Budget:
o Current budget: $1,800
o Expenses to date: $500
o Remaining balance to be used by end June: $1,300 will be used for Ag tents/space for Bolton
Fair (est $575-600) and up to 4 remaining Right to Farm signs (~$700); possible advertising for
Fair
o Action: Eric & Betsy to confirm tent size of 20x40 needed and space & tent cost
· Town Board Liaisons:
o Decisions made: Eric will be the new liaison for the Planning Board; Barbara will assume role of
liaison for Board of Selectmen; Rich will now be the liaison for the Conservation Commission.
No change for Sue and Betsy.
o Action: all new/changed liaisons to inform their new Boards
Old Business
§ A Taste of Bolton:
o Full report to be given at next meeting
o Rich will recruit farms to sell him local produce for the event
o Max 60 people
o Possible Ag Comm member support needed to identify local growers for Rich in addition to the
large farmers
o Action: Further discussion in Ag Comm to determine org 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 approx $600 for 20x40 with sides
o Project lead: Betsy Taylor-Kennedy, Eric Schartner to support
§ Community Compost project (Coolidge Farm): decision made to do no further work on this as the
Conservation Trust is not interested.
§ Minuteman Tech: Action: Barbara to follow up with them and connect them with Kate Hogan who
expressed interest in it.
§ Events discussion:
o Farmer meeting/dinner: all agreed it was a good meeting, speaker was good, next time eat first!
o Spring Ag Sale at Great Brook Farm: was well attended, elicited a lot of interest; no farms
brought brochures for advertising, JoBarb did not provide meat for sale
o Consider new venue for Fall Ag Sale: Sept 10 at Schartner Farm fundraiser to support cancer
patient care; is well attended, broad exposure for ag items.
Presentation
·
John Balco and Jane Moosbruker gave an update from the Land Committee of the Conservation
Commission; they sought Ag Comm endorsement of the Wetherbee farm conservation restriction for
approx 16 acres which they were presenting at town meeting May 2.
· Ag Comm voted unanimously to support this; Sue agreed to speak at Town Meeting in support on
behalf of Ag Comm.
Future Meetings/Events
Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:06 pm.
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