Town of Old Saybrook
Conservation Commission
Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Land Use Conference Room
Old Saybrook Town Hall
Members in Attendance: Bob Fish, Jerry Brophy, Charlie Cobb, Pat Ingellis, Mike Kelley, Robert Siegelman
Absent: Kim Gallagher
Approval of Minutes
MOTION to approve the Regular Meeting minutes of May 8, 2007.
MOVED by Jerry Brophy. SECONDED by Mike Kelley. IN FAVOR: Bob Fish, Jerry Brophy, Pat Ingellis, Mike Kelley, Robert Siegelman. OPPOSED: None. ABSTAINING: Charlie Cobb. APPROVED: 5-0-1.
The Natural Heritage Tour
Mike Kelley presented 17x22 mock-ups of the work done thus far. Street names were eliminated from the map but a suggestion was made to put at least the major street names back on the map. Also, it was determined that the text description of the Castle Overlook be condensed to make the remaining text a little larger and more visible. Charlie Cobb gave Mike a hard copy of his final suggestions. Other members were encouraged to email Mike one last time with any corrections, comments, etc. Mike also asked that if anyone had any additional site pictures they would like to submit to please do so as soon as possible. Mr. Kelley hopes to submit the final information to the graphic designer (Marta Cone) within two weeks. The Commission will look over the document for typos before it goes
to print.
The Fishway System
Bob Fish stated that the Crystal Lake fishway is moving forward.
Leadership in Old Saybrook on Global Warming Issues
This subject was discussed in order to decide whether there is a need for the Conservation Commission to take a role in global warming issues and what that role might be. The central issue on the national level is how to reduce the use of conventional fossil fuels as the leading cause of global warming, and the answers are a) conservation activities and b) the development of alternate energy sources. Locally, we can’t do much about the latter, except to recognize that we shouldn’t oppose allowing the free market to do its job, because development of alternate energy technologies will require economic viability. It should also be recognized that conservation activities, to actually reduce the use of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide release, will have to be massive in order to compensate for the
continuing increase in the population. The Conservation Commission believes that its best role is to work on educating the public on these issues and encouraging their help.
The Conservation Commission effort will start with educating itself (researching to find out which activities have the highest benefits), and then passing this information on to the public. It was agreed that an important step will be to have the Town government act as an example. The Commission will be developing a specific list of recommendations over the next few regular meetings, although it is already clear that reduction of energy use for lighting, heating and especially air conditioning will be on that list.
Adjournment
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 9:05p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 10, 2007, 7:30p.m., Land Use Conference Room, Old Saybrook Town Hall, 302 Main Street.
MOVED by Charlie Cobb. SECONDED by Pat Ingellis. IN FAVOR: Bob Fish, Jerry Brophy, Charlie Cobb, Pat Ingellis, Mike Kelley, Robert Siegelman.
OPPOSED: None. ABSTAINING: None. APPROVED: 6-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Melanie Dautrich
Conservation Commission Clerk
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