MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, November 8, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.
Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
302 Main Street
Members Present
Robert Fish, Chairman
Bruce Sherwin
Pat Ingellis
Members Absent
Jerry Brophy
Kim Gallagher
Robert Siegelman
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
Because there was not a quorum, members could not vote on meeting minutes or on the 2012 meeting schedule.
However, R. Fish asked members for their input about updating the National Heritage Tour Brochure. He asked if it needed to be updated before its reprinted. P. Ingellis and R. Siegelman both did the tour. P. Ingellis took notes which he shared with the group.
P. Ingellis said the brochure looks good. He did point out a correction which needs to be made on the fourth panel. The words “Signing of the Declaration of Independence” should replace “Signing of the American Constitution.” Other than that correction, the brochure can be reprinted as is.
R. Fish asked if the notable trees should still be included in the brochure. Members agreed this would be a good idea however, the notable trees should be noted on the National Heritage Tour Brochure so people know specifically what trees they’re looking at. It was suggested that the trees be taken off of the National Heritage Tour Brochure to eliminate confusion.
P. Ingellis mentioned that tree number 8 is a problem because the parking lot is dangerous at the Great Cedars East parking lot. Also, tree number 4 is also a problem because there’s a wire fence and a sign and overgrown brush. It’s in the Castle overlook area in Cornfield Point. He noted that the tree on Route 1 over Oyster River is another problem spot due to public access.
Turtle Creek needs gravel so people can pull in and out without getting their cars stuck.
P. Ingellis and R. Siegelman went down to Bayview Avenue, and the overlook area is overgrown and not really open to public access.
C. Nelson suggested adding coastal overlooks to the brochure.
R. Fish suggested, and members agreed, that the Conservation Commission schedule a special meeting with the new selectman and the Department of Public Works to discuss these issues and to ask for a commitment from them to maintain these spots.
B. Sherwin talked about the Conservation Commission Outreach Commission’s web site. There are now templates and stylistically consistent content. He sent an e-mail to remind everyone of their assigned topic. Access and mobility and social equity do not yet have anyone assigned to them. He said the topics of food, environment and health need to be fixed.
S. Prisloe offered to work on environment.
R. Fish proposed that the head of Youth & Family Services take the social equity topic, and that Y&FS could become a new partner.
C. Nelson suggested that Jean Davies from the Regional Planning Agency, who knows a lot about transportation in the area, could write about access and mobility.
Walter Smith was assigned food and water. Education is done. B. Sherwin has taken care of the topic of Waste. Health was assigned to K. Gallagher. R. Fish said he will contact her, and if she is not able to do it, he will contact the Regional Health District or the Public Health Nurses Association and ask them to write about it.
Wastewater was suggested as a topic. It was decided that wastewater should go under waste management.
R. Fish asked if articles were still being accepted. B. Sherwin said yes. R. Fish found an article on energy efficiency that he wanted to share via the web site. B. Sherwin suggested writing a synopsis on it with a link to the actual article.
C. Nelson asked about the “actions” for each topic. It’s not clear whom the actions are directed at. She suggested a preamble under the actions items to explain who they are directed at. She asked, “Where should the action items come from?” She also asked, regarding the goals and priorities, “Who is the audience?” and “How are the goals and actions derived?”
S. Prisloe suggested putting the topics on the web site and engaging the community, trying to find out from them what the important goals are. The communication should go two ways between the town and the members of the community.
There was discussion about how to get the community’s input, feedback and ideas, and there was discussion about deleting the goals and actions section and replacing it with a comments or survey section to get public feedback before determining goals and actions. Perhaps there should be some general goals presented, and then the public should be allowed to weigh in on the goals and actions. A comment box or survey was suggested.
B. Sherwin talked about “selling” or “pitching” this idea to potential partners. He mentioned that the web site is a form of social networking or social marketing which would be attractive to business owners and merchants. He suggested a possible ranking system for participating businesses where they can be platinum, gold or silver members, and if they chose, they could have a placard in their window to show their participation in the Sustainable Saybrook program.
R. Fish said the priority pages need to be finished, and something should be ready to show by the first week in December, when the first selectman’s meeting is held.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes
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