MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, December 13, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.
Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
302 Main Street
Members Present
Robert Fish, Chairman
Bruce Sherwin
Jerry Brophy
Pat Ingellis
Walter Smith
Members Absent
Kim Gallagher
Robert Siegelman
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
MOTION to approve the minutes from the Conservation Commission’s Regular Meetings of September 13, 2011 and November 8, 2011, and to approve the minutes from the Conservation Commission’s Special Meetings of the Outreach Committee of October 4, October 18, November 1, November 15 and December 6, 2011 as presented; MADE by B. Sherwin; SECONDED by P. Ingellis; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Fish, J. Brophy, P. Ingellis, W. Smith, B. Sherwin; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
2012 Meeting Schedule
MOTION to approve the Conservation Commission 2012 meeting schedule as presented; MADE by J. Brophy; SECONDED by B. Sherwin; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Fish, B. Sherwin, P. Ingellis, J. Brophy, W. Smith ; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
Natural Heritage Tour Brochure
R. Fish said there is more than one version of the Natural Heritage Tour Brochure, and he asked Commissioners to choose which version they would prefer for reprinting.
P. Ingellis said, and Commissioners agreed, that they liked the version with the trees.
R. Fish said he’d like to reprint the brochure under this year’s budget. He asked P. Ingellis, since he walked the tour and discussed it at the last CC meeting, if he’d like to make any changes. Commissioners said they agreed the brochure should be printed as is.
MOTION to approve the Natural Heritage Tour brochure as presented updating the date from November 2008 to January 2012, including the notable trees, and using the money from this year’s 2011-2012 budget to pay for the reprinting; MADE by J. Brophy; SECONDED by P. Ingellis; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Fish, B. Sherwin, P. Ingellis, J. Brophy, W. Smith ; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
C. Nelson offered to confirm the printing details on the brochure.
Sustainable Saybrook Website Support
R. Fish explained that the Conservation Commission’s section of the Plan of Conservation and Development was updated in 2006. At the end of 2010, the CC realized that a lot of the projects had been done, so the conversation led to what should be done next, and what the new goals should be. Commissioners agreed that the main thing the CC was interested in doing was outreach, and they decided on developing the Sustainable Saybrook website. The website and the Local Sustainability Plan are part of that goal.
R. Fish asked Commissioners if they felt the CC’s part of the Plan of Conservation and Development should be updated. He asked Commissioners for their input as to what direction they’d like to take it from here. He mentioned that for the selectmen’s meeting of January 24th, B. Sherwin is planning a presentation on the Sustainable Saybrook website. The CC would like to ask the selectmen’s office to join as a partner. Reporters will be there, and this information will then become public knowledge. R. Fish wants to be sure that the website can be as complete as possible before it goes public.
Commissioners expressed an interest in taking on energy conservation as another project.
B. Sherwin said that he’d like to see the CC focus on other things besides the website, but he realizes that right now, the commission has limited resources.
J. Brophy said after looking at the goals in the Plan of Conservation and Development, he feels these goals are still valid and that they can and should be worked on. They’re not complete. The website is a great idea to attain the goal of outreach and public education. He said he’d like to see the CC work more on acquiring open space.
R. Fish asked S. Prisloe for his thoughts, and he asked what types of things the CC is working on in Chester. S. Prisloe said in Chester, the CC is looking at agriculture, updating zoning regulations to encourage agricultural use of land so it’s productive open space, and they have focused a lot on energy. They have an “E Team.”
There was an effort to encourage people to apply for a renewable energy grant. Members of the CC in Chester have expertise in various areas of energy conservation and renewable energy. A subcommittee was formed. They took a template from another town’s energy plan, and they made it specific for Chester. Now there’s an implementation committee, and there’s an energy team that meets monthly. It’s a subcommittee that includes staff, community members, commission members, etc. The town would like to acquire more open space, especially in the eastern part of Chester where most of the people live.
W. Smith said our town Plan of Conservation and Development’s goals are very good, traditional CC goals, but he asked if the goals could be amended to include new things such as sea level rise work. He asked if those things could be added as an enhancement to update the Plan.
B. Sherwin asked C. Nelson what the process would be to update the Plan. She said the CC would need to petition the PC to update the Plan and present to them a study that’s been done to include in the Plan. For example, EDC had a 2002 Mullen Report study. They could then take that information and put it into the format of the Plan.
C. Nelson said that although things are done outside of the Plan, if it’s not in the Town Plan, it doesn’t get considered in regulatory reviews.
W. Smith asked how the Plan of Conservation and Development intersects with the Sustainable Saybrook website. B. Sherwin said it falls under outreach and public education.
R. Fish said the CC should ask the public to help set the goals. C. Nelson agreed that the goals should not be set outside of the public process.
J. Brophy asked S. Prisloe if there are specific objectives or action items in the energy plan in Chester.
S. Prisloe said there are, and he would get the CC a copy of Chester’s Plan so they could review it.
J. Brophy asked R. Fish if he felt the selectmen’s office would be receptive to putting together an energy task force. R. Fish said he has spoken with C. Fortuna, and he would like to put an energy team together for the town.
P. Ingellis said he also would like to make energy a priority, and he is also interested in food security.
R. Fish talked about shellfish. The town received a letter from the Department of Agriculture. The state said there’s been a problem with disease in shellfish in CT, and so they don’t want people seeding the area before they find out what went wrong with the seeding that had been done before. The DEEP needs to work with the town before they can proceed.
R. Fish said that within 2 weeks, the town starts the budget process for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. From January 1, 2012 to March 1, 2012, there will be discussions about what the budget should be, and the budget is due March 1, 2012. The CC has to turn in a budget which should include the website and an energy committee.
R. Fish asked Commissioners for their input on what their plan should be for the budget. All agreed that a separate budget should be put in for the website and that someone has to provide oversight to the website. B. Sherwin said $5,000.00 could easily be spent on the website to cover printing and website maintenance, but the partners need to contribute the content. If the content isn’t there, there’s nothing to maintain.
Commissioners discussed launching the website in the 2012 budget and whether or not there should be a separate line item for the website. They also talked about whether or not there should be an ad hoc committee of the selectmen who could run the website out of their budget.
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 9:04 p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Conservation Commission on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, Town Hall, 302 Main Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room; MADE by J. Brophy; SECONDED by P. Ingellis; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Fish, B. Sherwin, P. Ingellis, J. Brophy, W. Smith; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
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