MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 7:00 P.m.
Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
302 Main Street
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. ROLL CALL
Members Present
Robert Fish
Richard Esty
Walter Smith
Jerry Brophy
Members Absent
Pat Ingellis
Emily Grochowski
Kimberley Gallagher
Land Use Department Staff Present
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
Nina Garrett, interested citizen
Robert Yust, interested citizen
III. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Minutes
MOTION to approve the minutes from the Conservation Commission’s Regular Meeting of October 8, 2013 as presented.; MADE by R. Fish; SECONDED by R. Esty; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Fish, W. Smith, R. Esty,
J. Brophy; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none; APPROVED: 4-0-0.
- Correspondence and Announcements
Kimberley Gallagher has resigned from the Conservation Commission because she is moving out of state.
Richard Esty, Emily Grochowski and Pat Ingellis have each been recommended for two-year appointments on the Conservation Commission.
CACIWC, which is the CT Association of Conservation and Inland Wetland Commissions, has a 2013 Conservation Commission survey on its web site. W. Smith would like the Conservation Commission to complete that.
W. Smith announced the deadline for Saybrook Events Magazine is November 20, 2013. He asked Commissioners if they had any suggestions for an article. R. Esty said he would like to submit an article about vernal pools. R. Esty will send a draft of his article to R. Fish and W. Smith to review by the end of this week.
W. Smith has some ideas for a series of future Saybrook Events articles. He would like to talk about what the Conservation Commission is currently doing and what they are planning for the future.
- Committee, Representative & Staff Reports
IV. NEW BUSINESS
- An Update on the Trust for Public Land’s activity on “The Preserve”
Located between Route 153, Ingham Hill Road and Bokum Road
Presenter: Kate Brown, Trust for Public Land
K. Brown, Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land in New Haven, presented. TPL is a national organization that helps towns and governments acquire land for conservation. They don’t own or manage any land for a long period of time.
TPL has a contract to buy the land known as “The Preserve”. They signed the contract in June 2013, and they have until June 2014 to identify funding sources for this purchase. Additional funds will be raised for stewardship.
The Conservation Commission is being asked to support the 930-acre purchase which includes 3.7 acres in Westbrook which are an access point. Also, the Conservation Commission is going to be asked if this purchase fits in with the Town Plan of Conservation and Development.
The voters will be asked to vote on a referendum next year to pay for a portion of this purchase. Other funding sources will be paying for the rest of the purchase.
There was discussion about whether or not the town should own this land and who would manage the land. There was also discussion about what the land could be used for such as passive recreation, ball fields, a potential nature center, etc.
Commissioners recommended the Trust for Public Land have a land management plan done to see what the cost would be for stewardship. Potentially Great Cedars could be added to the land management plan.
Two appraisals are being done on the property to see what it is worth. In order to appraise land for conservation, two appraisals must be done, one with development rights, and one without.
K. Brown distributed a map of CT showing completed and current TPL projects, a map of “The Preserve” and a fact sheet about The Preserve’s Natural Resources.
- BOS’ Request to participate in the CT Solar Challenge
W. Smith met with First Selectman Carl Fortuna, and shortly after the meeting, C. Fortuna asked the Conservation Commission about participating in the CT Solar Challenge. The CC is the town’s energy task force. E. Grochowski and R. Fish are both very interested in energy. Because E.Grochowski could not be at tonight’s CC meeting, W. Smith asked that the solar discussion be moved to Sustainable Saybrook’s next meeting, and then it will come before the Conservation Commission.
C. BOS’ Charge to consider “Climate Change”
W. Smith handed out information about the potential formation of a town Climate Adaptation Committee as an ad-hoc advisory committee of the Board of Selectmen.
R. Yust, Professional Environmental Engineer, is the community liaison for the submarine base. He is the acting Energy Conservation Manager, and he specializes in environmental remediation. He is very interested in sea level rise.
He spoke to C. Fortuna about forming a Climate Adaptation Committee which would collect and summarize data showing what Old Saybrook could experience as a result of sea level rise and climate change, educate citizens, analyze the impacting results of sea level rise to shoreline communities and make policy recommendations that would help towns adapt to the climate change.
The town has created a Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan that includes sea level rise, and S. Prisloe said the state has models showing potential impacts of sea level rise over many years.
W. Smith said he’d like to continue talking about the formation and details of a possible Climate Adaptation Committee at a meeting with R. Yust on November 22, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. J. Brophy is planning to attend as well. W. Smith will talk with the Selectmen’s Office to find a room for the meeting, and he said he would contact R. Yust to confirm.
V. CURRENT PROJECT UPDATES
- Plan of Conservation (& Development)
W. Smith talked about updating The Plan piece by piece instead of all at once.
There was nothing new to report.
There was nothing new to report.
R. Esty will be submitting an article to Saybrook Events.
R. Esty photographed areas of Saybrook Point looking at the best locations for several butterfly gardens. He will be making recommendations about types of plants. He would like to have a shade butterfly garden near the boardwalk, and he’d like to have educational signs. He suggested having students in town do research and make up the signs.
Many new e-mails are being added to the Sustainable Saybrook e-mail list due to a successful response at Family Day on the Town Green in September
W. Smith has received a lot of positive feedback about a community lecture series. R. Esty suggested a lecture series be done with movie clips or slide presentations to show people who are not able to walk “The Preserve” why it is so important.
- Cornfield Point Coastal Access Point
S. Prisloe consulted the author of the Coastal Riparian Planting Guide which shows which plantings are most appropriate for certain areas along the coast. There is a steep slope at the Cornfield Point coastal access point which makes planting there challenging. The town may be able to get professional help with this through Juliana Barrett and her associates at UConn.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Conservation Commission which will be Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 7:00 P.M., Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 302 Main Street; MADE by R. Esty; SECONDED by J. Brophy; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Fish, R. Esty, W. Smith, J. Brophy; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 4-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
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