MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 7:00 P.m.
Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
302 Main Street
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. ROLL CALL
Members Present
Walter Smith
Jerry Brophy
Richard Esty, arrived at 7:20 p.m.
Emily Grochowski
Nina Garrett
Pat Ingellis
Members Absent
Robert Fish
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
MOTION to move New Business before Old Business on the meeting agenda.; MADE by P. Ingellis; SECONDED by N. Garrett; VOTED IN FAVOR: W. Smith, N. Garrett, E. Grochowski, P. Ingellis, J. Brophy; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
III. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Minutes
MOTION to approve the minutes from the Conservation Commission’s Regular Meeting of March 11, 2014 as presented.; MADE by E. Grochowski; SECONDED by N. Garrett; VOTED IN FAVOR: W. Smith, N. Garrett, E. Grochowski, P. Ingellis, J. Brophy; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
- Correspondence and Announcements
Adam Whelchel from the Nature Conservancy is going to speak to the Conservation Commission at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 10th about climate change and marsh change analysis.
W. Smith would like to have someone serve as Conservation Commission Secretary to take meeting minutes when the recording clerk is unable to attend the meeting, and to work on community outreach. W. Smith asked N. Garrett, if she would be willing to serve as Secretary, and she agreed. C. Nelson invited her to come in to talk regarding community outreach outlets.
MOTION to elect Nina Garrett as Conservation Commission Secretary.; MADE by E. Grochowski; SECONDED by P. Ingellis; VOTED IN FAVOR: W. Smith, N. Garrett, E. Grochowski, P. Ingellis, J. Brophy; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none; APPROVED: 5-0-0.
The Founders Park volunteers would like to plant milkweed for the Monarch Butterflies, and they are asking the Conservation Commission for a letter of support. Commissioners agreed that this would be a good idea. W. Smith said he would contact the volunteers to let them know that the Conservation Commission does support this.
C. Nelson talked about town property in the Chalker Beach area where there is a big crop of bamboo along with some invasive plants. Commissioners decided to take a site walk of that property with C. Nelson on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
- Sea Level Rise Organizing Committee
The Board of Selectman formally approved the Sea Level Rise Committee today, and the Committee will have their first meeting on May 8, 2014.
D. Sustainable Saybrook
E. Grochowski reported that she has handed over the Solar Challenge to a small group of Sustainable Saybrook volunteers. She’s working on a biking event that will take place on Sunday, June 1, 2014. W. Smith and R. Fish will educate people about The Preserve at the event. Volunteers have offered to scoop ice cream at the end of the bike route for all participants.
Green Up Day is April 26, 2014. The Department of Public Works will set out dumpsters at certain sites in town.
The essays for the Sustainable Saybrook scholarship contest should be coming in soon from Old Saybrook High School students.
E. Wetlands and Aquifer Protection Commissions
The Aquifer Protection Agency met to vote on a registration for a regulated activity. That application was approved.
V. NEW BUSINESS
- Streetlights and Light Pollution
N. Garrett read a recent article in “The Harbor News” about the town possibly purchasing LED streetlights. She asked to discuss energy savings and light pollution in regard to LED streetlights. She asked if LED streetlights would increase light pollution. Commissioners talked about the color of the lights, whether the lights would be pointed up or down, and if there would be variability of brightness in the different sections of town.
- The Preserve – News and Management Discussion
W. Smith reviewed the points the Commissioners discussed when Kate Brown from the Trust for Public Land spoke to the Conservation Commission regarding management of The Preserve land. These points included hiring a park ranger, building a conservation education station and putting a Memorandum of Understanding in place for stewardship of the land. R. Fish is the Conservation Commission’s MOU Committee member.
At this point, a referendum date for The Preserve has not been set, and a funding source has not yet been identified.
C. Nelson talked about the functions of open space such as habitat protection, cultural preservation, recreation and delineating between passive and active recreation. Other functions include public health and safety such as clean water and clean air, storm water retention, flood management, drinking water quality, economics and agriculture.
The different uses of these open space functions are determined by Parks and Recreation.
There will need to be some physical improvements of The Preserve property in order to give people access to hiking and to give first responders emergency access.
C. Nelson shared ideas that have been discussed for passive recreation in The Preserve. These include the following: viewing platforms, bird blinds, camping lean to’s, a boardwalk through the wetlands, platforms for possible zip lines, horse riding, hiking, mountain biking, geo-caching, letter boxing, dog walking, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and a possible outdoor amphitheater for a music venue.
Active recreation implies ball fields. The Preserve does not have the topography to support ball fields.
C. Nelson discussed habitat protection and management. The Conservation Commission has studied Great Cedars and Great Cedars East as they have been set aside for habitat protection.
C. Nelson asked Commissioners how the acquisition of The Preserve would impact their conservation efforts.
W. Smith suggested a professional view The Preserve as one piece of property instead of 3 separate pieces and create a strong plan of recommendations for best conservation management practices.
C. Nelson asked Commissioners to think of economic uses for the land as undeveloped open space. S. Prisloe suggested maple sugaring and C. Nelson thought of green cemeteries. R. Esty suggested trolley rides and bicycle rentals going to and from the beaches and The Preserve which would support eco-tourism.
- Economic Development Commission Workshop
The Economic Development Commission Workshop made by CERC discussed the potential of Old Saybrook to take advantage of its specific water-based locale and the potential acquisition of the Lyons property to develop an eco-tourism approach for the town that would provide economic benefits while maintaining the existing natural resources and their functions. W. Smith noted that this could be a place where the Economic Development Commission and the Conservation Commission could work together.
IV. OLD BUSINESS
P. Ingellis and J. Brophy exited the meeting at 8:25 p.m.
R. Esty is going to ask student volunteers to help him work on vernal pool inventorying this coming weekend. He created a 2- page field guide and a training packet for the students to use. They will begin at Crystal Lake in Town Park off of Schoolhouse Road at 10:00 a.m. on both Saturday, April 12th and Sunday, April 13th. N. Garrett offered to volunteer this weekend as well. R. Esty plans to continue the inventory every Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for the next few weekends.
R. Esty presented his butterfly garden plan to the Parks and Recreation Commission, and they agreed to help him with it.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Conservation Commission which will be Tuesday, May 13, 2014, 7:00 P.M., Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 302 Main Street; MADE by N. Garrett; SECONDED by E. Grochowski; VOTED IN FAVOR: R. Esty, W. Smith, E. Grochowski, N. Garrett; OPPOSED: none; ABSTAINED: none.; APPROVED: 4-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
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