Conservation Commission Minutes 6/2/11
Conservation Commission Meeting
Old Lyme Town Hall
June 2, 2011, 7:30 pm
Meeting called to order at 7:31 pm.
Members:
Monica Buccheri
George James
David McCulloch
Tom Sherer
Michael Sullivan
Lauralyn Lewis
Sue Baehr, Alternate
Maureen Plumleigh, Alternate
Suzanne Thompson, ex officio
Peter Cable, ex officio
Attending: George James, Sue Baehr, Monica Buccheri, Lauralyn Lewis, David McCulloch, Maureen Plumleigh, Tom Sherer
- Approve Minutes of May 5, 2011
The commission approved the minutes of May 5, 2011.
Guest
Linda Clough, Master Gardener, Plantings at Haines Park
Linda shared her plan that she and members of the Roger’s Lake Authority will present to
the Selectmen on June 20th. Issues that will be addressed include: the concern of runoff
into the lake, trash, and the need for signage. The plan identifies three areas of Haines
Park: rowing, beach and the peninsula. Linda is a Grassy Hill resident and a former
attorney. She currently sits on the library board and is satisfying a 35 hour community
service project requirement for her master gardener service.
Old Business
Members categorized the priority action items.
- Follow Up on Future Guests
Juliana Barrett from UConn is scheduled to be the speaker for July. We look forward to hearing her speak on coastal restoration and riparian buffers.
George was unable to attend the meeting in May, but has learned that Nigel Logan
and John Flower worked on the recommendations to the state and every
recommendation will be included in the testimony. Effort is being made for
certification so that this program can be taken to the schools.
New Business
- Organic Land Care Policy/Statement
A strong statement is needed so that the townspeople and other commissions
understand where the commission stands on this. Lauralyn presented a rough draft
to the commission and members responded favorably. A final draft will be presented
in July.
- Current Projects/Future Projects & Upcoming Events
A. Film Series
There was discussion of possibly inviting the LOLHS media teacher to work with
us on the video project (students will be asked to make videos using their cell
phones to bring awareness to environmental issues that are important to them).
Lauralyn spoke at length with Phil Neaton and the mutual conclusion was
the need to reduce the usage on the playing fields. An organic program will
not be able to be successfully implemented until the over usage has been dealt with.
Phil is currently working on an organic proposal.
Lauralyn and Monica met with Tim and discussed the conclusions Phil and
Lauralyn came to. Park and Rec has the authority to restrict usage on the playing
fields with the full support from the selectmen. Further, a usage fee imposed on
those teams and clubs using the fields was discussed as a way to cover the cost for
security and maintenance; this would be similar to beach permits required of
taxpayers. Lauralyn will discuss this with Don Bugbee.
Commission members discussed the need for a permission slip for children using
the fields in their current state of maintenance (toxins applied); this would be
required of the school teams as well as children in the sports clubs.
The meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm.
Lauralyn Lewis, Secretary
| 
