Minutes for the Conservation Commission meeting
September 20, 2012
The meeting convened shortly after 7:00 pm in Town Hall. Attending were Kim Herkimer, Patrick Mulberry, Joe Markow, and Brian Thomas.
The minutes from the August meeting, taken by Joe Markow, were accepted.
In his Treasurers report, Patrick Mulberry described the distribution of our new bulletin and the mechanics of proceeds from sales back to the town's budget. Joe presented an update of Bulletin sales: 30 given to individuals. For sale at town hall, 15 copies. At the Agricultural Fair on September 8, 16 copies were sold. Remaining are 51 copies. Patrick will deliver the $80 total sales to Town Treasurer Barbara Herbst in the next few days.
Kim spent $75 for a map created for the Office of Policy Management, showing an updated parcel map atop 3-D topography, with the actual location of houses-- very useful for our purposes. Kim will submit a bill to Gordon.
The Treasurer's report was accepted.
Joe gave the Commission some follow-up comments about the Bulletin, which has been very well received. There were educational resources created by Joe for the Ag Fair, including signs, maps, artwork. We will make the bulletin available online. We will supply for-sale copies of the bulletin to the library, to Town Hall, and to local businesses. Patrick will take some to General Store and the Fishing and tackle store. For the bulletine, everyone agreed that we need a longer time frame. Brian mentioned Peter Del Tredice as a resource.
This led to an exploration of some website issues. Should we keep the wiki separate (which will serve as a repository of documents and pertinent reports) separarely from public website? The final choice could go either way. The sense of the group was that there needs to be a lot of thought about the function, structure, level of transparency for the website.
Kim is still working on securing our next guest speaker—Steve Hedden, head of Inland Wetlands.
Kim then summarized his scrutiny of the Office of Policy Management items that came up since our last meeting. In OPM process, wetland soils are not even noted or mapped, Kim said, expressed a worry that the OPM map is obscuring some conservation rights away in the name of encouraging economic development. One question: Is OPM part of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection?
We then turned our attention to Japanese knotweed and other invasive species. Kim noted that Art Gingert has a list of sites around Cornwall. Some stakeholders are weighing the use of herbicides. Gordon is mindful of the potential liability involved in spraying toxins. The alternatives involve cutting and then burning. Art Gingert will canvas some people about these alternatives. Some of the commissioners expressed wariness about using chemicals, particularly glycophosphates. Joe suggested a more selective herbicide such as Triclopyr. The Natural Resources Conservation Service suggests a combination of mechanical removal plus pesticide.
We moved from this specific topic to what attitude we should take towards applying chemicals and whether we should establish some priorities about invasives.
On the issue of the Old Poughkeepsie Turnpike and Verizon, Patrick reported on his legwork. He said the controversy is a question of where the property line is, what the parcel's drainage is. This matter will be resolved by the Siting Council, not the town. Another facet is the status of old Poughkeepsie Turnpike itself—is it a discontinued road or an abandoned road? This distinction that has consequences. The discontinued road would still be eligible for public access. Gordon asked Town Attorney Pearlie Grimes to research status of the Turnpike. The town will not have much to say UNLESS the road is labeled discontinued rather than abandoned.
Next, we discussed our community outreach plans, with the idea of convening sessions in eight neighborhoods around town addressing conservation themes. Kim showed his map of the neighborhoods, and we mused on how to draw the boundaries. Kim talked about organizing by watersheds.
We considered how to structure the meetings, and how we might work with other groups like Inland Wetlands and P&Z. It would help to focus on one spot town and organize our efforts there.
We adjourned the meeting at 9:30.