ENFIELD CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010
A Regular Meeting of the Enfield Conservation Commission was called to order by Chairman LaPlante in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Tuesday, April 13, 2010. The meeting was called to order at 7:13 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Commissioners Michael Dynia, Natalie George, Joanne Kneiss, Karen LaPlante, Timothy McGuire, Gretchen Pfeifer-Hall. Commissioners Richard Szewczak and Kathleen Vose were absent. Alternate Joanne Kneiss was empowered to vote at this meeting. Also present was Roger Alsbaugh, Assistant Planner.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner George, seconded by Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall to accept the minutes of the March 9, 2010 Regular Meeting of the Conservation Commission.
The minutes were accepted unanimously.
A motion was made by Commissioner Dynia, seconded by Commissioner McGuire to accept the March 16, 2010 Farmland Subcommittee minutes.
The minutes were accepted unanimously.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
A motion was made by Commissioner George, seconded by Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall to go into Executive Session to discuss real estate matters and personnel matters. The vote was unanimous, and the meeting stood recessed at 7:16 p.m.
Chairman LaPlante adjourned the Executive Session and stated real estate matters and personnel matters were discussed, and no action or votes were taken in Executive Session.
The meeting reconvened at 8:30 p.m.
OSWA 2010 (Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Program)
Mr. Alsbaugh explained this item remained on the agenda to keep it on the table.
Chairman LaPlante stated they won’t be going forward until they have something specific in writing
Enfield Plan of Conservation & Development
Chairman LaPlante stated the Commission still has to formulate specific comments. She offered to put together comments from the previous meeting and forward that to everyone on the Commission.
Farms & Farmland Preservation
Chairman LaPlante stated Enfield doesn’t have many farms that produce food products. She stated for this reason it may not be worthwhile doing a promotion to get people to visit farms for fruits and vegetables. She went onto note they do need to let farmers know they are supported in whatever farming they’re doing.
Chairman LaPlante referred to today’s Hartford Courant and an article about community-supported agriculture. She noted this article spoke about people buying shares to a farm. She explained each farmer sells shares in exchange for a cut of their products. She cited some examples of out how this works and how this trend is growing. She stated her belief a community the size of Enfield should be able to do this. Mr. Alsbaugh noted there’s a premium for organic products.
Chairman LaPlante suggested hosting a meeting for farmers and inviting a Farm Bureau representative and a farmer involved in this share program so that local farmers can learn about this program. She stated her belief there’s a market for such a program. She noted this might be something they can do to promote farmland and farmers. She added she doesn’t want to restrict this to Enfield. She suggested hosting this meeting sometime in November. She added there can be further discussion about this with the Farmland Preservation Committee.
Commissioner McGuire stated he learned the farm tour will not be held at the Trinity Farm this year, and it will be held at a farm outside of Enfield. He noted Enfield would be welcome to put up a display that promotes Enfield farms at the farm tour event wherever it’s taking place. Commissioner Dynia suggested that same promotional display can be posted at the Thompsonville Farmers Market.
Chairman LaPlante referred to another recent article in the Hartford Courant that mentioned Bloomfield was considering buying and preserving two more family farms with their open space money.
Continuing Discussion of Goals for 2010 and Beyond
It was agreed that this item should be tabled until the next meeting.
CORRESPONDENCE
Commissioner Dynia stated he learned South Windsor has a tree planting tied in with a memorial program and Earth Day. He noted this allows residents or businesses to buy ornamental trees for planting on public property. He stated the fee of $200 includes a memorial plaque and a choice of trees. He noted most trees are purchased in memory of a deceased family member. He suggested this might be an idea for Enfield.
Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall stated there should be a tree plan for a program such as this.
Chairman LaPlante stated all members received a copy of a letter from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. She noted this letter was about the Asian Longhorn Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer. She stated the Legislative Review Committee approved the quarantine regulations. She noted they have not detected either insect in Connecticut, but legal guidelines are in place should there be a problem.
Chairman LaPlante stated the Commission has received the 2010 edition of the Connecticut Audubon Society’s “Connecticut State of the Birds” report.
Chairman LaPlante stated the Commission received the latest brochure for the Environmental Review Team Program from the Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc.
Mr. Alsbaugh stated he submitted the Northeast Utilities application for the riverfront.
Chairman LaPlante read, “It’s important to note that as of July 1, 2009, the funding mechanism for the ERT was changed. For many years, the ERT was funded by a fee bill as established in Connecticut General Statutes 22A-27J. This fee was collected by municipalities for land use applications such as zoning or wetlands permits and distributed to the ERT along with the soil and water conservation districts. In a recent state budgetary overhaul this fee was doubled and no longer goes to these environmental quality programs. The fee bill funds now go directly to the State’s General Fund. The ERT and other programs are now funded out of a budgetary line item in the DEP’s general budget. I encourage you to review the attached material and contact Elaine Sich with any questions. We’ve all send the results of the rapid rate of development in Eastern Connecticut over the last few decades. I have no doubt that there are other projects or programs in your town that would benefit from input from our team. This is not a request for more dollars. We are only asking to keep the conservation districts, council and ERT whole through the budget negotiations, in turn keeping the programs that they provide to you and to municipalities, the agricultural community and each and every taxpayer.”
There was a brief discussion about the increased fee for fishing licenses.
Discussion followed about the Barrett Road project. Commissioner George noted after four public hearings, they came in with a new plan showing just a single road from South Road going through what will be a commercial property and going up to the housing. She stated the plan shows fairly extensive drainage catchment areas.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
South Maple Street Bridge
Commission members reviewed a packet of plans for the South Maple Street Bridge.
Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall stated she had questioned why this wasn’t referred to the Conservation Commission and was told there’s no formal mechanism in place to refer things to the Conservation Commission. She noted there was a meeting in late December and members of the Conservation Commission were present. She stated they made some comments and basically they believed the plan was not very good. She noted they had riprap with storm drains outlet-ing directly into the river with no swales or water quality renovation. She stated her belief the engineer wasn’t very receptive to including a swale. She stated her belief they should ask the Scantic River Watershed Association to participate in the meeting. She pointed out this is an important location.
Commissioner George stated a drainage pipe comes down from the hill and there appears to be a large catch basin or sediment basin. She noted an outlet is shown, however, it doesn’t show any swale or material protecting the slope going into the river.
Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall stated her belief someone should attend the public hearing, listen to the presentation and ask questions.
Chairman LaPlante indicated she would like Commissioner Szewczak to look at these plans.
Mr. Alsbaugh questioned the issue with catch basins, and Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall stated there are catch basins now, and there has to be runoff form the road going somewhere. She noted the entrance to the bridge is relatively flat, however, this is a hilly area and a lot of salt is put on this road, which means salt and other materials will make their way into the river.
Commissioner George stated there will be runoff and questioned where that runoff is going.
Chairman LaPlante requested a full set of plans be provided for the Conservation Commission.
Special Projects
Arbor Day
Commissioner Kneiss stated the tree will be planted in the front of JFK Middle School near the office. She noted perhaps they could have some type of “watering” ceremony after the planting. She stated the Principal indicated he’d prefer to do the ceremony between 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. She noted the Council could be invited as well. Chairman LaPlante requested Mr. Alsbaugh figure out when they can do this.
Liaison Report – Northern CT Land Trust
Commissioner Dynia stated they’re having a hike on June 6th as part of Connecticut Trail Days.
Liaison Report – Scantic River Watershed Association
Commissioner Dynia stated they just had their Annual Spring Splash. He thanked Commissioner LaPlante and Mr. Alsbaugh for volunteering to help. He noted Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall raced again and did well. He stated they had 213 paddlers participating, which is up from 183 last year. He noted they had 155 boats, which is up from 130 boats last year. He stated they’re planning for the 20th Spring Splash next year. He noted they had a lot of good comments from people about the event.
Commissioner Dynia stated they’re planning a canoe/kayak trip on May 8th or May 9th, and there will be a press release on this. He noted they hope to have a Connecticut Trail Day on June 5th and plan to hike the historical trail along the river. He stated they’re talking about having a celebration called Colonel Hazard Day.
Commissioner Dynia stated they’re supposed to be working with the Enfield Recreation Department as part of a hike/walk program. He went on to note they’re planning a June 13th paddle trip starting at the boat launch, and they plan to paddle to Windsor.
He stated they’ve instituted a scholarship program. He noted applications have to be in by May 3rd.
Commissioner George questioned the status on the grange. Commissioner Dynia stated the Watershed Association decided they didn’t want to take that on. He noted perhaps the Town will take it over.
Commissioner Dynia stated a goal of the Watershed Association is to open up the Scantic River from the barn down to Town Farm Road.
The next regular meeting of the Conservation Commission is scheduled for May 11th.
ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Pfeifer-Hall made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Dynia to adjourn.
The vote was unanimous, and the meeting stood adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gretchen Pfeifer-Hall, Secretary (Acting Secretary signature)
(Please print Acting Secretary name) |