Commission on Conservation & Agriculture

Commission on Conservation & Agriculture MINUTES Regular Meeting of February 20, 2018 Present Absent Public Staff_______________ Bob Daniels Jon Morris Gabriel Russo Michelle Ford Katharine Owens Jammie Middleton Kate Miller David Bauer Elisabeth Holder Brian Gartner Mike Thomas Ellen Lukens James Miller Barbara Schukoske Jane Brawerman A. Call to Order 1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:07 PM. Roll was taken. B. Accept the Agenda 1. The agenda is accepted. C. Public Forum 1. Gabriel Russo of Forest City Farms presents the farm’s annual report to the Commission. Discussion ensues. D. Approval of Minutes 1. Motion to approve the minutes of the January 16, 2017 meeting as revised by Bob, seconded by Kat. Motion passes unanimously. E. Staff Report and Correspondence: No staff present. David’s comments reflected below: 1. Department Update i. Staffing: Interviews were completed for the Deputy Director and ZEO/WEO positions. F. Request for Comment The Department requests input from the Commission on the following items. 1. Revised language for open space in subdivision regulations. i. Kate expresses concern about the clarity of the Zoning Code/Subdivision Regulations and prior to having her grad student work on reviewing the regulations in depth would like clarification on the following: 1. At what stage in the process is it determined if open space should be set aside and if so, where on the property? 2. The Commisison (Conservation and P&Z) should receive input early in the process. 3. Why are the open space regulations pertaining to active adult communities separate from the subdivision regulations? 4. There are too many ‘may’ and ‘should’ statements in the regulations.  5. The regulations should be reformatted. The Commission would like to coordinate with P&Z members, perhaps through a workshop. 6. What does P&Z think about the regulations? 7. What does the PCD Director think about the regulations? 8. Can the PCD Director explain the first paragraph in Section 5.17 of the subdivision regulations? 9. Upon which ordinances are the subdivision and active adult regulations based? Further, Kate states that the Department needs to have online, searchable zoning codes and the current format is incredibly difficult to sort through and read. 2. Establishment of 2018 Commission Goals i. Liz reviews the draft of the Commission Goals previously submitted. General discussion ensues. 1. Staff to check on the status of Commission goals and appointments. 2. Kate wants a trail guide addendum document with changes to the trail guide, which can be posted online. 3. Liz will change Commission Goal #4. 4. Mike states that the Commission may consider revoking the trail guide because the trails, particularly at the Wilcox property are so inaccurate. Staff states her disagreement with this statement based upon field survey and GPS’ing of the trails last year. 5. Kate states that the Department really needs to remove the link to the 2004 trail guide from the website. 3. Wilcox Open Space Management Plan Draft i. Discussed elsewhere on the agenda 4. Promotion of at least one Agriculture-oriented event for 2018 i. Discussed elsewhere on the agenda 5. Revised Agricultural Property Evaluation Criteria i. Discussed elsewhere on the agenda G. Officers and Committee reports: 1. Chairman’s Report: i. Interdepartmental task force for risk assessment and ongoing maintenance. Liz and Staff each provide a summary of the meeting. Discussion ensues. ii. Proposed Commission Goals: Discussed elsewhere on the agenda. 2. Trails sub-committee i. Wilcox trail blazing: Ongoing ii. Trail Walk Schedule: General discussion  3. Agriculture sub-committee: i. Event Planning: Barb presented her findings and constraints associated with a farm to table event. The sub-committee will look to potentially partner with Discussion ensued. ii. Property evaluation document. The Commission reviewed the document submitted by Jim and agreed with his recommendations. Staff to find out the minimum property size for enrollment in the CFPP program. 4. Outreach sub-committee: i. No members present 5. Open Space management sub-committee i. The Commission is unsure who was nominated/elected/appointed Chair of the sub-committee. Liz asks Staff about the timeframe for comments on the Wilcox Management Plan draft and Staff states as soon as practical. The Commission has had the document since December and the consultant is waiting on comments so he can finalize the report. Staff asks that comments be sent to a member of the sub-committee or the Chair for compilation prior to submitting to Staff. Staff will email the plan as a stand-alone document to the Commission. 6. Open Space acquisition sub-committee i. No report H. Old Business 1. Kleen Energy Property: No Report. 2. Red Maple Swamp Property: No Report 3. Letter to Eversource: Staff relays information that the Mayor has reviewed the letter and may prefer that it came from the PCD Department rather than the Commission. Staff states that the Chair should meet with the PCD Director to discuss further. Discussion ensues. I. New Business 1. No Report J. Member Forum: 1. Jane states that the annual conference for the Connecticut Land Conservation Council is upcoming and will email the commission the information. 2. Katharine informs the Commission that she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for her work on marine debris and will be spending 6 months with her family in India next year. The Commission expresses their excitement for her accomplishment. K. Adjournment 1. Motion to adjourn by Bob, seconded by Kat. Motion passes unanimously and the meeting is adjourned at 9:10 pm.