Commission on Conservation & Agriculture

Chairperson Bob Daniels Commission Vice-Chair Members Brian Gartner Michael Thomas Kate Miller on Jane Brawerman Barbara Schukoske David Bauer Daniel Penny Conservation & Agriculture William C. Gardner Vacant Vacant Alternates Kristen Rzasa Vacant Staff James Sipperly, Environmental Planner Corinne Milardo, Administrative Assistant SPECIAL MEETING Minutes DATE: Thursday, January 25, 2024 TIME: 7:00 p.m. Meeting was held in person and via WebEx in Room 208, Municipal Building. In person attendance: Commissioners: Bob Daniels, Kate Miller, Barbara Schukoske, Daniel Penney, William C. Gardner. WebEx attendance: Brian Gartner, Kristen Rzasa (arrived late at 7:15pm) Staff in Attendance: James Sipperly, Environmental Planner Corinne Milardo, Administrative Assistant Public In attendance: None. A. Call to Order Chairperson B. Daniels called the meeting to order at 7:03pm. B. Accept the Agenda Motion: To accept the agenda as is. Moved by B. Gardner; seconded by B. Schukoske; approved unanimously, 6-0. C. Public Forum None D. Approval of Minutes November 21, 2023. Kate Miller proposed a change to the minutes. In old business, number two, what’s written is not correct. She only emailed out one file with a list of things that the Trail Guide should include. Not a bunch of files, and that she wants Staff to help make the changes. She explained that the previous Environmental Planner gathered maps, GIS data and other info and then asked members of the commission to provide descriptions. James Sipperly explained that a lot of the info the previous Environmental Planner gathered was thrown away. K. Miller suggested reaching out to Pat Raczka and ask if she has all of the files or if we have to generate maps, photos, and descriptions of new properties. James Sipperly responded that Gary Middleton, who works in the Land Use office, has volunteered to go out with a GPS and map the properties and trails. If you require special accommodations for any meeting, please call the ADA Coordinator at (860) 638-4540, (voice) or (860) 638-4812 (TDD/TTY), or the Town Clerk’s Office at (860) 638-4910 at least ten (10) days prior to the scheduled meeting. Page 1 of 5  K. Miller also stated that someone should go through the 2016 Trail Guide, which is on the website to see what changes need to be made. J. Sipperly suggested that there not only be an online Trail Guide, but there should be printed copies as well. B. Daniels suggested having Pat Raczka attend a meeting once we have all the information together and what needs to be updated and changed. Motion: To approve the minutes as amended. Moved by B. Schukoske; seconded by K. Rzasa. E. Request for Comment None. F. Officers and Committee Reports 1. Chair’s Report Bob Daniels informed the commission that Ellen Lukens is moving has resigned from the commission. Mike Maier resigned from the commission as well. Bob passed out a document that shows the total acreage of farmland by town for the commission. Bob then went on to discuss the meeting held by the Connecticut River Costal Conservation District. Bob will have Jane Brawerman give a more detailed report on the meeting at the next CCA meeting. Essentially, they’re looking for ideas and ways to help environmentally. i. Chamberlain Hill Road Conditions. Bob Daniels began by sharing that there have been a number of comments about excessive gravel and salts spilling into properties hurting the trees and also spilling into Summer Brook. The water runs off the mountain and onto the road and the city is always out there salting the road because of the ice. He would like to draft a letter and send it to the Public Works Director and commission. Dan Penney shared three pictures he took of Chamberlain Hill Road of how much water is coming off some of these steep hillsides. There is no drainage and it’s becoming a safety concern. We don’t have sandbars in Summer Brook, we have stonebars. Eversource has created drain-off ditches to help control the amount of water that runs down to Chamberlain Hill Road. Another area of concern on Chamberlain Hill Road, heading towards Lyceum Road, there was a catch basin there that was marked for replacement but it never happened. Underneath the road, there’s a pipe that is plugged. The city is going to hire a contractor to unplug that pipe. J. Sipperly commented that Public Works can’t keep up with the flooding. D. Penney stated that they really need additional drainage. Kristen Rzasa asked about the progress of the commission using a dropbox to share documents with each other. Page 2 of 5  K. Miller stated that she has made that suggestion a number of times. Kate agrees that is something we should have. J. Sipperly stated that staff will check with IT. ii. Term Limits – Membership Updates J. Sipperly stated that we have to replace Mike and Ellen. 2. Agriculture Committee i. Ag Program Land Lab – Staff Met with BOE J. Sipperly met with the Board of Ed, the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent, and Marco Gaylord. There are two parcels of land that can possibly work. One is the field on Kaplan Drive on the left. They’ll put their raised beds along the perimeter. The other field is across from Kegwin. They can use the perimeter of that. We facilitated the agreement and they are going to work something out. ii. Proposed Language for RFP and Contract – See the one Marek sent for Brush Hill Road K. Miller came up with a list of things to talk about in terms of RFP’s and Agricultural Land. J. Sipperly stated that the Agricultural lease has been sent out by the Purchasing Department to a list of farmers. Director Marek Kozikowski added language about using organic pesticides. K. Miller stated that she had made six other points that were not addressed. She also suggested a list of allowable uses and non-allowable uses. She suggested that the commission have a discussion on this. B. Daniels suggested adding this to next month’s agenda. K. Miller left at 7:43pm. 3. Outreach Committee i. Conservation Corner Update – Brian Gartner Draft from Judy Konopka B. Daniels asked Brian Gardner to talk about what this board is about and who is on it. Brian Gardner started by saying that they have three new members. Evan Peterson who should be at the next meeting was recently appointed. B. Daniels stated that if anyone you think might be appropriate for membership, please let us know. 4. Open Space Management Committee i. Wilcox Management RFP J. Sipperly stated that K. Miller wanted him to reach out to Erik Hanson and see where he was. They were looking forward to having Erik go up there and so some timber harvesting. He explained that if the harvesting had been done, it would allow the invasive species below the canopy to flourish so K. Miller’s students went out and removed some of the invasive species. The rest of the invasive species needs to be mapped by a qualified person. He’s been trying to get in touch with Erik so that they can hire someone to do the work. J. Sipperly will continue pursuing this. Page 3 of 5  ii. Open Space Priorities/Signage – Improvements: Sign Design Change, Grant Opportunities J. Sipperly explained that this will go out to a local sign vendor. We agreed on the size and the colors. B. Gardner suggested putting a solar panel to illuminate the sign. It was determined that was not a good idea. This is all set to move forward. J. Sipperly suggested that the commission should talk about what open space parcels needs maintenance. K. Rzasa brought up the Kayak launch by the dump. That area should be monitored. J. Sipperly talked about a grant opportunity. The D.E.E.P. will be giving out five hundred thousand dollars to groups to keep the hydrilla down on the Mattabassett River. Director Kozikowski and J. Sipperly drafted a letter to be signed by the Mayor to support the Jonah Center grant request. B. Gardner suggested that for the Kayak launch, they should come up with a long term plan to prevent it from getting washed out. He said we should go to Public Works for now to see if they can shore up that area. 5. Open Space Acquisition Committee i. 470 Chamberlain Road J. Sipperly stated that Director Kozikowski is now focusing on open space and he has a couple of parcels in mind. Jim is going to make a complete list of the properties. For this property, they wanted to take a look at it but the property owner wouldn’t have it cleared. D. Penney has observed at this location quite a bit of run-off onto Lyceum Road. It would be good if we could get that natural swale cleaned. J. Sipperly stated that this would be a Public Works recommendation. Jim then went on to say that if the City did purchase this property, the house and the barn would have to go. ii. Country Club Road Site J. Sipperly stated this site may still be in consideration. K. Rzasa commented that this parcel connects everything else. B. Daniels wants to add to the next agenda the election of members to other committees. iii. Pameacha Pond Location J. Sipperly reported that Pameacha Pond is filled now and is temporarily fixed. G. Old Business 1. Red Maple Swamp Permanent Preservation Page 4 of 5  J. Sipperly stated they talked to the Superintendent of schools and they agreed to help. The majority of the land is wetlands. In order to carve out the conservation land and the school, we have to have it surveyed. They will hire someone to carve out that piece on a map, then there will be a legal description and then it will be taken to the council for approval. 2. Trail Guide Kate Miller’s Files Updating and Reprinting and Contract See Section D, Approval of Minutes. 3. Proposed Right to Farm Ordinance J. Sipperly reported that this was approved unanimously by the General Counsel Committee and now will go to the Common Council for approval. H. New Business 1. Annual meeting dates for 2024 Motion: To approve as proposed the 2024 meeting schedule. Moved by D. Penney; seconded by B. Schukoske; approved unanimously: 6-0. 2. Conservation Easement – OSWA Grant South Main Street J. Sipperly reported that the contract was drafted, agreed upon by D.E.E.P. and it was signed. The conservation easement has been recorded. I. Member Forum J. Sipperly reported that as a member of the Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Council. We applied for a seven hundred and twenty-five thousand dollar grant for agricultural challenges due to climate change. We actually got nine hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars so we put together a whole program criteria to go out to RFP to farmers. Twelve farmers around the state applied. Eight were selected. They’re going to announce them at a press conference in February. Jim will send out the announcement of this award. J. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 8:10 pm. Moved by K. Rzasa; D. Penney, seconded, approved unanimously: 6-0. Page 5 of 5