Conservation Commission

Montpelier Conservation Commission Meeting – February 9, 2017 7:00-9:00PM, City Hall Chambers Present: Brenna, Emily, James, John, Nick, Charlie, Asa, Geoff, Becca, Roy  John opened meeting at 7pm  Agenda approved  Minutes reviewed o Minutes are approved for Dec 2016, Jan 2017  Combine outreach and stormwater projects o Combine into different types of projects to consolidate  Colors for timeframe implementation o Red – larger effort o Green – continued effort o Blue – planning and prep  Outreach should consider time of year and how it relates to what people are focused on o For example, no one is thinking about raking leaves or disposing of invasive plants in the winter  DPW – already doing work on SW action o What can we do with them to help their efforts o Outreach, actual projects on the ground o Who can be the lead  Nick is interested  Master plan could help with the green space on the river initiative  Becca and Asa to help with website o Becca the lead? o Part of the meeting for how the website works and what we can put on o Energy commission has a blog, etc. o Site needs to be backfilled with reports o Maybe have a subcommittee to go over website  iNaturalist – ongoing o Put on website o Field day for training  Public outreach o Can be combined with other initiatives o Charlie is leading this effort  Farmers Market o How to get a table? (John) o Need to figure out what our priorities are for what we discuss at the market o James and John leads?  Put leads on who will participate in each initiative o 0 – 3, people can decide which projects they are interested in  0 – not interested  1 – some interest (backup support)  2 – interested but not in leading (heavy support)   3 – interested and interested in leading  Better coordinate with other groups o When we finish the strategic planning process let them know what we are working on. o Geoff – parks and tree board o Taking a few minutes at other boards agendas to go over what we do  James lead? o Maybe take a few minutes in the beginning of CC to talk about other agendas  Becca?  Clean water legislation could lead to more money for SW stuffs o Could tie into state complexes interaction  Other CCs interaction o Start with iNaturalist projects with Charlie  Development review for the new zoning regulations o What that would look like o When will we see them o What should we provide o Mike Miller should help map this out with us  Invasive Plant o Geoff has been working for years on different invasive projects o Include education and outreach on social media and farmers market o Have CC members help with Geoff’s initiatives  Setup work on a listserv  Geoff?  WBS – stump dump is no longer a place to dump this area o Handling of material where to put it o How to manage protocols on BMPs for construction, or land clearing o Roy is interested  Bioblitz 2 o Ten year anniversary is 2018 o Would be a great year to do this in 2018 because North Branch Nature Center is busy in 2017 with capital programs o John to keep this momentum going  Look at completed inventories o Ongoing effort o To be put on the website  Consolidate from Roy, who has files o VLT, Stowe Land Trust, doing easement prospecting for Shutesville Hill on the Stowe- Waterbury line on VT 100  Could be used as a model for how easements are achieved in Montpelier  Brett Engstrom o Does not normally have a contract o Sent a generic contract from League of Cities and Towns o Waiting on LiDAR  Field proof remotely identified natural communities  o Ongoing with iNaturalist  Stopped at Vernal Pools  Roy – Change in leadership o 12 or so years on the commission  Feels that it is a good time to have new leadership and for formalize the Vice Chair role o James and John are interested in leadership positions and have spoken with the group and Roy o Open discussion on folks interested in the leadership position o Other leadership  Secretary and treasurer  Anyone interested in having one of these formal roles should voice this when they are ready o Motion to elect James Brady as Chair and John Jose as Vice Chair approved  James Brady approved as Chair  John Jose approved as Vice Chair  Meeting closed at 9pm