Conservation Commission

Montpelier Conservation Commission March 9, 2017 – Meeting, Montpelier City Hall Ben Eastwood, Nick Giannetti, Brenna Toman, Becca Harris, Roy Schiff, Page Guertin, John Jose, Emily Byrne, James Brady, Charlie Hohn • Mike Miller on the Master Plan o Current plan, developed in 2010 o New plan will be valid for 8 years o Old plan had a lot of public input ! Was aspirational ! New one should help get a game plan • Hopes to be more strategic o MCC Strategic Plan could be plugged right in to the Master Plan o Mike reviewed handout “General implementation strategies notes” o MCC should start with a broad white paper based on our Strategic Plan ! Will be condensed down to more of a table o There could be some overlap with other groups (Parks, Tree Board, Energy, etc.) o There could (should?) be a subcommittee that works directly on this document ! Group will meet with Mike Miller o We could start now and fit our items into either: Plans, Programs, Projects, or Permits o Example from Housing and Neighborhoods Implementation Strategy o If goals are shared, it is important to show a collective voice and not put the item on one committee’s section – Roy o Where does the official Conservation Lands Map fall in this process? ! Official Map o Some of our goals can be achieved from zoning o Work with Julie Beth – she is working on pulling things together o Public input ! Will go back to the public in the later parts of the process o Timeframe ! Get our strategy soon, draft due in May • Start with spreadsheet • White paper is further down the line o Strong support from the commission on a white paper ! Will help by providing a narrative on the different sections of the strategic plan • Energy Survey Review o James will fill out and sent out quickly for review • Strategic Plan Vernal pools John Jose will contact Alan S. ! John (lead?) o Conservation fund  ! Roy has a lot of background ! Hope to find a representative from the MCC soon o Official Map for conserved map ! Ask the MPC to start that process of implementing the map ! Start with making it a goal of the master plan in our section o Plantings ! Ongoing, forever o Stormwater giant rain garden ! Nick and Page are interested in all things stormwater ! Roy is an expert on stormwater issues and has expressed interest o Neonicotinoid ban/reduction ! Movie next Wednesday ! Ben has done some research and background on this issue ! A ban could be phase one • Habitat improvement, development of new habitat ! Bee as an official city insect??? ! What would our work involve? • Writing a letter of support • Public education • Public outreach • Talk with garden groups o James to clean up the spreadsheet and send out for review • Minutes from February 9, 2017 were approved as written