New Town Forest Planning Committee

Meeting Minutes - April 16, 2009

Opening

The meeting of the New Town Forest Planning Committee was called to order at 7:30 pm on April 16, 2009 in the Town Hall by Kristen Sharpless. Previous meeting’s minutes were put to motion and passed.

Present

Kristen Sharpless (chair), Andrea Morgante, Michael Snyder, Lenore Budd, and Tim Clancy.

Absent

Stewart Pierson, Lisa Godfrey, Kathleen Tarkington, Jean Isham

New Member

Tim Clancy of the Planning Commission was welcomed as the newest appointed member of the committee.

Letters to the Select Board

All present agreed that the latest revision of the letter to the Select Board recommending a name for the Town Forest be submitted by Kristen, along with a letter informing the board of (1) our efforts to block the southern access to motorized vehicles, and (2) our plan for deconstructing the barn on Parcel 1.

May 10 Mother’s Day Walk – Birds and Blooms

Kristen has created a flyer to advertise the walk. Andrea will print copies and get help from the committee posting them around town.

Planting Planning

Andrea agreed to be the volunteer coordinator for the May/June plantings along the LaPlatte on Parcel 1. She has already heard from a team from NRG that wants to help lay down brush mats and put in tubes as a team building activity. She will approach other NRG teams and CVU. She would also like to look into showing the movie “Taking Root” as a kick-off to the restoration work, and will look into having t-shirts made. The committee confirmed that June 6^th will be a general community volunteer day to help with the mats and tubes.

Upland Town Forest Management Plan

The committee discussed the issue of whether and how to best coordinate with a Town Forest Management Planning Committee that is being assembled by Ken Brown of the Select Board to create a management plan for the upland Town Forest. It was agreed that Kristen, Andrea and Mike would meet with Ken and Steve Russell to discuss the issue and would report back to the group.

Recreation Plan Section

Lenore presented a revised recreation plan section to the group. It was agreed that the group will discuss and offer feedback on the new draft at our next meeting (April 30), and that representatives from recreation groups in town would be invited to attend our June 11 meeting to discuss the section and offer feedback.

Next Meetings

The next meetings will be on April 30, May 21, and June 11.

The meeting adjourned at 9:10PM.

Respectfully submitted by Kristen Sharpless