New Town Forest Planning Committee

Meeting Minutes - April 30, 2009

Opening

The meeting of the New Town Forest Planning Committee was called to order at 7:35 pm on April 30, 2009 in the Town Hall by Kristen Sharpless. Previous meeting’s minutes were put to motion and passed.

Present

Kristen Sharpless (chair), Andrea  Morgante, Lisa Godfrey, Lenore Budd, Rocky Martin, and Tim Clancy.

Absent 

Stewart Pierson, Lisa Godfrey, Michael Snyder, Jean Isham, Kathleen Tarkington

LaPlatte Headwaters  Volunteer T-Shirts

Andrea discussed the idea of getting T-Shirts made up for volunteers. She showed some proposed designs that read “LaPlatte Headwaters Restoration.” The T-shirts would cost $5 per shirt and Andrea has secured  $300 of funding from the Hinesburg Land Trust. Since the Select Board has not approved the name of the new town forest (slated for May 18^th) it was decided that the T-shirts would not be ready for the initial tree planting scheduled for June 6^th. There was discussion about potentially holding a contest to come up with an appropriate Town Forest Logo. 

Tree Planting Field Trip to Enosburg Falls

Andrea and Rocky showed slides of their trip to Enosburg Falls to see the results of a mass tree planting along the Missisiquoi River. 

Collapsed Barn

Rocky has three names of people who have expressed an interest in the collapsed barn on the new town forest property. He will require a $200 deposit and pick the winner via a lottery by May 15^th.The winner will then tear down the barn and remove all debris.

Upland Town Forest Management Plan mtg and discussion

Kristen held a mtg with the “Old Town Forest” committee and it was decided to hold off on a management plan for the upland town forest until after a management plan is put in place for the new town forest. There will not be two town forest management plans being worked in parallel. As well, it was agreed that there should be a moratorium on any/all new trails or rebuild/expansion of existing trails. Any trail activity should be authorized by Michael Snyder.

Recreation Plan Section 

There was much discussion on the recreation component of the management plan including;

• The potential for additional trails connecting existing trails through the common land owned by the Mead Farm Road Association and the Tufo’s.
• Discussion on whether the Hinesburg Land Trust should continue to own a private road that has accesss to the town forest.
• Potential for a permanent gate to prohibit vehicle access
• Access to pasture land – with future erosion a possibility, Lisa agreed to assess the need for a bridge. Rocky indicated that there are used bridges available through the state. 
• Marking of town forest boundaries discussed.
• Description of when conditions are unsuitable for trail use discussed
• Hunting – modify wording at forest entrance to include “hunting and hiking permitted”
• Agreement to invite several interest groups or individuals who represent interest groups on June 11^th to comment on the recreation component of the manangement plan.

USDA farm land incentive

The Town is eligible to enroll 10.1 to 20.0 acres in a crop land payment program (a Federal incentive to maintain land as farmland). It was agreed that the committee would recommend maintaining the enrollment of the land in this program in order to preserve options in the future (e.g. to help pay for/provide compensation for the cutting of certain town forest areas).

Next Meetings

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

The meeting adjourned at 9:35PM.

Submitted by Timothy Clancy