MINUTESBradford Conservation Commission Meeting June 17, 2009Attendees:Members:

Nancy Jones, Dick Bolander, Sandy Price, Gary Tillotson, BarbaraKulzyck,Nikki Darling (ad hoc)

Others:

John Hanzas, Jared Pendak, Kate Burleson, Monique Priestley, JohnChandler

Minutes

of June 3 were approved as written

FinancesVoted to Pay:

•

$79.50 payable to Upper Valley Trails Alliance, payable from FOWMFund for 3 trail markers

•

$83.51 payable to Jenny Copeland, payable from FOWM Fund, for foodfor the Devil’s Den Celebration

•

$76.20 payable to the Journal Opinion, payable from FOWM Fund forDD Celebration Ad

•

$200.00 payable to Keith’s II Sports, Ltd., payable from WRSBConservation Fund account for 25 embroidered hats

Tree Planting Grant

John H. reported that ½ of our $1400 grant has been received; Sandy will use heraccounts at Brown’s and JM to get 3 purple robe locusts to be planted on Copelandland on S. Main St. and 2 red-flowering horse chestnuts to be planted on Swartsland on N. Main St. State Forester Dave Wilcox has pre-approved the plantingsites and species. John Chandler volunteered to help dig holes and help withplanting, possibly on Saturday, June 20

Stewardship Committee

Recap of events – It was agreed that the June 6 & 7 events were well done,but attendance was disappointing; discussed discontinuing DD Celebrationfor a while, but probably keep a National Trails Day Event.Future Plans - voted to allocate up to $300 from FOWM Fund for a displaythat Gary plans to make at the cabin, using “tree photos” and plexiglass.Possible trail work late summer/early fall discussed. Gary reported over 230volunteer trail work hours so far this year.

Energy Committee

Walk-Through of the BA has taken place, with Dick, Ed, Jon Haenel of Foam Techand Brian Sager of ARC. It was revealed that a lot of air is being lost through crawlspaces and openings high up in the building.Foam Tech’s Presentation to explain the science of an energy audit, what itcan/ cannot do for us, will be held on June 29

in Selectboard room at 7 pm;Nancy & Ed will invite all Town Board & Committee members and Town staff .On June 24

at 10 a.m. John Murphy from Cell Tech in St. Johnsbury will meetwith interested parties at the BA re. services that his company can provide.

Funding for Energy Audit - Nancy reported that funds for energy audits from TRORC will not be available until Fall. Nancy will seek a letter of commitmentfrom TRORC, and then the BCC will pursue a loan from either the BAmaintenance fund or revolving loan fund in the amount of $2400 to cover thecost of the blower door test.2

Annual LEAF will take place on September 26. Energy Committee willmeet on June 23 to brainstorm ideas for workshops, vendors, speakers, fieldtrips, etc.Park and Ride Grant – the best option seems to be to expand the existingPark and Ride; will seek donation from abutting landowner to provide foradditional spaces. Staff from TRORC has agreed to assist with grantapplication.

Conservation Fund Committee

Land abutting Wrights MT Lands – owner seems ready to donate part & sellpart; cost will be approx. $70,000; voted to commit up to $45,000, plus ½the cost of an appraisal, from Conservation Fund for this project. Will seekbalance from VHCB; need to convince VHCB of the worthiness of this project;need to find an appraiser who is available to do an appraisal within 6 weeks.Upper Valley Land Trust will be meeting with VHCB in the next week and willpresent our case.

Voted to amend 2009 priorities, under

Land Conservation #5 –

change to“

Pursue purchase/conservation of parcels abutting Town-owned property

“

Burgess Land – new State Budget includes cuts to VHCB’s Budget, but somefunds will still be available for the Burgess project to proceed.

Voted to amend 2009 priorities, under

Stewardship #4 –

change to “

PursueTrail Easement on Sweet & Burgess Land “

Bradford Municipal Forest - according to Trust for Public Land Staff (TPL), itis not too late for the Town/Water Board to accept TPL’s offer to purchase the580 acres to be added to the Brushwood Community Forest Initiative. Votedto submit a letter to the Selectboard recommending that this be re-visited.2010 Calendar – Nikki and Nancy will begin work on this.

Field Trips/Workshops/Films

Kate presented a description of a Nature Awareness Class she would like tolead on the DD land. Dates available are July 26 or any week-end in August;Monique and Nancy will work on a plan for a series education workshops,fims, field trips to be done in conjunction with the Bradford Public Library.Others are invited to join in this process.

BCC Website & Facebook Page

Dick will post what he has done so far on the BCC’s link on the Town’sWebsite for comments (bradford-vt.us). Monique will create a FacebookAccount for us.

Tire Disposal – tabled until next meetingOther

•

June 23 BCC Energy Committee Meeting, B.A. 6:30 pm