Conservation Commission Minutes

Attendees:         Karen Day, Neal Brown, Candi Fowler, Stephanie Kokal, Janet Renaud, Roger Lessard, Carol Irvin, Ethan Belair (guest), and Janet Lutkus (minute-taker)

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by Chairperson Roger Lessard. The following items were addressed:

1. Accept or Amend Previous Meeting Minutes – Commission members.                
   • Karen Day made a motion to accept the minutes, which Roger distributed and commission members reviewed prior to the meeting. Carol Irvin seconded the motion. All members present approved.
2. George Proctor Recreation Area meeting report – Janet Renaud, Ethan Belair, and commission.
   • Ethan Belair introduced himself as the new County Forester. His position has been empty for 1.5 years.  He replaces John Nute who retired 1.5 years ago.
   • After Hunter Carbee, Betsy Hardwick, Karla Allen, Janet Renaud, and Matt Tarr took a site walk of the area, Hunter expressed a different opinion about the types of cuts than Karla addressed in the management plan. Hunter is creating a document to summarize the differences between Karla’s Forest Management plan and his ideas.  
   • Carol Irvin’s general interpretation is that Karla’s plan is relatively vague.  The Forest Committee was formed this year, consisting of members of the Sportsman’s club and the Conservation Commission.  The Sportsman’s club has stewardship of the property but the town owns the land. Because the Sportsman’s club had been inactive, the Conservation Commission hired Karla Allen to create the management plan. The Sportsman’s club is active again and wants to be involved in the plan.  Hunter has more specific ideas about cuts than Karla’s plan addresses.  The Sportsman’s club wants to do other types of selective cutting and grow more hemlock to attract deer. All agree that they want to promote a healthy wildlife habitat with management. Karen Day added that promoting wildlife is an important goal but ensuring a healthy forest is also important for the good of the town.
   • In general, Ethan Belair agrees more with Matt’s and Hunter’s plans than with Karla’s plan for cutting. Karla’s plan is more overall thinning while the Sportsman’s club’s plan employs small “group” methodology (Group cuts, Patch cuts).  Wildlife centered property would do well with some open spaces – ½ acre to 1 acre openings.  Patch openings have advantages.
   • Ethan made the statement “Leave the best and take the rest”-- meaning harvesting the “junk” would allow some use for biomass energy, pulp wood, pallet materials and so forth.
   • Karen expressed the opinion that since the commission spent the money to have Karla develop the plan, the commission should try to salvage all its other parts.  Janet emphasized that the Forestry committee only has jurisdiction over the North side of the forest. 
   • The commission and Ethan discussed the timing for cutting. Before cutting, Karla and others would have to mark the forest. The cutting Job would go out for bid and neither Karla nor Hunter could bid for the job. When asked his opinion, Ethan said he wouldn’t delay a harvest this year to see if the market gets better next year. He advised determining a time that is most advantageous to meeting goals. Cutting in winter is ideal for bats and other hibernating animals.  It is also less disruptive on the frozen ground.
   • Ethan reminded the commission that it is standard to update a management plan periodically so it would be reasonable to ask Karla to add an addendum to the management plan reflecting changes coming about as a result of the formation of the Forestry committee.
3. The “Forest project” – Inventorying all town-owned forests greater than 10 acres in the state – Ethan Belair.
   • Ethan identified the Greenfield parcels with assistance from Janet and Roger. Details about the parcels have been captured for research purposes.  All information about the parcels is stored in a database.
   • The Cooperative Extension Services exist to help landowners meet their goals with their land, and helps them choose the best way to manage their properties. Ethan is available to help towns and individuals.
   • Ethan proposed holding forestry-related town meetings in several multi-town areas in late winter or early spring. Ethan and a consulting forester from the area would present a short talk and then open the meetings up to discussion and questions from the audience. The meetings would identify services available to people. Ethan would like to have the Conservation Commission help hold these events.
4. Greenfield Conservation Commission Presence on Town Website – Discussion among the commission.
   • Karen Day has been trying to set up training for developing a conservation page for the site. Janice Pack from the planning board has also been trying to set up training. The web site company charges a lot of money for their “official” training.
   •  Date of December 8 was suggested for training but it was not confirmed. Karen suggested making the training date one of the days when Candi Fowler is off for the holidays.
   • A Face Book (FB) page for the commission is an option but Karen would want to discuss this with Aaron Patt. Candi suggested making the FB page one which pushes information out to the public on a regular basis.  If commission members do not get training for the web site, using FB might be an option.  This would be a place where the public could contribute scenic pictures around Greenfield.
5. Candi’s butterfly program – Candi Fowler and commission.
   • Candi stated that September, October, or August are all possible times of year when the program could be held. The program would be held at the library.  The ideal time to hold the program would be towards the end of September when the Monarch Butterflies are here. 
   • Candi would hold the program at night-time to meet her work schedule. Candi said that Thursday is the most convenient day of the week for her. Roger will reach out to Beverly at the library to begin the discussion of holding the program at the library.
6. Remediation of storm damage on scenic roads– Discussion stemming from a Greenfield resident’s concern about storm related damage on scenic roads - Roger Lessard.
   • Two weeks ago today, a County Road resident called Eversource to report a dangerous tree leaning on another tree. Eversource dispatched an Asplundh crew who took care of the safety concern, but left a mess behind. The resident called Roger to ask what the Greenfield Conservation Commission’s policy was regarding storm related damage on scenic roads.  The resident felt that there should be a town policy on aesthetics connected with action to remedy an emergency.
   • Aaron suggested calling a Public Affairs person from Eversource.  Eversource called Asplundh to clean up the mess. The resident still felt there should be a town policy. Roger explained that Conservation Commission only advises the Selectboard on certain issues. Janet suggested that Roger tell the resident to bring his concerns to the planning board. 
7. Missing signage for Fleck Area – Janet Renaud
   • Abutting the George Proctor area is a conservation area of about 10 acres called the Fleck Area. Janet spoke to a woman who was upset that a bronze plaque on the Fleck area that honored her grandmother is missing. Stephanie Kokal and her son will go to the Fleck Area and look for the plaque next week. Janet will follow up on contacting people if Stephanie will do the legwork. 
8.  Plan to address unanswered questions on the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) draft – Commission’s decision about who shall adopt what unresolved NRI draft questions and a timeline for getting questions answered.
   • At 8:45, the meeting became a Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) draft working meeting and I ended my minute-taking.

The Conservation Commission will convene for another NRI working session on December 6. The next regular meeting of the Conservation Commission is January 24, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Janet Lutkus to Roger Lessard for approval, corrections, distribution, and posting.