Agricultural Commission Minutes
Meeting date:
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
- Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission
- Meeting Minutes
- Date: 21 September 2010
- AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION
- www.boltonag.com
- 63 Main Street
- 978 779-2297 or 779-3308
- Sue Storbeck 779-6020 slstorbeck@comcast.net Term Exp 6/30/2011
- Barbara Parente 779-6303 bparente@comcast.net Term Exp 6/30/2012
- Betsy Taylor-Kennedy 779-5213 betsy@taylor-kennedy.com Term Exp 6/30/2012
- Richard Pelletier 779- email@nashobawinery.com Term Exp 6/30/2013
- Open Term Exp 6/30/2013
- A meeting of the Bolton Agricultural Commission was held on 21 September, 2010 at Town Hall. The meeting
- was called to order at 7:32 pm. Commission members in attendance: Sue Storbeck, Barbara Parente, Richard
- Pelletier, and Betsy Taylor-Kennedy.
- The June 15 minutes were read by members and approved.
- Reports from liaisons to Town Boards/Commissions
- §
- Board of Health (Storbeck): Sue attended the recent BOH meeting; no current issues for AgCom.
- § Planning Board (Open): Sue checked with the PB on the following issues:
- 1. Wetherbee, Old Harvard Rd: Land is in 61A. Owners want to develop part of 20? acres
- (ed note: 16.82 acres on spreadsheet) common drive or FOSPRD as options, maybe retain hay
- field.
- 2. Ashetino, Rte. 85: 20 acres, abuts Boy Scout property, not agricultural, wooded land with 2
- vernal pools, wetlands, stream. Boy Scouts would like to have a buffer around their property.
- 3. Lord, Annie Moore Rd: Owner wants to carve out a house lot, ANR (approval not required).
- BOS not interested, too small for ComCom or AgCom involvement.
- 4. Houghton Farm development, Sugar Rd: ConCom is reviewing a Conservation Restriction for
- 5 acres; AgCom to receive written copies of the CR. Sue will contact Herb Colby, and schedule
- time with Carol to show her the existing trails on the Houghton Farm property.
- § Board of Selectmen (Pelletier): Nothing to report.
- § Conservation Commission (Parente): Barbara talked to Kevin Lord, Chair of ConCom, and asked that
- AgCom be part of the review process. We also need to make Planning Board aware that we want to be
- involved in their process, too. The group discussed how to go about getting AgCom included in the
- initial phases of new projects. Barbara to check with Jennifer to clarify the path a developer takes when
- initiating a project in Bolton.
- § Conservation Trust (Taylor-Kennedy): BCT is apprised of the planning issues listed above, and is
- involved as is appropriate. Long-range conservation projects are on-going.
- Old Business
- §
- Follow-up on meeting with Susan Latham, Animal Control: Susan Latham has been calling Sue S.
- almost every day. There has been a flurry of reports of horses on the loose. Sue S. talked to Nan
- Norseen, as many of the recent escapees are from her farm. Nan will repair the fences and have them
- inspected. Sue S. to organize an inspection team—Building Inspector, Police, Animal Control, AgCom.
- Sue called Amy Clark at Essex Equine to get advice for the town on what to do when horses (and other
- animals) get loose. Sue will meet with her. Jay at Century Mill Stables has agreed to host a large animal
- training session. The town will have to decide who would attend the training (Police, Fire, ?). Sue
- Latham checked with surrounding towns and found that none of them have animal rescue plans in place.
- Sue S. called Cheryl Ekstrom from the Farm Bureau; Cheryl is researching other towns’ policies.
- Barbara will contact Tom Moses to see if the town’s emergency plan includes animals.
- § “Right to Farm” signs: Barbara met with sign designer, Lyn Rodger. She agreed to make the Right to
- Farm sign design available to another town for $200 (with other town’s name). Minor changes to the
- design would be an additional fee. Sue will let Farm Bureau Rep and Stow AgCom know. AgCom
- would receive a finder’s fee from Lyn Rodger of 15%. In order for AgCom to accept the fee, it would
- have to be made as a gift through the BOS, earmarked for AgCom. (Likewise, if we want to “sponsor”
- a Farmers’ Dinner or Taste of Bolton, we would have to partner with a non-profit group who would
- collect the money, then “gift” it to BOS, earmarked for AgCom. As a town board, we cannot hold a
- fund-raiser)
- § A Taste of Bolton: Sept 2011. Rich will talk to farmers to find the best time to schedule a harvest
- dinner.
- § Agricultural Holiday Sale: As an alternative to the Holiday Sale, the group discussed holding a series
- of exhibits at the Winery over several weekends in November. Because of space constraints, a few
- crafts and/or products would be exhibited at a time. Types of crafts should not overlap those of the
- Bolton Artisans Guild.
- § First Parish Church Calendar: Barbara sent written material and photos, Betsy sent photos, so the
- committee has everything they need.
- § Fifth Candidate for AgCom: Barbara checked with Barbara Donato about joining the AgCom; she
- declined. Barbara D. would be willing to participate in a short-term project. Betsy and Barbara talked
- to Steve Hastings, who also declined. Rich agreed to email a couple of other potential candidates.
- § Community Compost project—Sue to provide update next month.
- § Farmstand directional signs: tabled to October.
- New Business
- 2011 Budget: Budget spending plan tabled to next month.
- Goals and Activities (aka Monster List): Review and update existing list of accomplishments and
- future goals next month.
- Future Meetings/Events
- Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 19 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall.
- The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 pm.