Agricultural Commission Minutes
Meeting date:
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
- Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission
- Meeting Minutes
- Date: 11/16/2010
- AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION
- www.boltonag.com
- 63 Main Street 978-779-2297 or 978-779-3308
- 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 779-5521 email@nashobawinery.com Term Exp 6/30/2013
- A meeting of the Bolton Agricultural Commission was held on November 16th, 2010 at
- Town Hall. The meeting was called to order at 7:35 pm by chairperson Sue Storbeck.
- Commission members in attendance: Sue Storbeck, Barbara Parente, Betsy Taylor-
- Kennedy and Richard Pelletier. The October minutes were read by members and
- approved.
- Eric Schartner was introduced to the commission as a candidate for the vacant
- Commission position.
- Reports from liaisons to Town Boards/Commissions
- Board of Health (Sue Sorbeck) No Report
- Planning Board (Open) - No Report
- Board of Selectmen (Rich Pelletier) - No Report
- Conservation Commission (Barbara Parente & Sue Storbeck) - Sue reported that the
- proposed amendment incorporating the Right to Farm Bylaw on the Houghton Farm
- home owner's covenants had been submitted to the Conservation Commission for
- discussion with the developer. No response had been received on submitted language
- as of this date. Barbara reported that she had spoken to Kevin Lord and Carol
- Gumbardt (Conservation Commission) on how development is commenced in Town. It
- was agreed that the Agricultural Commission should send letters to all Boards (ZBA,
- Conservation, Planning, Selectmen etc) to notify each potential starting point of a
- development of the Agricultural Commission's interest should agricultural property be
- involved.
- Conservation Trust (Betsy Taylor-Kennedy) - Betsy reported that discussions of
- Weatherbee and taking property out of 61 A might be on hold and that development
- may be on hold and a non-issue at this time. There was a short discussion of property
- owned by Nancy Caisse and Bolton Orchards but that no additional information was
- available at this time.
- Working Sessions:
- Complaints - None at this time. Discussion of agriculture resources available to
- effectuate an evacuation plan
- Emergency Management Plan - Sue reported that she is continuing to develop a list of
- resources available to effectuate our animal evacuation plan. Sue informed the
- Commission that she was going to have further discussions with Lucky Horse Equine
- Rescue about agriculture resources available to effectuate an evacuation plan. It was
- suggested and agreed that Sue invite and keep our Animal Control Officer involved with
- all discussions.
- Grant - Barbara requested comments on the proposed “Way Finding” grant being
- written by Town Planner Jennifer Burney which could include signage for local farms.
- Barbara noted that she had not received the grant draft but that we still need to present
- a conceptual proposal. It was agreed that Barbara suggest money be appropriated for
- two master signs at each access point for Route 495 as well as numerous waypoint
- signs. It was also agreed to request funding for brochures that would be placed at
- distribution points and for website development. Business Development meeting will be
- attended by Barbara on Monday, December 6th.
- Eric Schartner - Eric introduced himself to the Commission and his interest in becoming
- a member of the Commission. Eric discussed the operations of his family farm noting
- that he is a 4th generation farmer in Bolton with a family involved in farming for 108
- years. As a police officer in Berlin, Eric discussed his knowledge of farming issues in
- Bolton ???ted that he would send and his experience as an officer in animal rescue. A
- motion to recommend Eric to the Board of Selectmen was made and seconded.
- Unanimously voted.
- Budget - Sue presented a request by the Town to attempt to trim all budgets by 3
- percent. The commission agreed that it would be supportive of the request by reducing
- our 2011 budget request to $1746 from $1800. Approved in the spirit of cutting cost.
- ???2011 to 2012. Motion made, seconded and unanimously voted.
- Monster List Discussion
- The Commission suggested the following activities and priorities for the coming year:
- Taste of Bolton, perhaps on a Sunday evening in the late summer or early fall; a
- Farmers Dinner with a speaker from the Farm Bureau; a Spring Agricultural Sale,
- possibly at Great Brook Farms; Agriculture Row at the Bolton Fair; additional Right to
- Farm signs; expanding the boltonag.com website, establishing links and updating the
- map; and developing an emergency resource list.
- Bolton Local - Sustainability
- Barbara suggested Spring Sale JoBarb Farm, Lillies, and perhaps some wool farmers,
- eggs. Great Brook
- Bring back Agro at the Bolton Fair
- Taste of Massachusetts - Further discussion in the future
- Annual Farmer/Agricultural Meeting Roundtable.
- Ag Com website - Drive to agriculture Goggle Central Site.. Maximize website
- exposure. Link to Bolton Town Home Page.
- Agricultural and Craft demo/sale at Winery - A discussion took placed on the past
- weekend and the schedule for the upcoming weekends. Barbara presented the
- schedule for the upcoming month. Rich agreed to send out an email about each
- weekend event to the winery's email list.
- Coolidge property compost project . Still looking for property lines. First step to
- determination for project is to define site.
- It was agreed that the next meeting would be on Monday January 10th. Rich agreed to
- fill out the form and agenda for the next meeting which must be filed on Thursday, the
- 6th. Check on space to meet.
- ADJOURN 9:25