Agricultural Commission Minutes

Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission

Meeting Minutes

Date: 17 November 2009

AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION
www.boltonag.com
63 Main Street
|978 779-2297 or 779-3308

Joe Kovacs 779-6979 joseph.kovacs@comcast.net Term Exp 6/30/2010
Ken Nicewicz 779-6423 nicewicz@nre.umass.edu Term Exp 6/30/2010
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

• A meeting of the Bolton Agricultural Commission was held on 17 November 2009 at Town Hall. The meeting was called to
• order at 7:36 pm. All commission members were in attendance: Joe Kovacs, Ken Nicewicz, Sue Storbeck, Barbara
• Parente, Betsy Taylor-Kennedy.
•  
• Reports from liaisons to Town Boards/Commissions:
• Conservation Trust – Betsy – The trust has hired a liaison/advocate who will work with large farms with a goal of
• preservation.
•  
• Conservation Commission – Barbara – Met with Carol Gumbart, Cons. Comm administrator, who suggested the AgComm
• continue to voice their opinions about the preservation of fields on the Toth property. Ken will try to attend November 18
• Planning Board meeting with developer and speak for the AgComm. AgComm has concern that only wetlands are being
• preserved and there is no connection to trails in town.
•  
• -- CC will update the open space and recreation plan soon and seeks our input.
•  
• Working Session:
• o Action: Joe will send all previous 2009 minutes to Barbara in PDF format and Barbara will see that they are posted
• on the town website.
• Current business:
• 1. November 15 Second Annual Holiday Sale – Discussion of Commission-sponsored sale at Great Brook Farms.
• Vendors appreciated the opportunity to display and sell products (wool and felted items, fall vegetables, daylily gift
• certificates, spinning demo) and GBF’s Bruce Slater is supportive of future events. Joe will submit invoices for fees
• previously approved by the board: $75 from Josh Noone for music and $150 from Bruce Slater for space rental. The board
• discussed problems and opportunities of having a sale in another season or at another venue, or pairing it with another
• event. Publicity included posters, press releases and promotional photos in the newspaper. For future sales, we will add
• cableTV and church bulletins, and hand out farm maps to visitors to further promote local farm sales.
• o Action: Sue and Barbara will design a survey for all agricultural businesses to obtain opinions and preferences for
• future sales. Sue will write thank-you cards to 2009 participants. Ken will talk to the winery about possibly pairing a
• summer sale with a winery festival.
• o Action: Sue will make up a planning checklist for the event manager
• 2. Right to Farm signs – Joe brought Rutland’s sign that we could use as a template. Cost - $164 per sign for an 18x24
• size. We have funds allocated for two signs at this price. Members discussed whether the artwork was appropriate for
• Bolton; Ken noted orchards should be prominent.
• o Action: Joe will look at his clipart on CD. Ken will talk to an artist who has worked on state projects.
• 3. Directional farm stand signs at Rte 495 exit ramps:
• o Action: Joe will sketch ideas and bring to the next meeting.
• 4. Conflict of Interest Law Training – All members need to complete online training by December 28.
• 5. Open Meeting Law session in Stow Nov. 18 – Betsy and Joe will attend.
• 1
• New Business:
• 1. Potential activities for FY 2010 – Joe distributed a page-long list of goals and suggested activities that was
• previously made and asked members to discuss and prioritize items and bring their top five next time, including
• any new ones.
• o Joe suggested an annual farmers dinner, or a farmers town meeting, perhaps a potluck with local
• politicians. Some ideas were to start a farm tour with politicians, hold an early summer event, reaching out
• to farmers to make it successful, and creating a media event to positively influence public opinion. The
• group decided to invite large farms to meet with the AgComm over the winter to talk about their issues and
• concerns. We will make plans at the December meeting to meet with farmers. Suggestion that Ken talk to
• officials, farmers, because of his farm connections.
• 2. Using the library to promote farmers and agricultural businesses – Hold meetings at the library, work with the
• library to have posters of Bolton farms and agricultural scenes as part of the new library.
• o Action: Sue and Barbara will pursue this
• 3. Members set the agenda for the next meeting, which will be on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
• The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm.
• 2