Agricultural Commission Minutes
Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission
Meeting Minutes
Date: 20 November 2007
AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION
http://www.townofbolton.com/Pages/BoltonMA_BComm/steering
663 Main Street
978 779-2297 or 779-3308
Martha Ashe 67 Green Road 779-5422 maashe@comcast.net Term Exp 6/30/2009
Rob Held 116 Bare Hill Road 779-2810 robheld@aol.com Term Exp 6/30/2009
Joe Kovacs 23 Harris Farm Road 779-6979 joseph.kovacs@comcast.net Term Exp 6/30/2010
Ken Nicewicz 116 Sawyer Road 779-6423 nicewicz@nre.umass.edu Term Exp 6/30/2010
Sue Storbeck 92 Sampson Road 779-6020 slstorbeck@comcast.net Term Exp 6/30/2008
A meeting of the Bolton Agricultural Commission was held on 20 November 2007 at Town Hall. The meeting was
called to order at 7:30 pm. Attendees were: Joe Kovacs, Sue Storbeck, Rob Held, Ken Nicewicz, Martha Ashe.
1. Minutes from prior meeting were adjusted and then approved by all.
2. Upcoming meetings with town boards and committees was discussed:
a. Board of Health: scheduled 27 November 2007 8:00 pm
b. Conservation Commission: tentatively 4 December 2007, to be confirmed
3. We discussed the upcoming Ag Comm training on 8 December 2007; registration form was sent to all by
email. We determined the answers to the 3 questions participants were asked to present briefly in the
meeting and decided that Joe would be our presenter.
4. Joe suggested that all members subscribed to the Mass Ag Comm site so everyone can see what other Ag
Comms are doing.
5. We confirmed our next meeting date of 18 December 2007 7:30 pm at Town Hall. Joe will send a message to
the prior Ag Steering Committee members inviting them to this meeting to provide their input on our 2008
priorities. Joe will also write a letter to the editor of the Bolton Common asking residents to provide input
before our 18 December meeting about priorities they’d like us to consider. We decided to schedule all our
meetings for the year in advance and decided they will be held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
a. Agenda:
i. finalize our list of priorities and choose preliminary ones for 2008
ii. schedule meeting with Board of Selectmen in early 2008 to advise of our decision on 2008
priorities
6. We discussed the following additions to the already long list of priorities we are considering. Joe will group all
the priorities on the list into themes for our next meeting and will show topics that can be done in the shortterm
vs longer-term items.
a. Developing animal emergency procedures (due to natural disasters or need for evacuation)
b. Putting Bolton farmers on the approved local food vendor list for Bolton schools
c. Promoting the Mass Ag vehicle license plate (proceeds go to a Bolton organization of choice)
d. Scheduling a quarterly meeting of local ag comms (which could include a presentation on a topic of
common interest)
e. Incorporating a presentation of rare breeds by Nan Norseen at an upcoming meeting or at a quarterly
meeting (see above)
7. We discussed one possible way to educate ourselves might be to schedule informal tours of local agricultural
operations with other regional Ag Comms.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.