Agricultural Commission Minutes
Meeting date:
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
- Town of Bolton Agricultural Commission
- Meeting Minutes
- Date: 15 June 2010
- 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 June 15, 2010 at Town Hall. The meeting was
- called to order at 7:40 pm. Commission members in attendance: Joe Kovacs, SueStorbeck, Barbara Parente,
- and Betsy Taylor-Kennedy. Ken Nicewicz was absent. The April 14 minutes were read by members and
- approved; the May 18 minutes were read and accepted as amended.
- Reports from liaisons to Town Boards/Commissions
- Board of Health (Storbeck) – No report
- Planning Board (Nicewicz) – No report – Barbara will follow-up with Ken
- Board of Selectmen (Kovacs) – Joe has submitted his resignation, with a recommendation that Selectmen
- appoint Rich Pelletier as a new member of the Agricultural Commission, as supported by all AgComm
- members.
- Conservation Commission (Parente) – Barbara will review Cons Comm documents Joe brought to the meeting.
- Conservation Trust (Taylor-Kennedy) – Preservation efforts are ongoing
- Working Session:
- o Board membership – Ken Nicewicz has indicated his intention to resign, leaving a vacancy on the
- board. Members expressed a desire to involve another commercial farmer and in addition to having the
- Selectmen post, will talk to farmers and agricultural business owners to engender their interest. Susan
- Miles will get back to the Board to answer a question as to whether or not members need to be Bolton
- residents. Barbara will let Ken know that he must send a letter or an email to selectmen to make his
- resignation official.
- o Complaint – Martha Ashe – Memorial Day Weekend - Members agreed that this has been addressed
- previously, is a Board of Health topic, not AgComm, and the Memorial Day weekend complaint cited a
- potential issue, not a complaint requiring action.
- o Joe reported that Animal Control Officer Sue Latham said that Nan Norseen’s horse got loose, and the
- fence is not the issue. Joe said he would stop by to see Nan, since the sheep had been successfully
- confined. Barbara will invite Nan to attend the July meeting to discuss how to keep the horse confined.
- o The board needs to have a member post meetings beyond September.
- o Joe offered to continue to maintain the AgComm website.
- o Sue will provide a compost update in July.
- o Members agreed on the need for a newspaper article to promote “Buy Local” efforts, including opening
- dates for Bolton’s farms and other agricultural businesses. Betsy agreed to call businesses within a week
- and Barbara agreed to write and send the article to local papers,including information about the new
- “Right to Farm” signs and the AgComm website.
- Current business:
- 1. 2010 budget -- The board approved the purchase of 100 stamps by Betsy for mailing the Bolton
- Agricultural brochures to residents new to town since the September 2008 mailing. The board approved
- an expenditure of $65 by Sue and Joe for promotional materials. The board approved a $50 expenditure
- to the Friends of Bolton Seniors for the Agricultural Commission page in the FOBS pet yearbook.
- 2. AgComm chair – tabled to July
- 3. Members discussed “The Taste of Bolton” that had been suggested at the April Farmers Meeting, asking
- whether a late August date at the Nashoba Valley Winery was still feasible. Barbara will ask Rich
- Pelletier if a date is still available. If so, a subcommittee should be formed to proceed.
- 4. Update on USDA grants – Barbara distributed a list of grants and loans she compiled from materials
- gathered at a spring workshop. Joe will post the list on the AgComm website.
- 5. Farmstand directional signs – tabled to July
- 6. Betsy reported on attending a meeting at the Nashoba Valley Winery sponsored by the Joint Committee
- on Community Development and Small Business (a MA House and Senate committee), as part of their
- statewide listening tour. State Rep. Kate Hogan hosted the roundtable discussion. Attendees included
- farmers from Bolton, Stow and neighboring towns, advocates from the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, and
- authorities from the UMass Extension Service. The food-to-schools program, importance of buying
- from local producers, and a growing demand for local meat were among the comments and topics.
- About 40 people attended.
- Future Meetings/Events
- Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 20 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall.
- The meeting was adjourned at 9:07 pm.