Conservation Commission Meeting Notes 4/8/2010 and 6/10/2010

The Conservation Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month. There was no meeting in May due to lack of a quorum. The April meeting was held Thursday 4/8/2010 and there were many topics of discussion including the proposed Arawana Golf Course, the City's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) intended to be a useful guiding framework document, National Trails Day and the progress on updating our City's Trail Guides. Bob Dobmeier of Public Works Department was present to answer questions about the Melilli lot improvement project, timeline and status. Mr. Dobmeier explained water quality upgrades and the vortecnics unit to clean runoff water. A discussion ensued regarding pavers and porous or permeable materials, as well as BMPs (Best Management Practices), which the Commission wants to see implemented to the maximum extent possible.

The June meeting of the Conservation Commission was held on Thursday June 10th. Katchen Coley reported on the possibility of funds becoming available from the State of CT for open space preservation. Money in bonding has been authorized, but funds may or may not be released. Katchen will stay in tune with what is happening on that front and keep the Commission informed so that we may continue to maximize all funding sources available to acquire and preserve open space for the benefit of the City.

The Commission was asked by the Army to review the wetland mitigation plan for the Army Base. A letter was sent to the Commission from the Army expressing a request for comments on the wetland plan. More information is available from previous EYE reports. Matt Dodge from the Department of Planning, Conservation, and Development and Jane Brawerman of the Commission are reviewing the plan. Mitigation is needed due to disturbance of 1 1⁄2 acres of wetlands within Sawmill Brook watershed. Boardman Lane offsite mitigation will be completed in the same watershed, including meadow improvement, riparian planting, invasive species control and box turtle habitat. There will also be some onsite mitigation at Cucia Park (the site of the Base construction). A discussion ensued about fencing to be installed that could impact wildlife including box turtles.

The public comment period for the Wetlands Mitigation Plan has not begun yet. First the Army must complete their Environmental Assessment which is expected to be done in the next couple of weeks. Once the comment period starts there will be 30 days at that point to submit comments.

In other news, Eric Mosher has finished all maps for trails and city walks and submitted them to the Department. Updating the current Trail Guide is the next step and also the maps will be posted online. The text and production of the Guide is ready to commence and will be a project in itself. Eric Mosher will remain involved in the trail guide production and will follow-up with Department staff and coordinate with the Commission.

And finally, with all of the above mentioned business discussed, still the most time consuming and longest discussion involved the review of the Commission's Bylaws. The Commission is obligated to review the bylaws annually and the newest member, Joan Liska, has taken great initiative in spearheading the effort to conduct a thorough review. The outcome is a document that has been improved by removal of duplicative language, updating of outdated terminology, and addition of language for clarity. The updated Bylaws document is still in draft form and has not yet been finalized or adopted.

Conservation Commission Meeting Notes 3/11/2010

The Conservation Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month. There was no meeting in February due to lack of a quorum. The March meeting was held Thursday 3/11/2010. The meeting started out with happiness and congratulations all around thanks to the return of our illustrious Sheila Stoane. We are all very thankful to have Sheila back and glad that she is feeling better.

The Commission held its elections at Thursday night's meeting. Sheila Stoane, after a long stint as Commission Chair, the actual length of which was up for discussion but was generally thought to be about 20 years, was elected as Vice-Chair. Jane Brawerman who had been the Vice-Chair for the past several years was elected as Chair. Votes were unanimous.

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Catherine Johnson visited the Commission to discuss the previous night's vote to approve the City's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). The POCD has been undergoing a revision process which was under a state-imposed deadline restriction for certain funding stipulations. This has been written about in the Eye in several past articles that can be found by searching for "POCD" in the search box at the upper left corner of the Eye blog. There was some confusion among the Conservation Commission regarding what was actually voted on and what version of the POCD was adopted. At the time of the P&Z vote on March 10th, he POCD document was still in a draft form and the revision process that Commissioner Johnson was spearheading was still ongoing, with a definitive completion schedule sketched out that would meet the state-imposed deadline. The Conservation Commission is actively seeking clarity about what was adopted and where the current revisions stand in terms of how the revision process can move forward as a potential amendment process, with the goal being to have a stand-alone document that provides a clear and concise guiding framework that will be practical and can be put into active use.

The Commission also discussed the March 8th vote of approval by the Economic Development Commission for a lease of Maromas land for a proposed 9-hole golf course. The Arawana golf course and other proposals for Maromas land have also been extensively written about in the Middletown Eye. The Conservation Commission voted at the March 11th meeting to write a letter reiterating the position that we have previously expressed regarding any potential development of Maromas land. The Commission has expressed support for proposals that uphold these key principles: 1) maintain public accessibilty to the land and maintain ecological integrity of the land and 2) take into serious and thorough consideration all of the public comments that were obtained during the many public informational sessions that were held prior to the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The Commission is opposed to the golf course proposal because it does not uphold the stated principles. The stated principles were written by the Commission collectively to express the need to put the protection and health of Middletown's land and resources at the forefront of importance.

Additional items were dicussed briefly; the complete meeting minutes, as always, are available on the City's Planning website, via the link on the left side for "Conservation" in the list of Boards and Commissions.

Conservation Commission (abbreviated) Meeting Notes 01/14/2010

The Conservation Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month. The January meeting was held on 1/14.

A member of the public, Janet Brooks, addressed the Commission regarding the New England National Scenic Trail project. The project has representatives from many towns along the Trail and is seeking more representatives for committees. An upcoming meeting is scheduled in March to inform municipal planners. The project website is www.newenglandnst.org and it is explained there that the National Scenic Trail is a 220-mile trail route that has been in existence for over half a century and was designated on March 30, 2009 as part of Public Law as a National Scenic Trail. The designation enables trail management and maintenance. Other organizations involved include the CT Forest and Parks Association, Appalachian Mountain Club, and the National Park Service. The trail begins (or ends, depending on perspective) right here in Middletown. The Commission agreed that this presents many potential positive opportunities for the City and that Middletown should have representation. Representatives must be appointed by the Mayor and a request to that end has since been communicated.

Catherine Johnson also visited the Commission to discuss the schedule for updates to the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) and to determine a single point of contact from the Conservation Commission for streamlined dissemination of information. Ms. Johnson also graciously volunteered her mapping and drafting skills and time for collaborating with Commission member Eric Mosher who has been hard at work on updating Middletown's Trail Guide.

At this month's meeting I did not take the detailed notes that I normally do, but the minutes are available as always online at www.middletownplanning.com. I have also drafted a short essay about my first two years of service on the Conservation Commission which you can read in the next article up: Why Be Involved?

Conservation Commission Meeting Notes 11/12/2009

The Conservation Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month. The November meeting was held on 11/12. There were two members of the public present to address the Commission.

David Bauer addressed the commission to say that it has been nearly a year since we celebrated the 90th birthday of Artie Schiemann, who so generously donated land to the city's Open Space program. Mr. Bauer would like to see a continued annual recognition of Mr. Schiemann, which the Conservation Commission is happy to participate in.

Mr. Bauer also presented a conceptual idea for use of the 252 acres of CVH property in the Maromas section. This land is currently under consideration for several uses, including a golf course, a home for ARTFARM, hiking trails and others (many previous articles in the EYE). Mr. Bauer presented his idea as an undeveloped concept with the overall objective of restoring agriculture to the lands, as they were once used. This would provide multiple benefits by stimulating the local economy with new jobs, encouraging local farming, providing new sources of healthy local food for Middletown residents, and promoting collaboration among many local groups. It was discussed that the Conservation Commission is not in a position to take any direct action on this idea, which would require a great deal of work to develop.

On the same subject, the Commission discussed the need to follow-up with the Economic Development Commission concerning the use of former CVH lands. There has been no response to a letter sent requesting that public input provided during many public hearings held over a two-year period be incorporated into any plan of development for this property. The Commission will send a second letter to reiterate our request, and also express concern about entering into a 99 year lease, which all agreed seems excessively long for any active land use or applicant.

Cindy Jablonski Pashley addressed the commission to indicate her desire to preserve her property as City open space, either through an outright sale or by selling the development rights. The Commission is currently scheduling site walks for several properties that have been offered to the City and are under consideration for preservation as open space, and will include this property in the site walks. Properties are evaluated using a scoring system that provides a consistent way to rank the properties, and determine which properties to pursue for acquisition.

The Commission is working on an update of the current Middletown Trail Guide that will have more accurate maps and include new properties acquired since the last guide was published. The Commission is considering options for presenting the trail guide in various formats and media (online, print), and ways to make the online guide more interactive.

Concerning the Army Base, the Army is currently evaluating several properties as possible wetland mitigation sites. The Commission would like to know if there is any opportunity to provide input into this process and the selection of an appropriate wetlands mitigation site and will follow-up with City staff (none were in attendance).

There are plans in the works for upgrades to the Melilli Plaza parking lot behind Main Street Market and next to the City Hall. The Commission would like the parking lot design to be as low impact as possible and incorporate elements that allow for infiltration and treatment of storm water runoff. As an example, suggested changes that were made by the Conservation Commission for the design of recent improvements to the Palmer Field parking lot on Washington Street were taken into account and are helping to reduce the impact of the lot on the Coginchaug River. The Commission will seek a response to a letter sent to the City recommending changes to the Melilli parking lot design.

Conservation Commission meeting notes 8/13/2009

The Conservation Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month at 7pm. The most recent meeting was held on August 13th and there was much to discuss.

Due to the success of the spring Letterbox Launch, the Commission decided to have a fall letterbox event to showcase another one of Middletown's beautiful open space and trails properties. The event is tentatively scheduled for October 17th at the Wilcox property - more details to follow.

The Commission also discussed a vote that will be before the Common Council next week that will facilitate the final step in securing the development rights to the beautiful and historic 44 acre Brock Farm property. The Commission discussed steps to take that will help provide the maximum benefit to the City and its Open Space program with the acquisition of this property. This is the first property where development rights will be purchased with a combination of funds from the Open Space Bond Referendum, Department of Environmental Protection grant money, and grant money from the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The Commission discussed the proposals that were submitted to the City for development of Maromas parcels and it was resolved that the Commission would support proposals that uphold these key principles: 1) maintain public accessibilty to the land and maintain ecological integrity of the land and 2) take into serious and thorough consideration all of the public comments that were obtained during the many public informational sessions that were held prior to the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.