Wallingford Conservation Commission Minutes*

*These are unofficial Minutes subject to the approval at the next regular meeting.

August 24, 2009

Attendees: Tim Chila, Shannon Pytlik, Carol Macleod, Ralph Nimtz, David Klock, Debbie Scranton, Kim Blodgett

Guest:  Fred Thurlow  

(1)   Approval of minutes and agenda

(2)   Guest:  Fred Thurlow:  Fred has organized a discussion group which meets the 3rd Monday of every month in the Klock Room at the Library.   The group discusses all kinds of different topics:  Their first meeting was on Population Trends ( Vermont in Transition Report), their second meeting included a viewing of the movie King Corn, and their next meeting, scheduled for September 21st is on Solar energy (John Blittersdorf-speaker).  Anne Tiplady, Don Green, Laurie Systac, and Fred are the core members but they would like more folks to attend.  Fred will have Don contact Tim regarding developing a poster that advertises their next event in concert with our Efficiency Vermont talk on September 10th (see “programs” below).  

Old Business:  

(1)               Walking Brochures:  Tim made a list of all the locations where we should distribute brochures.  Each member will take responsibility for one or two locations and keep the brochures stocked. 

·                    Town office: Carol

·                    School: David

·                    Churches:

·                    Thrive Center: Shannon

·                    Sal’s: Carol

·                    Pub: David

·                    Mom’s;  Carol

·                    Victorian Inn:  Carol

·                    White Rocks:

·                    Antique Shops; 

·                    Locker: Shannon

·                    WCS: Ralph

·                    Nail It Down: Carol

·                    Elfin Lake :  Debbie

·                    Boy’s Camp: Debbie

·                    Daycare:  Shannon

·                    Town Meeting:  Debbie

·                    Wally Day:

·                    Other Committee Meetings: 

·                    Stone shop

·                    Hearth and Cricket:  Kim

·                    Busheys:  Kim  

(2)               Town plan:  No survey was done.  We would be willing to host a meeting and invite Jens Hilke to discuss the town’s Natural Resources. Tim will email the planning commission and offer to set up a meeting if they will attend. 

(3)               Web page:  Tim printed out pages from the Hartland website to see if we wanted to use any of them for our website.  Kim will check on Hartford and get permission to use the materials, if we decide we want them.

(4)               Railroad Hut:  Ralph talked to the railroad people last spring but has never heard back from them.  Ralph thinks we need a whole new building—painting doesn’t seem to be a good option because the buildings are so old.  He will  ask the railroad folks if there is any possibility the buildings will be replaced soon. If not, then he will see if they mind if we paint them. The buildings are not worth much effort so if we paint them we will use a sprayer.   

(5)               Strategic Plan: Next meeting should be devoted to developing a strategic plan.  Review the mission statement and brainstorm action items we want to accomplish this year (each member should come to the next meeting with 5 items).  Prioritize with dots.

(6)               Library kiosk:  Kim will continue to look into purchasing a kiosk from the state.  David suggested that we use the state kiosk as a template and begin to build a second one.  Carol will find out about a picnic table.  We should purchase the supplies before winter.  Kim will take pictures and pass them around to the rest of the committee.  Other thoughts:  Plexiglass on one side, cork board on the other side for posting community events. 

(7)               Hydro: David will try to get back to Ron Powers and suggest he talk to Tim.

(8)               Energy Committee: There was a meeting of the Rutland energy committee last month that Tim was unable to attend.  The WCC feels that a separate energy subcommittee should be formed.  Tim will check with the selectmen regarding the development of a local committee.  Tim talked to Ken Welch and he is interested in participating.  Perhaps the Carbon Diet group would be interested in working on something once they complete their workbook. 

(9)               AVCC: Debbie has the Vermont Conservation Commission handbook. We currently belong to the Association.  Debbie went to the meeting on November 8th 2008 .

(10)           Programs:  Conservation Commission is hosting Efficiency Vermont on Thursday September 10th with Bob Murphy.  Shannon will call Julie tomorrow and try to get it into the Wallingford news.

Canning and freezing:  Sharon did not feel that enough people would attend a talk on this topic.

Allen Betz:  Global Climate Change.  Hold off until later

Composting with worms/Community Composting/family composting: speaker: Anna Tally; Tim will call Anna for October

Movies:  King Corn, Fast Food Nation  

New Business:  

            (1) Pit Committee:  Ralph passed around an email he received from Josh. Overburden from the berm removal will be used to fill in around the well. Seed and mulch will be applied if the town buys the supplies. Ralph felt the proposed parking lot was too large so he developed a new design that would hold 40 cars. The group endorsed Ralph’s design.  Next meeting is on September 9th at 6:30 at the Pit.   

            (2) Content for October Newsletter:  Should include: Advertisement for October speaker and “Energy saving highlights”:  From Fred’s meeting, from Bob Murphy’s presentation, and from the Carbon Diet Group.           

            (3) Bar-b-que for committee members: Sunday afternoon September 27th around 4:00.  Debbie will provide the meat.  The rest of us will bring the side dishes.   

(3)   Meeting adjourned 8:50

(4)   Next meeting: Monday, September 28th    

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Blodgett

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