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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Library Board of Trustees - 04/06/2022 NATURAL RESOURCE & CONSERVATION COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 at 6:00 PM Virtual Meeting only Attending: Ashley Parker, Jean Sebastien-Chaulot (Chr), Larry Kupferman (Vice Chr), Drew Shatzer, Bill Wargo, John Bossange, Katherine Boyk & Lisa Yankowski. Missing: David Crawford Also Attending: Craig Lambert City Arborist and Chris Trombley from the Affordable Housing Committee 1) Virtual meeting protocol reviewed by Ashley. 2) No additions, deletions or changes to the agenda. 3) No comments from the public. 4) John moved to approve the minutes from March 02. Lisa 2nd. Approved unanimously with 1 correction. a. Corrected minutes have been submitted to Ashley. 5) Emerald Ash Borer city control protocol discussion with Craig Lambert. a. Jean and other committee members have been wondering about the removal of ash trees, the schedule for removal, for planting and if there may be better methods that could be employed. The concern was a fear of large swaths of the tree canopy being clear cut. Trees sequester CO2 and help cool the earth. Drew had mentioned treating the trees to prevent issues from the borers. Craig reassured us - removal is a staggered pattern happening during the winter. Removal started with trees that are in the worse shape. Varying varieties of replacement trees, 2.5 inch caliper are planted in the spring. Trying to plant first could damage the new trees when the old were removed. Removal first before the ash trees can be affected by any borers since the borers cause rapid decline and other issues could happen. Trying to treat the trees would be expensive since treatment would have to continue indefinitely and may not save the tree. The original goal was to have this project done within 5-6 years. Katherine suggested stretching the time line out, but it has already been delayed due to the pandemic and budget issues. Funds are lost at the end of the fiscal year instead of rolling over. This has affected the ability to bid for labor and pricing on the new trees. b. How can we help Craig! We need to push to have a dedicated line item in the budget that allows unused funds for the project to roll over into the next fiscal year. We are too late for 2023, so we can start with 2024. Larry asked about the possibility of using any of the ARPA, (American Rescue Plan Act). Katherine thought this might be an issue due to the rules for the funds. Ashley is sending us the city council’s list for the funds and a new rule that just came out. 6) Pesticide discussion. a. John has written a potential draft for an ordinance on pesticide use to be adopted by the city. (Reference materials included in the information packet for this meeting.) Ashley reminded us that our committee needs to be directed by the city council to take this up and we need approval by the council. If we get approval then we need to get staff time for someone to work with us developing the ordinance. Per advice from Ashley: Larry moved to have Jean write to the city council about our interest in developing a herbicide/pesticide usage ordinance for the City of South Burlington. John 2nd. Unanimously approved. i. Katherine asked if there were any rules governing application during rain or winds. Only what a manufacturer may have under instructions for use. Licensed applicators may be under different constraints. 7) Larry move to approve the tiny grant application written by Katherine and sent to the city council. Lisa 2nd. Approved, (reference documents for this meeting for the application). 8) NRCC’s role in conjunction with the DRB (Development Review Board). a. We need to remember that we are an advisory committee. We can offer suggestions on proposed developments and hope the DRB will side with us or the developer will consider. We cannot tell them they have to do this. We have already submitted a letter to Marla in the Planning Dept with the hope it will be given to developers to consider as they plan future developments. It lets them know items we consider important. We offer ourselves to evaluate a plan if asked. We have been glad to do this in the past. Larry suggested we touch base with planning to remind them, there has been a lot going on over the last couple of years. 9) Red Rocks Management Plan Review a. Ashley thought we had a great meeting. Most of the NRCC group had attended virtually. Lisa was there for Red Rocks Park. One item Larry felt needed to be added to the plan is source protection for Queen City Park’s water. This old community has their own water source the surrounding land has bans on harmful chemical applications. Lisa mentioned her greatest fear is the park being developed. Ashley reassured her and all of us that due to the nature of the funds used to purchase the park- the purpose of the park cannot be changed from the original reason the funds were used. This will also be added as a reminder for future committee members and city staff. Katherine thought the habitat map in the appendixes should be moved to the main body of the plan. b. Larry moved we recommend the city council accept the new revised Red Rocks Management Plan, with the 2 additions. Approved unanimously. 10) Per John- nothing new to report from the SB Land Trust. 11) Climate change task force- reference the packet of minutes and information provided by Bill W. The documents were included in our information packets. They are focusing on building standards and weatherization. 12) Member & Staff reports a. The brontosaurus is done working at Wheeler and Audubon will not do anything else until fall. The management plan is due to be updated but had to wait for the Land Trust to receive the land conservation easement document. The archeological work is still pending for Hubbard Park. b. Lisa had sent an email including a letter to the City Council what the Common Area for Dogs Committee would like to see added, (similar to the letter the NRCC had sent). With new apartment buildings being built- the projects should include an area for dogs to their “business”. c. The CVCP is planning upcoming events- Ashley is sending an email. i. St George, VT has rescheduled their Town Meeting. They would like to get feedback on conservation. See the announcement. d. The Land Trust is looking to have a roundtable get together on conservation. e. The NRCC work group needs to meet again to look at what we have so far. NEXT MEETING IS………….. MAY 4, 2022 at 6:00pm FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS John, Jean Drew & Katherine are forming a work group to look at our work plan- needs to be updated.