HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Natural Resources Committee - 12/07/2016Wednesday, December 7, 2016
South Burlington Municipal Offices, 575 Dorset Street
MEETING MINUTES for Regular Monthly Mee ng
Members Present: Be y Milizia, Sean Devine, Ka e Kain, David Crawford, Kris n Williams, Gwen Kozlowski
Also Present: Maggie Leugers (SB Recrea on & Parks Director), Holly Baker (NRC Staff Liaison - SB Recrea on & Parks
Assistant Director); Jens Hilke (Conserva on Planning Biologist, VT Fish & Wildlife); Cathyann LaRose (SB City Planner)
The mee ng was called to order at 6:05 pm.
1) Addi ons, dele ons or changes in order of agenda items.No addi ons, dele ons or changes were made to the proposed agenda. South Burlington Staff and NRC Commi eemembers briefly introduced themselves.
2) Comments from the public not related to the agenda.
There were no comments from the public.
3) Staff Recogni on.Cathyann was recognized for her years of service and dedica on to the commi ee. 4) Approval of mee ng minutes for November.Sean Devine corrected the spelling of Maggie Leugers name and made a mo on to approve the minutes; DavidCrawford seconded, and minutes for November were approved.
5) Updates from commi ee members
· David Crawford noted that the bridge at Wheeler Natural Area that is nearly completed.
· Be y Milizia saw “no dumping” signs along the boundary of Swi and Wheeler Nature Park but suggested oneshould be moved to trailhead at northeast corner of the property.
· Maggie updated NRC on the Open Space Project Task Force that presented at last city council mee ng. Plan wasunanimously accepted by city council. One excep on is that the Red Rocks bath house would not be appropriateuse of open space money.
· An update from the Wheeler Conserva on Easement Task Force- tabled to next mee ng to discuss.
6) Jens Hilke Presenta on Highlights
· “Public trust”- We all have a share in wildlife and water resources; together we need to manage it.
· Forest Cover across the state is es mated to be 71% forest, 21% non-forest, 8% water; from street trees to forest
stands, trees & forests provide spectrum of services & benefits.
· Statewide, VT loses an es mated 11,000 acres of forest/year.
· The rate of development is 2.5 mes rate of popula on growth.
· In 2018, town plans will have to iden fy forest pa erns, connec vity, wildlife corridors.
· 81% of land in Vermont is privately owned.
· By 2030, VT’s popula on expected to increase 14%.
· Outdoor recrea on supports 35,000 jobs; $4.1 million from hun ng, fishing, and wildlife watching.
· It is difficult to account for all biological diversity across the state. There are between 24,000-43,000 species in
VT, most species we know li le about. It is important to convey uncertainty.
· Commi ees need to consider landscape level elements in planning.
· Connec vity of wildlife corridors, culverts could be areas to focus on.
· The VT Agency of Natural Resources “Biofinder” is a useful on line map and data base iden fying Vermont’s lands
and waters suppor ng high priority ecosystems, natural communi es, habitats and species (including South
Burlington)
· Jens encouraged the NRC to get involved in town plan and noted that it is important to have fun and celebrate
place.
7) The commi ee discussed having a retreat to develop areas of interest and development of a workplan. It wasexpressed by everyone that we take advantage of Jens exper se and invita on to provide up with technicalassistance.
8) Suggested to change next mee ng to January 18th, with a poten al for Jan. 30, 31, Feb. 1 working session.
9) Adjourn. Sean Devine mo oned to adjourn the mee ng and Kris n Williams seconded the mo on; mee ng
adjourned at 7:55pm.
Respec ully submi ed,
By Gwen Kozlowski