HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee - 01/06/2015
Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee of the Planning Commission
Meeting Minutes
January 6, 2015
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The Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee of the Planning Commission held a regular meeting
on the 6th of January, 2015, at 7:00pm at Healthy Living Upstairs Conference Room, 222 Dorset
Street
Members Present: Rosanne Greco, Sarah Dopp, Rebecca Adams, Kindle Loomis, Allan Strong,
Sophie Quest, Jess Hyman, Sue Basiliere (from South Village)
1. Agenda: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items. None
2. Open to the public for items not related to the agenda. None
3. SusAg committee member announcements: Sophie reported that the Underwood meetings were
going well, with hopes of good farmland for Common Roots and community gardens
4. Election of new Chair of Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee: Rosanne Greco was
unanimously elected as the new Chair. Gratitude was expressed to Sophie Quest for her service as
Chair from 9/2013 to 1/6/15. Sophie Quest will continue to be the clerk, doing the city administrative
services for the subcommittee
5. Final approval of Letter to Landowners and discussion of entire plan: A number of small edits
were made to the final draft of the Letter to Landowners, penned by Sarah Dopp. It was expressed that
her voice as a larger landowner herself was quite valuable. The edited final draft was motioned by
Sophie and seconded by Allan. It was unanimously approved.
The letter will go on the morning of January 7 to Paul Connor to put on the Agenda of the Planning
Commission for approval by them. (See attached letter).
After approval by the Planning Commission, the follow up for an educational meeting in March will
proceed. Sarah will contact the Vermont Land Trust; Sophie will contact Ben Waterman at UVM
Extension and Travis Marcotte at the Intervale Center; Jess will contact the Master Gardeners; Rebecca
will talk to Jamie and Matt at Freshie's Farm. The letters will be sent out the week of January 12.
6. General discussion of 2015 plans: we looked again at the list of tasks assigned by the City
Council, through the Planning Commission. Rosanne asked each person to bring the specific task(s) to
the February meeting that they would like to concentrate on.
7. Other Business
a. Community Partners with Common Roots: Kindle asked if Common Roots could list the
Sus/Ag subcommittee on their website as one of their “Community Partners.” Sophie moved that we
do, Jess seconded; it was unanimously approved.
b. UVM interns: The UVM interns are now on their holiday break. They will return January 12 to
classes. They haven't told Sophie or Kindle if they want to continue working with us for this second
semester. If they do, and if they agree that they want a project of their own to work on by themselves,
the group suggested these possible topics:
1.) Developing a program for Underwood, where Big Picture students work during the summer on
the Common Roots farm, possibly also assisting seniors in the Community Gardens.
2.) Designing a farm project for the open spaces in the technology parks. Speaking to the owners
about possibilities of creating these projects.
3.) Developing an educational program for Chittenden Solid Waste that assists people in learning
how to compost their food scraps before the deadline of 2020.
4.) Designing a town managed maple sugaring operation.
5.) Designing a food hub for the Wheelock Barn at UVM
6.) Designing a program to insert edible landscapes in South Burlington; writing land development
regulations to support these planting; studying the challenges of these plantings (such as apple trees
next to the road being sprayed with salt, or damage from rabbits.)
c. Probable Agenda for next meeting of February 3.
1. A follow up report to the Letter to Landowners.
2. Tangible projects to work on from the List of Tasks.
3. A report from the UVM interns.
8. Adjourn
Respectfully submitted:
Sophie Quest
Minutes approved by the committee on 2/3/2015