HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee - 03/18/2014
Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee of the Planning Commission
Minutes: March 18, 2014 Present: Rosanne Greco, Sarah Dopp, Land Trust, Allan Strong, UVM, Jess Hyman, Community Gardens, Kindle Loomis, Common Roots, Jimmy DeBiasi, South Village and
Common Roots, Betty Goldberg, Sophie Quest, Planning Commission.
Absent: Heidi Auclair. I. During the introduction, each person talked about their land and their plans for it. Sarah Dopp
would like to put her 46 acres into conservation. At present she leases some to Bread and
Butter Farms. Allan's energy is put into the “Bobolink Project”, restoring the habitat of
grassland birds. Rosanne, thinking of water shortage and best use of her ¼ acre wonders about exchanging her grass for edible plants. She has 4 fruit trees that bear well. Jess Hyman has been slowly transforming her lawn into food plants in the Old North End. She also gardens in
Tommy Tompson Community Gardens. Kindle has a garden in her yard in the hill section of
Burlington. Betty continues her gardening efforts, always trying to control skunks and ground
hogs. She also has a multi-home development project on her land. Jimmy will be overseeing the 24 garden beds of Common Roots and South Village. Sophie hopes that her food forest permaculture will get the attention it needs this summer.
II. Workshop by Jess Hyman on funding small community projects:
Most important is to know what you really want the money for and to be able to tell that story with
credible details. “We are all philanthropists.” The budget submitted to funders must be complete in its details, as well as interesting. What is the planning, who will have roles, what are options for other resources? What exactly do you need and when? When will the materials for your project need to be
funded?
Money sources: grants, business sponsorships, individuals, community events.
Primary monies are from individuals-and asking and building long term relationships is an art to develop. Bulk mailings don't bring in a great deal. Business sponsorships can be excellent, as businesses want to develop good relationships with the
community. Their business may be unrelated to food or the community. You need to relate to their
market opportunities and to possible employee volunteers.
Grants can be good for starting, but often don't fund through the years. Faith-based groups are good. New England Grassroots Environmental Fund gives seed grants and growing grants. They now fund coordinators, as well. USCA rural development funds often pay for materials. Green Mountain
Compost is working on grants for low-income people. Vermont Community Foundations likes new
ideas.
Community fundraiser events can often take so many volunteer hours that they may not be worth the money the raise. However, for raising community awareness, they are good. They give publicity to new projects. High Mowing Seeds offers discounts on seeds for fund raising projects. Silent auctions
and raffles are also possibly too much work for the money.
Focus on thanking people!!
If an organization has not received its own non-profit status, it can go under the umbrella of organizations such as NE Grassroots Environmental or Peace and Justice Center.
III. A sewage allocation plan for South Burlington.
In the Sustainable Agriculture's Final Plan by consultants (March, 2013) it was recommended that the
sewage allocation of the city be carefully assessed for the next 20 years, including the anticipated build-out of City Center and the rate of residential development in the Southeast Quadrant. Other towns have allocation plans taking into account probable growth. Because the city has 20 years to pay
for the last upgrade in the sewage system before any following upgrades can be considered, a careful
plan taking City Center into account will be necessary. The Sustainable Agriculture Subcommittee passed a motion 7-1 to recommend to the Planning Commission that a careful assessment study should be taken, following with an allocation plan for the next 20 years.